K-Pop star Moonbin dies, aged 25

Record label asks people to 'refrain from speculative and malicious reports'

K-pop star Moonbin. AFP

K-Pop star Moonbin has died at the age of 25, his music label Fantagio has announced.

The member of the boy band Astro was found unresponsive on Wednesday evening in his apartment in the upscale Gangnam neighbourhood of Seoul, local media reported, citing police.

“On April 19, Astro member Moon Bin unexpectedly left our world and became a star in the sky,” said a statement posted in Korean early on Thursday on Fantagio's official Twitter page.

It did not provide any suspected cause of death.

The statement asked that everyone “refrain from speculative and malicious reports” so that his family can pay their respects and honour him in peace.

Moon Bin — who performed as Moonbin — was a member of the group Astro and also performed with a subgroup called Moonbin & Sanha.

K-Pop group Astro — in pictures

He joined the Fantagio label's trainee programme at an early age and debuted with Astro in February 2016, which at the time had six members.

Several other young K-Pop stars have died in recent years, including two suspected suicides over one month in 2019.

The two female stars, who were close friends, had been the subject of intense online bullying.

Scroll through the gallery below to see some of the famous names we've lost this year