Getty Goo Hara's death has shocked the K-pop world.
Goo Hara, the K-pop singer whose death at age 28 is devastating fans, left behind a final Instagram post. In retrospect, although innocuous at the time, it now appears to offer a final goodbye.
Goo Hara was an Instagram influencer, and she posted the last message to her 1.5 million followers. It was a picture of herself in bed that she posted on Saturday. “Good night,” it reads. Her name on Instagram is Koo Hara. Here is that post:
Her final post before that one came four days before her death and showed a concert scene:
In recent weeks, she had posted a series of selfies.
Fans are now filling up the comment thread with statements of grief. “???? No,” read one. Others wrote that they hope Goo Hara rests in peace.
Other K-pop members are now reacting to Hara’s death on social media too. EXO wrote: “We have adjusted the teasing schedule for EXO’s sixth full-length album due to the tragic incident,” the announcement read. “We will announce the schedule later, so we kindly ask for your understanding. We express our deepest condolences.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Goo Hara’s Tragic Death Was Confirmed by Multiple News Sites, But the Cause of Death Is Not Yet Clear
It’s not let know how the former Kara band member died. Sadly, the death has been confirmed, according to Daily Variety. News of Goo Hara’s death broke on the morning of November 24, 2019.
Although the cause of death is not clear yet, other K-pop members, including a close friend of Goo Hara’s – Sulli – have died from suicide, and, last March 2019, it was widely reported that Goo Hara had failed in a suicide attempt herself. That came after all of the publicity surrounding an ex-boyfriend’s alleged threats to release a sex video of her, which resulted in his jailing.
Goo Hara seemed to be rebounding, though, and, according to the BBC, she had just starred in a string of “comeback performances” last week.
She was a member of the now-disbanded K-pop group Kara since 2008 and also released her own music as a solo artist and appeared on television, BBC reported.
She had signed a contract with a Japanese talent agency, according to NBC, and released a solo Japanese single called “Midnight Queen” earlier in November.
Goo was found dead inside her home at about 9 a.m. GMT on Sunday November 24, 2019, BBC reports. According to South China Morning Post, Goo Hara lived in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul. Her body was found by an unidentified acquaintance, AP reports.
The BBC’s Seoul correspondent Laura Bicker was one of the first to confirm Goo Hara’s death, writing on Twitter, “The South Korean celebrity Goo Ha-ra, a former member of popular K-pop girl group Kara has been found dead at her home. The 28-year-old was found dead around 6pm. We are awaiting more details. So sad.”
South Korea has one of the world’s highest suicide rates. The death remains under investigation by South Korean police.
READ NEXT: The Death of Sulli.