The K-pop star Choi Jin-ri, better known with her stage name Sulli, was reported to have passed away on 14 October 2019. The cause of her death is not known as of now. Sulli was born on March 29, 1994. She was enrolled in acting school at a young age. She went to Seoul in 2004 while in the fourth grade, during which time she got through a SM Entertainment audition and was officially cast as an S.M. trainee. She started her career in acting as a child actress, at age 11, playing the young princess Seonhwa of Silla in the South Korean drama Ballad of Seodong(2005).
Later in 2009, she debuted as a member of one of the most popular girl group of South korea, f(X). However in 2015, a year into a hiatus from the Korean entertainment industry, Sulli withdrew from the group. Sulli’s hiatus was officially announced on 24 July, 2014 and reportedly the reason for this was her being mentally and physically exhausted from the continuous malicious comments and false rumors that had been spread about her. After leaving the group, she focused on her acting career. Sulli starred in the movie Real in 2017, which now became her final film role before her death. That same year according to reports, Sulli was maliciously accused of drug use on social media due to her dilated pupils in the film. In 2018, Sulli resumed her music career with a feature on singer-songwriter Dean’s single, named “Dayfly”. She made her solo debut with the single album “Goblin” in June 2019. Sulli announced in July 2019 that she was an advocate for the no bra movement. Since May 2016, on a number of occasions, Sulli had uploaded images of her not wearing a bra with her nipples exposed on social media. Unfortunately for Sulli, she was heavily criticized for this bold expression although it’s widely reported that being seen braless in public is becoming more acceptable world-wide today.
Sulli was known for always being free-spirited and outspoken, for which she often fell prey to cyber-bullying. In 2018, she revealed how she suffered from panic disorder since she was young and had social phobia too, in an Instagram video which was taken down later. She talked about mental illness issues when the social stigma around it still remains prevalent in South Korea. According to various sources, Sulli had been suffering from severe depression before she was found dead by her manager at her house. She died too young at the age of 25. Sulli was a singer, songwriter, actress and a model. She was one of the multi-talented stars in South Korea yet at the same time, she was unconventional. She is known to have lived her life her way and her fans appreciated her for being honest and carefree. Her fans as well as other K-pop fans are pouring out their love and condolences for her in social media, also expressing their grievances against the cyber-bullying and malicious criticisms she faced which she never deserved.