Five years since the passing of Sulli from f(x)

Fans of the K-pop star Sulli were reminded this Fall that it was five years ago that the star took her own life. She passed at age 25. Here’s what led up to her untimely passing.

Content warning: This gallery mentions death and bullying.

Sulli was a K-pop star who was a member of the girl group f(x), which was managed by SM Entertainment. She had left the group in 2015, reports Billboard.

According to Kukmin Ilbo, Sulli had entered the K-entertainment industry at a young age. She did so when she was 11 and was a child actress.

Despite already being in the K-entertainment industry in the acting field, Sulli decided to transition to music by auditioning for SM Entertainment, showcasing her singing skills.

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Allkpop reports that she naturally passed the audition and was once dormmates with Tiffany and Taeyeon of Girls’ Generation.

Sulli entered K-pop stardom when she debuted with f(x) in 2009. Alongside her, the members of f(x) were Amber, Victoria, Krystal, and Luna.

When she was a member of f(x), Sulli was associated with the hit songs ‘La Cha Ta’, ‘Nu Abo’, and ‘Electric Shock', among many other songs. Some of f(x)’s songs were commercially very successful and ranked high on many music charts, such as Billboard’s.

Up till her passing, Sulli had been more focused and known for her acting work. Mwave reports that she returned to the acting scene in 2012 with her role in ‘To the Beautiful You’, and many others.

Sulli decided to focus more on acting and took on more roles until she decided to officially leave f(x) in 2015, according to Kpop Herald.

Prior to her passing, Sulli had been the target of many haters online and offline. For one, netizens have been critical of her relationship with the South Korean rapper Choiza since the revelation of their relationship in 2014.

Allegedly, Sulli had faced more of the online hate for her relationship due to her affiliation with f(x), and the Korea Times reports that this might have contributed to the factors that led to her passing when the relationship dissolved in 2017 allegedly due to public pressure and criticism.

What Sulli was known for prior to her passing was that she was once one of the most outspoken celebrities in South Korea, reports Sports Seoul in 2017. This outspoken and headstrong personality of hers had unfortunately not sit well with many in South Korean society.

Sulli was also subject to intense criticism due to her social media, where Channel News Asia reports that she had posted photos that depicted her not wearing a bra. Rather than treating it as a move towards female empowerment, many in South Korea instead viewed the move as immoral.

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It was October 14, 2019 that Sulli was found dead by her brother, who is also her manager, at her home, reports The Korea Herald. No foul play was discovered by the authorities, and it was deemed that she had taken her own life. She did not leave behind a passing note.

Image: jelly_jilli / Instagram

The Busan Ilbo reports that many netizens flew into a frenzy when it was discovered that just prior to her own death, Sulli had pleaded with management in SM Entertainment to step up with measures against the cyberbullying she had faced while alive.

Image: jelly_jilli / Instagram

The outrage over the circumstances surrounding and theorised to have contributed to Sulli’s death eventually sparked change in South Korean law as many then took to pressuring the South Korean government to take tougher measures against cyberbullying, which led to the proposals for several amendments, reports Aju News.

Image: jelly_jilli / Instagram