K-pop star Moonbin dies at age of 25

K-pop star Moonbin has died at the age of 25, his record label has announced.

South Korean media quoted police saying he was found unresponsive by his manager at his apartment in Seoul on Wednesday night, reports BBC. 

Police said they believed he had "made an extreme decision" and they were investigating the cause of death. There were no signs of foul play.

His label Fantiago issued a statement saying Moonbin "unexpectedly left our world and became a star in the sky".

Moonbin had been an actor and model before joining the boy band Astro in 2016, a well-established K-pop group.

He also performed with a sub-group called Moonbin & Sanha.

The statement from Fantagio asked that everyone "refrain from speculative and malicious reports" so that his family could pay their respects in peace.

Moonbin joined the Fantagio's trainee program as a child before eventually joining Astro. The group was originally six performers, but one member left in February 2023.

His sister Moon Sua is also a K-pop singer, performing as part of the girl group Billlie.

Moonbin is the latest K-pop star to lose their life in recent years:

• Singer and actress Goo Hara was found dead at her home in Seoul in 2019. Her close friend, K-pop star Sulli, killed herself after a long struggle with online bullying in the same year

• In 2018, Minwoo of boy band 100% died at home, with his label only saying he had suffered cardiac arrest

• Jonghyun, a member of one of South Korea's biggest boy bands, SHINee, passed away in 2017.