K-pop star Kim Jong-hyun dies, polices suspect suicide

The lead singer of South Korea’s top boy band Shinee, Kim Jong-hyun died on Monday after being taken to hospital unconscious.

Police said it was an apparent suicide reported by South Korean news agency Yonhap.

The 27-year-old pop star was found at 6:10 p.m. local time in a rented apartment studio in Cheongdam-dong in southern Seoul, after his sister called the emergency responders at 4:42 p.m. saying that her brother was committing suicide.

Lying in a room with a coal briquette burning on a frying pan, the singer seems to have chosen one of the most common methods of suicide in South Korea.

No immediate confirmation from police was available.