Fans visit funeral hall to mourn Jonghyun's shocking suicide

By Park Sae-jin Posted : December 19, 2017, 15:56 Updated : December 19, 2017, 15:56

Fans form a long queue at Seoul ASAN Hospital's funeral hall on December 19 to mourn the death of Jonghyun. [Press Corps.]


SEOUL, Dec. 19 (Aju News) -- Fans dressed in dark-colored jackets braved biting subzero temperatures to offer condolence flowers on an altar at a hospital funeral hall to mourn the shocking suicide of Kim Jong-hyun, a member of South Korea's popular boy band SHINee.

Some had their eyes swollen even before they entered the hall in Seoul ASAN Hospital where Jonghyun's body was placed for a memorial service hosted by his management agency, SM Entertainment.

The altar for fans was set up in the hospital's basement funeral parlor while Kim's relatives and colleagues used a separate hall.

The temperature fell below minus two degrees Celsius on Tuesday, but fans waited silently in a long queue for their turn to say farewell to the fallen K-pop star. Rows of wreaths sent by Kim's friends and other artists packed a hallway.

Some sobbed and others stood with blank faces as if they refused to accept the sad news. The atmosphere was very heavy with silence lingering around fans except the brushing sounds of winter jackets and muffled murmurs between fans and bereaved family members.
 

[Press Corps.]


Jonghyun was found unconscious in a police search on Monday after his sister reported that her brother was trying to commit suicide. He was pronounced dead in a hospital after doctors failed to resuscitate him.

The funeral was led by three SHINee members -- Onew, Minho and Taemin, fellow -- who received artists such as the members of BTS, Girls' Generation, EXO.

Fans at home and abroad expressed condolences at cyberspace, uploading Jonghyun's photographs attached with black ribbons. Some uploaded photographs of wreaths and chrysanthemums as an act of online flower offering.
 

A collage of posts shows fans mourning the death of Jonghyun. [Instagram]


"It hurts me so much to let go of Jonghyun like this. He was such a good person and he did not deserve such a death," wrote Zarder, a user from South Korea's online community Clien.

Another fan said in his post, "When I was a student and Jonghyun was a radio DJ, he gave me the courage to face the world. It breaks my heart to hear that he has passed away."
 
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