Sulli death: How did Sulli die?

In October 2019, Sulli whose real name was Choi Jin-ri killed herself after a long struggle with online bullying. A year to her death, Sulli revealed that she had struggled with panic disorder and social phobia since she was young. Prior to her death, Sulli was suffering from severe depression.

On October 14, 2019, at approximately 3:20 p.m. KST, Sulli was found dead by her brother, who was also her manager. She had hanged herself in the second floor in her house in Seongnam, south of Seoul.

Her brother cum manager reportedly visited the house when he was not able to reach her, after speaking with Sulli via phone the previous day at 6:30 p.m. KST.

Police found a handwritten note in Sulli’s diary in which she described her feelings, but concluded that it was not a suicide note.

On October 15, police filed for an autopsy to confirm the cause of death and performed it the following morning, concluding that her body did not show any signs of death due to external force, and it is likely a suicide that occurred on the night of October 13 or the morning of October 14.

On October 17, following a four-day private funeral and mourning ceremony at a Seoul hospital, Sulli was buried at an undisclosed location.

Sulli’s death was linked by various media outlets to depression caused by cyberbullying.

In the aftermath of her untimely death, it was revealed that Sulli had repeatedly asked her agency, SM Entertainment, to take strong measures against the malicious comments and cyberbullying.

A total of seven petitions were posted at the South Korean presidential office website demanding tougher punishment for cyberbullying and strengthening use of the real-name system when posting comments and creating accounts.