On Monday, March 10, Tajo Entertainment, the agency of the South Korean singer, Wheesung, released a statement announcing his sudden death. It was reported that his family found him unconscious at his apartment in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul.
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When the emergency responders arrived at the house at 6:29 PM on March 10, it was reported that "significant time" had passed since he had fallen unconscious, and the singer was thereby pronounced dead.
The police reported that they're still investigating the exact cause of his death. Regardless, no signs of forced entry, murder, or a suicide note were found at the scene. Here's the statement released by Tajo Entertainment on Wheesung's death:
"We are deeply heartbroken and devastated to deliver this tragic news. On March 10, our artist Wheesung passed away. He was found in a state of cardiac arrest at his home in Seoul and was pronounced deceased."
While many fans and netizens have been mourning the singer's sudden passing, they also brought attention to his last Instagram post. On March 6, the singer took to his Instagram account and posted an update on his diet completion.
"Diet complete. See you on March 15", he said.
Here, Wheesung was most likely referring to his upcoming joint concert with the singer KCM at the EXCO Auditorium in Daegu scheduled to take place on March 15.
All you need to know about the late singer, Wheesung, as agency announces his sudden death
Wheesung was a 43-year-old South Korean singer who debuted in 2002 with the release of his first album, Like A Movie. He soon rose to fame as some songs from the album, Can't I?, went viral on the internet. Some of his other famous songs include With Me, Incurable Disease, One Year, and The Day We Met Again.
Additionally, the idol is also well known for his career as a soloist and has worked on several iconic songs of the South Korean music industry. Some of them include Younha’s Password 486, Lee Hyori’s HEY MR. BIG (Boys in Girl), T-ara’s Crazy Because of You, Orange Caramel’s Magic Girl, TWICE’s Dance The Night Away, Ivy’s Sonata of Temptation, and Ailee’s Heaven.
The idol's career peaked further in 2017 after he kickstarted his independent label, Real Slow Company. However, the success came to a pause when Wheesung was shocked by the death of his longtime manager. Moreover, in 2021, the singer also faced legal issues.
Wheesung was sentenced to one year of prison time and two years of probation due to his illegal administration of propofol, a psychotropic sleep anesthetic. According to the court report, the singer purchased 3,910 ml of propofol, worth 6.5 million won, and administered 3,690 ml eleven times between September and November 2019.
Additionally, he was found unconscious in Songpagu and Gwangjin during the months of March and April 2020 after injecting another anesthetic, etomidate. However, while propofol and etomidate had similar effects on the human body, etomidate was not classified as a narcotic at that time. Therefore, on February 28, 2025, the drug was officially classified as a narcotic.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced an amendment to the Narcotics Control Act, reclassifying etomidate and six other substances as narcotics or psychotropic drugs.
Regardless, the exact cause of his death is still under investigation, as of now.
