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

South Korean media have quoted police as saying he was found unresponsive on Wednesday evening in his apartment in the Gangnam neighbourhood of the capital, Seoul.

Moonbin “unexpectedly left our world and became a star in the sky”, his label Fantagio said. The cause of death was not reported.

Moonbin was an actor and model before joining the boy band Astro in 2016.

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 programme 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 his 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.

(Story: BBC Entertainment)