Saddest thing I've heard in ages, so awful. I wish he had the strenght to go on but we weren't in his position. Korea needs to wake up.

Om my gosh...this is so shocking ;___;

R.I.P Park Yong Ha

I wish profanity words were screened off automatically on this site.

There are ways to express your emotions without having to make every reader read your curses. It's very rude and plain offensive.

Depression is a clinical condition that unfortunately warps the mind to think that suicide is the way out. For them it is their ONLY way out that will resolve whatever issues they have. I'm sure at some point in our lives, we have all been depressed about something or wish we could die, BUT we know it passes and that we wouldn't act upon that decision. For those with mental anguish, that is not the case. As with Mookie, I too, have seen patients in the psychiatric ward, particularly a young patient in her 20's. I will never forget the dismay and hopelessness she felt every day. And of course you want to be able to help them, thinking that you can. That is why it is hardest on family members and friends who think they could have done something to help them. Please do not judge their actions with such carelessness. It is a problem in Korea and I only pray that Korean society will take a more serious look into mental illnesses to remove the stigma. My sympathy and prayers to his family who have lost their shining star.

@asianromance I happened to just read Mookie's comment and posted my 2 cents. I didn't read yours until after I posted mine and was like "that's the same thing I wrote!" We must think alike :)

thank u @soleram. u spoke my mind.

It's so easy to blame it all on one thing === depression.

Examing the factors facing us - those are revealing in themselves.
Some food for thought.

= how can he ever pull himself out of depression if he has lack of sleep (crazy schedules and jetting, playing havoc with body clock. some people can hack it, some can't). 14 yrs of resulting insomnia.

= more revealing are inhuman production companies that only care what happens to the new drama now the main lead has died (man ... it only hits home HARD the realisation what these 'stars' are to them. money-making cattle with different price tags). imagine how the stars feel in this highly-competitive industry?

= his sensitivity level. his remarks about feeling sh*tty when performing.
being interviewed for the first time in Japan.
wondering what people were really laughing about when he couldn't understand them, and they laughed at his remarks. apparently he hated it.
ie the feeling they were laughing AT him, not WITH him.
that is a subtle difference.

= i am no major fan to say, but he strikes me as a private-introvert at heart.
i wonder if he really hated endless fake-smiling for the crowds, when all he wanted to do be alone or have quiet private time.

poor dude. that was little room for him to call out for help.
even if he did, with those crazy time-tables stars run - how could he?

i can imagine this all eventually gets to a person and sucks him dry.
some people are thick-skinned and durable, some are not.
some people can delude themself into believing a situation as they want it to be, some are cynical realists who see it all too clearly.

i wonder how many years he's been feeling like that, but all the while exuding this sunshine personality (he's got a lovely warm smile, and also smiles from his eyes. small eyes, but such smiling eyes - hard to believe he's depressed).

= depression. what a convenient all emcompassing umbrella to excuse other actions of his environment, which is as much as fault.

so maybe he really hates his life being programmed like a robot (like so many artistes seem to be) but cannot see how he can stop it.
he's a filial son. so maybe he's doing it all for his family, and with his dad dying, it is just the last straw. the catalyst that just brings the hopelessness of all his soldiering efforts to nought.

= don't we sometimes stop to wonder why we're running around like programmed busy guinea pigs on the treadmill when a huge sickness hits? when we forced to stop and focus, reflect and reality-check instead of running around on mindless auto-pilot?
confronting impending NON-negotiable death of a loved one CAN change your perspectives too, about work and life in general.

= i cannot see how he can think straight when he's been fighting insomnia for 14 years. lack of proper sleep for a few days already can lead to careless accidents and bad decisions for some folk.
nevermind those endless impossible programming schedules these stars have.

STOP JUDGING! please.
Have some empathy instead - doesn't all the respective beliefs and religions also teach that?

It's not just individual DNA programming.
It's not just awful events and emergencies that bring on the onset of depression.
It's also societal hypocrisy, double standards (lip service. saying one thing, practising another), societal- judging of every act and everyone that indirectly also contributes to onset of depression as well.

Before anyone else points that "suicide is the cowardly way out" finger, please save the holier-than-thou spiel for yourselves and your own souls.

His private life is his own.
We won't ever know what the contributing factors really were, or what he really felt so spare him. Give him that much respect.

Instead, re-direct your energy and kindness to pray that Park Yong Ha can rest, and find the peace and light he couldn't find in this life.
Or actually make someone's life better out there, instead of just talking roses about it.

PEACE.
RIP PYH.

Here's an entry that goes deeper into some of his family circumstances.

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/gakinme/9088959

Park Yong Ha was a deeply loving human being. :(

@passer by...well said

don't be so mean to him. I find it sad how he kept apologising to his father, He must be under so much stress that we could ever imagine, he was suffocating when he told his dad that he was sick ibnstead of him. We have never undergone that kind of prolong stress before, It's esasy to say "it wrong to kill yourself: because that what people who don't want the other party to die says all the time. But if you are in his shoes, suffering depression, can you think calmly and clearly when you thoughts have been so blur? He was a good man, a good person when he lived, let him leave with this impression of him in us.

am so sad over this news. really liked him in winter sonata! he did well in all the mvs he was in. the last one with park hyo shin was so nice.

WOW. This isn't what you want to read about. I don't have any judgement on him as a person, but suicide is NEVER the answer. Nothing in this world is worth committing suicide over. I wish he would have been able to get some better help with his depression. It's a disease that is treated as something so horrible and when people try to get help, they are antagonized about it. God bless his family. I unfortunately know how they are probably feeling right now.

Oh man. Self-righteous people like 'soleram' invented the face palm reaction.

Your beliefs aside, soleram, I'm not going to argue with your position on clinical depression. But you know what offends me more than suicide? The amount of disrespect you've just exhibited towards a dead man.

Have some tack, please. And this is coming from an Atheist.

Tact* actually. Damn, I'm furious.

I really wish this wasnt so :(
RIP Park Yong ha
My heart goes out to ur family!!

My heart is breaking. This is soooo sad :(

I usually don't comment on this site & I'm also not a huge fan of Park Yong-ha....BUT soleram's comment is really....unbelievable....

@soleram: I absolutely respect your religious beliefs but your insensitivity to the whole situation is quite disgusting & disturbing.

Unless you have personally experienced EVERYTHING that Park Yong-ha has gone through, you have no right to call him a coward.

Have some respect for the deceased please and I really hope that you will try to help out people around you who are going through depression...by helping out I mean being sensitive to their feelings and not calling them a coward.

before I open this post I'm crossing my fingers that I've just misread the title about Park Yong Ha being dead and that there is another actor having that same name and then........I've read many celebrities committing suicides but this is the first time I felt like crying, really.....committing suicide at such a young age....can't fully comprehend....my prayers goes to family and loved ones he left behind.....rest in peace Park Yong Ha...you'll surely be missed.....

I was shocked and disappointed knowing that such a young, goodlooking and talented actor ended his life. I was even anticipating for his new project. I wonder why koreans tend to resort to suicide whenever they feel depressed. Is that something they can control due to psychological reasons or they were just to weak to face reality. Anyway, all I can say is that may his soul rest in peace.

No!! I looked on my twitter and I saw that Suju´s Donghae had tweeted about this and I was so shocked!! I really have no words to say about this... these past few years many of my favourite actors/actresses have died and now I have to add Yongha to that list and it makes me so sad, I really feel bad for his family who on top of having a sick father now don´t have a son.... oh this is so sad!

I.am.crying. :(

YongHa-shi, WHY???

I may not understand why you did it but I do pray that you are at peace now. Though you may not realize the pain your parents might be feeling right now. Wherever you are, be at peace. Many, many people are saddened by your death. I hope that you know somehow that you are well-loved, even if during your life you felt that you are alone.

I love you PD Lee KyungMin! Forever!

:(

@passerby

Looks like you have provided some answers to the
question "Why did it happen?". Thanks you.

RIP Park Yong Ha.

first, my greatest condolences to friends, family, and co-workers of park yong-ha. i can both sympathize and empathize with the situation you are in. i know how hard it can be to lose someone close to you to suicide. i hope that you all will be able to help each other through these hard times.
also, RIP park yong-ha. though we may never know what exactly was in your mind when you came to your decision.

and to anyone being rude, please be more understanding of the situations that lead to suicide. i am in no way endorsing suicide but am saying that people who decide to are in tough situations (whether it be depression or the stress of life).

i really do hope that korea will implement some kind of program or laws to help celebrities out. they are such high-profile people that i'm scared to think what younger generations think. plus, it also concerns me how these suicides don't seem to stop. too much is too much and management companies, the government, SOMEONE has to do SOMETHING!

Oh my god. At first, I thought, Park Yong Hwa is foun dead, oh, maybe it was like a practical joke. But Dramabeans isn't a place where we joke about these things or report things that are jokes. I read the title over and over again and just stared at his picture just in utter shock at how someone so lively could be gone so easily. I can't believe it, I can't believe it. That's all that's running through my mind. "Maybe they made a mistake, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE" but I'm sure it's definitely him. You will be dearly missed Park Yong Ha, I don't know what you were thinking or what state of mind you were in when you decided to end your life, but I pray that your family will be okay. That they'll have good people supporting them and protecting them from the media frenzy. You were amazing, thank you for everything you've given us even though we couldn't give much back. Thank you.

When the first time i saw this news, i thought that the title must be the gimmick for his upcoming drama!!
But, after i scroll down and read further, OMG!! I'm speechless!!
What a really waste time since he was borned until the day he died!!
How could he end his life this way!
Please people, dont commit suicide! No matter who you are, how depression you are, commit suicide is not the way to run from your problems!
Regardless of what happen, greatest condolences to his family and friends.

so many thoughts ran across my head as i read this.
i think the best everyone can do right now, to respect this man, is just wish him to find the peace that he couldn't find while he was with us. i wish his parents, his mother especially, to be able to cope with this. even just thinking about being in his parents' places is horrifying, especially his mother, who must've thought she would at least have her son to rely on after her husband's (perhaps) passing...

i feel sick and furious at the lack of respect shown to him by the thread. he should find the rest he needed, and peacefully at that...

I'm in utter shock. RIP PYH.

This is tragic. When I first heard about his death on the news last night, I was just as shocked as anybody else in the whole wide world who knew him was. I couldn't bring myself to believe it either. The ripple effect of the suicides in Korea has once again taken one of my favorite actors away.
My condolences and RIP

So very sad to hear his passing......how cld he just choose this easy way out without consideration of his mama and family. Imagine her agony on looking after cancer sufferring husbad and had to discover son's body.... PHY is really ...well he must be at his wits being pushed to the little corner with no turning space. Being so attached to his parents and yet has to choose detachment. I will pray & share merits made with PHY spirit to lessen suffering..

So I've taken a day to soak this all in. It's still over whelming. But as much sorrow as I feel-I can only imagine it's even more with the people who know him. It's saddening. But I hope he's at peace now, and I have a strong feeling there will be campaigns against suicide and alternatives to depression. This might be started by sjs(road number one), his best friend.

He is so goodlooking and talented why??? He really looke like he would
live life to the fullest. It's sad that nobody knew his hardship.
Wished he had faith in God maybe he would've still be alive.

I think this is an awakening to everyone to love one another just as his love songs because nobody knows anyone's hardship.

Rest In Peace Park Yong Ha.
It’s so heartbreaking, behind his wonderfull talent and happy smile with a hint of sad eyes…such a sad ending.
I wonder how is his poor father doing? can’t even imagined how much pain he’s in right now. Please be strong

To take his own life if that's true! I still cannot believe this!
Park Yong Ha must have been very sinful and senseless to do such a thing when his loved ones, his father is struggling to live to stay like him a healthy person. Really to hide away from reality, is this his final solution, there must be more answers in him leaving this world in this way, only God knows for now.

He must be very cruel to leave his loved ones in this way, from a STAR he has just drop to ground zero!! A story heard is a story learned.

Put a stop to this wrongdoing to cease living by one's act and out of mind at the spur of a moment or there lies a totally different answer!

The parents and siblings must be devastated by his thoughtless act!

Also many friends and fans who are in a lost over his sudden loss that's going to take sometime to return to normal.

To sum it I have lost respect to a person who takes his own life without respect just to escape and being young and resourceful he really miss his chance to stay alive! He prefers to cut his life away therefore just discard him away too! He is not worth a penny now!

I saw him first in loving you...Did not recognize him in Winter Sonata because he was heavier and hair color was different. I thought he and Eugene used to date? Clinical Depression is usually not very evident...it's more than just physical signs...depressed people can come across as happy and well adjusted but deep down they have a lot of unanswered issues that can bring about despair and hopelessness. It is not the same as Manic-Depression or Bipolar Syndrome...because the mood swings are very obvious. People with M-D usually are diagnosed and get help but not all depressed people are diagnosed and in the end, the depression is known or taken seriously only after the suicide. This is very sad and tragic to happen to one of Korea's talented actors.

I so agree with Peanut Butter's comment. Hopefully South Korea's government will look into this.

Why?
Why?
Life is so difficult.
Why you feel so sad to dead??????
Why?
so sorry for u
How much u suffer before death....?
good bye
May be good luck in next life....

WEAK! that's all i can say,.. but sad,

I really shock and still fell terrible of knowing that we are loosing him early in a such young age... He was my only favorite actor from Korea when I see Winter Sonata for the first time...

We in Indonesia are really loosing one of our favorite Asian actor... I can not imagine how his Dad feeling right now, I hope that he's okay... I pray for your goodness in heaven... missing you a lot... T_T

Oh.. I'm still in shock after hearing and reading the news.....
This is such a sad news....
Condolences to his friends and family....
RIP Park Yong Ha... You'll be surely missed.....

R.I.P park yong-ha.. my prayers are with you...

this is SHOKING...
when i first read it at allkpop, i just say 'god, please tell me this is just a prank'..
afteri read that news i just couldn't sleep...it just make me to miss him~

WOW...PYA is dead...That means suddendly we won't see him again...I discovered the news yesterday and today I woke up to really digest that he is dead but I still cannot process it.

Why is it being immediately assumed that it was a suicide by the news? Was the investigation over that fast? I mean, the few clues given seem a little too shaky to hold together as evidence that he was considering suicide, especially given that he'd made plans. And the fact that he used the cell phone recharger wire - that seems to me to be a spur of the moment kind of choice, to use something so thin and potentially flimsy/ or maybe a weapon of opportunity. Just seems a bit far-fetched to me.

@ Andrew
It is a private matter. If it's his family's wishes - that is that.
Nothing more to investigate. The final word. Perhaps that is best.

I personally feel his act was impulsive (under the influence of very high stress + sleep deprivation + alcohol combined). He comes in from a stressed, hyped up opening Round 1 of J concert-tours to a brief home visit. To sneak in a visit to his dad in suffering. On top of that, a new drama in the sidelines (complete with discussions, media promotions etc) waiting to happen.

For those who say he's "weak and cowardly" with this choice ... try it yourself. Challenge your sanity with a string of emergencies, all at the same time. Go at it alone WITHOUT bothering anyone, or asking for help.
How does one cope? Having a family member on a cancer downward spiral is tough enough for any normal person. It's depressing to witness and handle, especially when prolonged. On top of that this guy has to contend with a rigorous round of concerts, and a new drama and who knows what else on the side.

Overall, a mood which will greatly impair any normal, rational judgement.
Especially when coupled by his grief upon witnessing his dad in pain when he goes home (a gut-wrenching depressing sight for anyone to digest of their loved one).

Ponder also:
= How do we know the facts are what we read? There might be MORE to it, just as there might be LESS to this whole sad affair. for eg:

a) there might be more: maybe there was a quarrel (NOT SAYING THERE IS) ... but which family would want all their clean or dirty linen aired in public?

and really, what good would it do anyway? especially since their poor son is already dead?

b) there might be less: i think it's trashy enough the media-police dugged up his company problems, his visiting a used car dealer and all.

So does putting 2 + 2 = 4?
Or is it = 6?
What I am saying is - unless we actually live in someone's household - we don't really know. Even in his close proximity .... his family and friends may not thoroughly know PYH's stressors and worries, beyond what he CHOOSES to let them see and know.

Things may be NOT be what they seem. It's all pure speculation on everyone's part. Even facts that look like facts ... everything can be manipulated conveniently to suit any situation.

Like maybe he just wanted to sell his car to buy another more-expensive make or model, and the timing of his sale-enquiry is unfortunately coincidental.
Now because he impulsively suicides .. the media immediately speculates on his financial state and puts 2 + 2 together. Aha - financial troubles!

Yes? No? Maybe? We don't know.
Just because all the facts are out there ... we SHOULD NOT assume we know either because unless he says so - no one really knows.

His passing is a huge SHOCK to all of us.
The WHAT? WHY?? It can't be PYH!!! first reactions are unanimous.

I think the best respect and support we can give him is to leave the family alone to grieve in peace. The poor folk need the quiet. The space.

Religious moralisers can positively re-direct their sermons to praying for him and his family members instead.
Doing good does NOT mean swaying everyone else to your ONE point of religious view. Acceptance, open-minded tolerance and compassion are all part of all the respective religious do-good teachings out there, no?

I prefer to best remember him in my favorite role - the quietly observant but stubbornly strong PD Lee Kyung-min.

RIP Park Yong-ha.

@ passer by, I agree with your points of withholding judgment until more facts avail themselves. I do think it does a huge disservice to Park Yong-ha and anyone who wants to do their part in combat the depression/suicide link, to frame the tragedy of suicide as thoroughly and completely as one of "impulse".

The decision may be made with a quickness that implies "impulsive", but the path that led a person there (the long, arduous suffering with detrimental effects to health/"sanity" the sufferer didn't predict) is where our focus should be - because nothing is more important than detection and prevention, before it is too late.

If socio-cultural norms prevent people suffering from depression and tremendous mental stress from showing any "cracks" in their perfect veneer, and also encourage people around them to turn a blind eye, shrug off the tell-tale signs (no matter how small - like throwaway quips of wanting to "end it all") - then people need to get more attentive for signs/symptoms, get assertive and stay on their guards for "suicide watch" when one is needed.

No more excuses.

@ed

"The decision may be made with a quickness that implies “impulsive”, but the path that led a person there (the long, arduous suffering with detrimental effects to health/”sanity” the sufferer didn’t predict) is where our focus should be – because nothing is more important than detection and prevention, before it is too late."

Very well said.

@ 6 ed

I am with you there on the prevention and treatment re: depression

While 'depression' is the fundamental issue ... I think in each case of suicide there is whole lists of contributing whys to study too.
ie to say the contributing environmental factors should NOT be dismissed either.
each time, they're swept under the carpet.

For starters:
1) The (perhaps, i don't know) 'inhumane' expectations of each Kperformer.
Surely there can be more forgiving scheduling?
Revealing is the production companies' reaction to their new's drama now non-existent main lead.

Crazy working conditions in which they sometimes only catch a mere 2 hours of sleep. Concurrent dramas back to back.

Overall the package impairs judgement and sanity. (Coffee Prince's Lee Eom and his accident comes to mind too, or how many performers have needed to be hospitalised for exhaustion and fatigue. Is this sane?)

2) The reactions of society.
Education and open-mindedness are lacking. Ignorance.

Being able to seek the much-needed help and support WITHOUT the additional stress of needing to face finger-pointing, judgement, and gossip.
That is fundamental.

It's common in the West to hear someone is taking depression medication ... yet it's ignorantly considered 'near-asylum condition' in some traditional Asian circles.

It's is devastating to see such a remarkable and handsome guy go. I prayed to God for his forgiveness. If PYA really did take his life, that's just sad, pathetic, and unnecessary. I'm so mad and sad. He had such a bright future and he could have used his $$$ to get some medical help. Most importantly, he could have turned to God for help! How depressing!

Double OOps! on my prev comment...I meant PYH not PYA!