K-pop idol and actress Kwon Mina has reportedly been rescued after attempting to take her own life on New Year’s Day, according to a series of deeply troubling Instagram posts she later deleted.
The 32-year-old, who has previously spoken openly about multiple suicide attempts, alarmed fans on January 1 when she shared a post titled "Goodbye and I’m sorry".
The message immediately sparked concern among followers familiar with her long and public struggles with mental health.
Approximately two hours later, Mina uploaded another post explaining that she had attempted suicide but had been discovered just in time.
Shortly after, she deleted her Instagram account entirely. According to AllKPop, she wrote: "If it had been left just a little longer, I really could have kept my promise today. But suddenly I heard noises, and someone started shaking me violently."
She went on to describe drifting in and out of consciousness before being saved again.
"My consciousness kept fading in and out, and I kept screaming "please" in my head, then I was rescued again. I've become like the boy who cried wolf," she wrote.
Mina further intensified fears by adding: "But I will keep my promise. Disappearing right in front of your eyes."
This is not the first time Mina has come close to losing her life.
In 2020, she attempted suicide and claimed the incident stemmed from years of bullying she said she endured while part of her former girl group AOA. In 2021, she was hospitalized again after being found unconscious in her home following another attempt.
In posts shared prior to her New Year’s attempt, Mina said she "wasn't in a normal state of mind" and described ongoing emotional pain linked to alleged bullying and an alleged sexual assault dating back to 2007.
"I did everything because I felt genuinely wronged. I hated feeling wronged so much that I gathered the courage to call things out, but in the end, I destroyed myself," she wrote.
She also revealed details of a prolonged legal battle, explaining: "I’ve been in trial for four years as a victim of sexual assault resulting in injury. While the assault itself was acknowledged, the injury was not proven. In the first trial, the perpetrator was found not guilty due to the statute of limitations."
Addressing the absence of physical evidence, Mina wrote: "I was afraid of retaliation, worried my mother would find out, had no money to go to the hospital, and instead had to hide."
She added that she continues to suffer from recurring nightmares and lasting trauma related to the alleged assault. The Daily Mail reported that it has contacted Mina’s management agency for comment.
Mina first rose to fame in 2012 as a member of the hugely successful girl group AOA. Known for their provocative and flirtatious image, the group produced multiple hit songs in South Korea and Japan, including Miniskirt, Heart Attack, and Like a Cat.
At the height of AOA’s popularity, Mina was among the group’s most prominent members and successfully expanded into acting. However, she left the group in 2019. One year later, she publicly accused fellow member Shin Jimin of bullying her during their time together.
Jimin denied the allegations, calling them "fiction", but the public fallout was severe. She ultimately left AOA and stepped away from the entertainment industry for two years.
Mina’s ordeal comes against the backdrop of a long and painful history of suicide within South Korea’s entertainment industry. Earlier this year, actress Kim Sae-ron, 24, was found dead at her home in Seoul after taking her own life.
In 2023, K-pop idol Moonbin, 25, was found dead in his apartment. He was widely known as a member of boy band Astro and as a cast member of Saturday Night Live Korea.
In 2019, singer and actress Sulli, 25, was found dead at her home in Seongnam. She had been a member of the globally acclaimed girl group f(x), celebrated for its experimental sound and style.
Just weeks after Sulli’s death, her close friend Goo Hara, 28, also died by suicide. Hara was a former member of girl group Kara, one of the highest-selling K-pop acts of all time. Her death followed a previous suicide attempt six months earlier, when she was found unconscious by her manager.
In 2017, Kim Jong-hyun, lead singer of boy band Shinee, died by suicide. It was suspected that he died from carbon monoxide poisoning.