Sulli's lips twitch as a strange English song with an elegiac melody starts to play-it's a song that strikes most people as ghoulish and nihilistic. As if on cue, the disconsolate-looking Sulli chews her lip reflectively and makes a moue. Having done that, she grins, tucks her chin, then appears stricken again, a small frown creased her forehead. Then, she narrows her eyes, sticks her tongue out and smirks in a way that can not be described in words. Vincent van Gogh might have done the same thing before he put a gun to his own head and pulled the trigger. Actually, Sulli just followed suit; she killed herself several days later in her own house.

Authorities claim that her manager found her body in her house near Seoul, which is the capital of South Korea. And a bobby told the press that " it seems she killed herself, but we will leave all possibilities open and investigate."

This is not the first time that a K-pop star has committed suicide. Kim Jong-hyun, who was a member of a band called SHINee, killed himself back to 2017. And the band happens to be part of SM , which is a marquee record label in South Korea. Ironically, Sulli worked for SM as well before she ended her own life.

The news that Sulli killed herself has caused a stir in both South Korea and China, with shell-shocked and aggrieved fans flocking to commiserate with Sulli, whist flaying inhuman treatment of Sulli by some online bullies, who kept vilifying and pillorying her when she was still alive. In retrospect, their hatred and invective against Sulli may have been the principle reason why Sulli chose to kill herself at the age of 25. Above all, her detractors' resentments against her reached a new level after they started calling her a trog or slag when they found out that she once claimed that she "would prefer not to wear a bra." The plot thickens. Some of her detractors also used the press to vent their spleen on Sulli. Case in point: a Korean TV host even badgered Sulli to check out some bill-infused letters written by her detractors; he demanded that she read out loud on TV. Such in-your-face remarks uttered by such bullies had taken a toll on Sulli's life and aggravated her worsening health condition, turning her into a self-loathing girl whose mental state had been racked by self-doubt and self-abnegation.

In another personal online show she performed when she was still alive, Sulli was found asking the viewers a harrowing question. " Why are you guys trashing me like this? What have I done? I'm a nice girl. Just tell me. Did I do anything that's beyond the pale"? demanded Sulli, her voice dripping with sadness. Then she smiled just like other celebrities who would hate to rile viewers by acting like a cantankerous sort.

She had no choice but to smile in a nation where celebrities are subject to intense pressure and cyber-bullying. It's so sad that Korea's toxic fandom won't go away simply because one girl like Sulli used her death to decry or proscribe K-pop and disrespect for female celebs in South Korea. The biggest record labels and production companies in South Korea are said to be in cahoots with the richest men in South Korea. They simply consider female singers and actresses their toys or marionettes. And these well-to-do men happen to be the backsliders pulling strings behind the scenes. Harvey Weinstein would love to join them.

Tellingly, people will soon forget the haggard-looking Sulli. And I wouldn't be surprised to see the most influential production companies and woopies in South Korea hire people to besmirch Sulli's reputation, not to mention Sulli's detractors. Having said that, Sulli's decision to end her life in this way can be seen as an admonition for the Chinese or Korean girls striving to be the next Sulli or even Yoona.

They have to pay a price. Sulli would have told them.