A former member of the group Fire Truck, singer Jeong Won-kwan expressed sorrow while recalling the late NRG member Kim Hwan-seong. The reason he suddenly passed away after 25 years was revealed.
On the 16th, a video titled "Singer Jeong Won-kwan Episode 5 (Finally thought I had one No. 1, 'G Cafe')" was released on the YouTube channel 'Song Seung-hwan's Wonderful Life.' On that day, Song Seung-hwan mentioned Jeong Won-kwan's days as a producer and asked, "You formed NRG and weren't you also the CEO of Jo PD's company?"
In response, Jeong Won-kwan recalled his active days, saying, "At that time the company also had about 20 comedians. I managed all the friends from MBC. Popular figures like Jung Sun-hee, Kim Jin-su, Go Myung-hwan, Moon Cheon-sik, and Son Heon-su were with our agency." He added, "This is a story from the early 2000s. Before that, Kim Tae-hyung and I did NRG, and before that there was a group called Hamo Hamo."
Jeong Won-kwan especially mentioned NRG member Kim Hwan-seong, saying cautiously, "Tae-hyung and I started it and stayed through NRG's second album before going independent. But after the first album, one of the NRG members suddenly lost his life."
He said, "It was sepsis. He had a cold, and after having a wisdom tooth removed it became infected and he suddenly passed away within three days," and recalled, "When that friend left like that, it was such a shock. After experiencing that, I thought 'I need to rest' and stepped away from the entertainment business to rest."
Kim Hwan-seong debuted in 1997 as part of the five-member NRG alongside Lee Sung-jin, Chun Myung-hoon, Noh Yoo-min, and Moon Sung-hoon. They released hit songs such as 'You Can Do It,' 'Breakfast at Tiffany's,' 'Messenger,' and 'Making Love,' and especially extended their reach beyond Korea into China and Taiwan, establishing themselves as first-generation Hallyu stars.
However, on June 15, 2000, he suddenly passed away, shocking fans. At the young age of 19, his early death saddened many.
The cause was initially reported as an unexplained viral acute respiratory illness, but it was later reported that he died of sepsis after wisdom tooth extraction, deepening fans' sense of loss.
[Photo] SNS
[OSEN]