Pianist Im Dong-hyuk left a message presumed to be a suicide note on his account and attempted an extreme act, prompting police to respond.
At about 7 a.m. on the 16th, Im Dong-hyuk left a long handwritten letter on his social account. In the letter, Im Dong-hyuk opened by saying, "I have suffered from severe depression my whole life as a performer. Since 2015 I have taken antidepressants every single day without fail. In fact, antidepressants themselves are not bad medicine. It would be fine to take them for life. But my chronic illness continuously and painfully afflicted me."
He went on, "In the end music was my everything. I have material saved on my computer that I never published. It concerns my ex-wife and person B. If I go, it will probably be released separately," hinting at an extreme act.
Earlier, in 2022, Im Dong-hyuk was sued on charges of sending obscene photos and obscene messages to his wife, who was in the middle of divorce proceedings. The police referred Im Dong-hyuk to the prosecution on charges of obscenity via communications media, but the prosecution dismissed the case, ruling that "sexual purpose" could not be established. However, ex-wife A posted screenshots of obscene messages she said she received from Im Dong-hyuk on an online community, along with photos suggesting an affair and sex work, causing a stir. Later, Im Dong-hyuk was tried on a charge related to sex work and was fined 1 million won in the first trial held in September this year.
In a handwritten letter, Im Dong-hyuk said, "My ex-wife A accused me during the divorce suit of sending 'obscene messages' and vilified me. But I did not send obscene messages and we were not in divorce proceedings. A had a hobby of collecting adult products. On Sept. 15, 2019, that person invited famous Korean artists to a group chat and defamed me, so I still behaved like a gentleman and separately sent that person's belongings," and claimed, "That person threatened me saying she would make a 'false MeToo' break out." He also said he was assaulted by A and appealed, "I am listing only things that have recordings and evidence. They will all be revealed after my death," and added, "All of this happened because my agency told me to stay quiet, so I remained silent," expressing his grievance.
Regarding the fine for sex work, he said, "I was wrong," but expressed betrayal, claiming that a person called "B" "accessed files on my phone, stole audio files and even registered her face on my iPhone without my knowledge, and with the stolen files reported me." He added, "In any case, I have had experience with sex work in my life and I was wrong. My mind and body can no longer bear it, so I decided to accept the first trial. As I said before, legally whatever it may be, I have had the experience and God will know, so I thought of it as punishment for that."
He named the person called B and claimed, "She was pure evil itself and a sociopath. She used my resentment and suffering over my ex-wife to threaten, control and abuse me." There was no exact explanation of who B is, but given that Im Dong-hyuk in October 2023 sued a former lover for extortion and threats, it is presumed to refer to a former partner.
Im Dong-hyuk said, "Because of her (person B) I now seem to take about 25 pills a day, including several controlled psychotropic drugs. My mind and body have collapsed and I am very lonely and solitary. I was certainly not an angel, but this world was too harsh for me to live in," and appealed, "In the end it is all my fault and my mistake. But please believe me. I may be somewhat vulgar, but my music is not." Along with this, Im Dong-hyuk attached materials supporting that it was not true he sent obscene photos to the aforementioned A and said, "I am leaving now, but after I am gone I think it will be okay to speak, so I entrust this writing to a friend."
As such, the post, which seemed to hint at an extreme act, ultimately led to a police response. According to Yonhap News on the same day, Seoul Seocho District received a report at about 8:30 a.m. that "Im Dong-hyuk is a concern" and went to a location in Seocho-dong, Seocho District, and rescued Im Dong-hyuk. Im Dong-hyuk is receiving treatment at a nearby hospital and is reported to be in no life-threatening condition.
Meanwhile, Im Dong-hyuk is a pianist who gained global attention by sweeping the world's three major competitions—the Queen Elizabeth Competition, the Chopin Competition and the Tchaikovsky Competition.
If you are struggling with hard-to-talk-about issues such as depression, or if a family member or acquaintance is experiencing such difficulty, you can receive 24-hour professional counseling via the suicide prevention hotline at 109, mental health counseling at 1577-0199, hope hotline at 129, lifeline at 1588-9191, youth hotline at 1388, the youth mobile counseling app "I'll listen to everything" and KakaoTalk.
[Photo] Im Dong-hyuk SNS
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