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November 21, 2009
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She left a music video posting of a British singer Jim Rivers’ “I Go Deep,” a day before her death on her personal blog at http://iliketoforkmyself.blogspot.com. The posting is titled “say hi to forever.” Observers say she may have suffered from insomnia and depression, which led her to claim her own life. Some say she could have died from drug overdose, just as Hollywood actor Heath Ledger did early last year. Her agency said in a statement she “was a top model and a great friend to all of us at Next. Please respect her family’s privacy at this time of sadness. We will all miss her very much.” It said it will release no further official statement regarding Kim’s death at the request of her family, and her funeral will take place in Paris. This year Kim left Elite Models, an agency in New York, signed with Next Model Management, and immigrated with her family to France. The 20-year-old model, who was 176 centimeters tall, gained the media spotlight while appearing on the Korean reality cable TV show, “I Am A Model” in 2007, for her chameleon yet quirky qualities that are atypical of ordinary Korean runway models. At age 13, she debuted as a model for L’Oreal cosmetics in Singapore, where lived with her family until she was 17. Over the past three years she has appeared in dozens of issues of domestic and international fashion magazines, including Vogue, and frequently modeled for Chanel and other couture shows by high-profile fashion houses such as Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Dries Van Noten and Maison Martin Margiela. She was also a regular at fashion weeks in New York, Paris, Milan and London, following in the footsteps of such Korean models as Hye Park and Han Jin (known as Park Hye-rim and Han Hye-jin in Korea), who competed with the world’s top models. Kim was the third Asian model to rank in the top 50 female models on Models.com. Two months ago, Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld chose Kim as his latest muse, featuring her in ads for his new collection. She was also featured in commercials for a collection by London-based fashion designer Christopher Kane for the British fashion retailer Topshop. She was also a painter and film director and authored a book on Seoul last year. New York Magazine ran a story about Kim’s death on its Web edition, saying “she will be missed.” By Seo Ji-eun [spring@joongang.co.kr] |
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