K-Pop Star Who Died Due To Overbooked Schedule And Company Pressure

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In 2003, while the Korean comedy scene was at its peak, a comedian named Kim Hyung Eun made her debut and quickly rose to popularity. Three years later, she debuted as an idol in a girl group named Charlie’s Angels (Korean name: MinyeoSamCheongSa). The group consisted of two other members, Shim Jin Hwa and Jang Kyung Hee.

The trio originally started as a comedy skit parodying the popular franchise of Charlie’s Angels, but their popularity had them promoting as full-fledged singers soon.

The group debuted with the single “Unmyeong” and garnered significant popularity, to the point where they started getting booked for one event after another. Be it festivals, school parties, or brand events, the Korean Charlie’s Angels were everywhere.

Three months into their career, however, the group got into a dangerous car accident, which changed their lives forever. Kim Hyung Eun sustained a neck fracture, which eventually ended up claiming her life when she was just 25. However, it wasn’t a case of a simple accident. Shim Jin Hwa later came forward and blamed their label for the incident and called Kim’s death unjust.

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What really happened on the day of the accident?

As per reports, on December 16, 2006, the group had back-to-back event appearances scheduled. In the evening, they were supposed to perform in the Gwanghwamun area in Seoul, after which they had to immediately head to the Young-pyoung area, 185 km away. Since the former performance got delayed, it was almost impossible for them to reach the latter event on time. However, their CEO, reluctant to lose out on money, insisted that their manager drive them to the second venue as soon as possible.

According to Shim Jin Hwa’s statements, their manager started driving the car at full speed. In fact, she claimed that he was going at the speed of 220 kmph, but the speedometer only showed 200 kmph, as it was the highest it could measure. She recalled smelling burning tires because of how fast the vehicle was going. During a downhill descent, the car ultimately crashed into a divider at a curve and was completely crushed at the front.

All of the members were badly injured, with Kim hurt the worst. She remained in a coma for several days, and on December 26, underwent a major surgery lasting nine hours to reposition her dislocated vertebrae. However, the surgery caused damage to her neck blood vessels, which caused excessive bleeding. On December 31, she suffered her first cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated through CPR, which ended up damaging her already fractured ribs. She had to rely on a cardiac monitor to survive and never regained consciousness.

In the following days, there were some meek signs of improvement. However, she passed away on January 10, at 1 am KST, from a second cardiac arrest. According to reports, before losing consciousness after the crash, her last words were, “I want to live.”

Her death had a profound effect on her fellow members. Jang Kyung Hee retired from comedy and broadcasting altogether and later transitioned to theatre acting. Shim Jin Hwa fell into depression and paused her career for the time being. She later returned to become one of the leading comedians in the industry.

Kim’s death became a huge public spectacle as her company tried to cover up the facts around the accident. The agency claimed that the car was not speeding and that they were in no rush to attend the next event. A third-party vehicle expert later debunked these claimed. Media investigations later also revealed that the agency was trying to cover up the facts.

However, their shady business didn’t stop there. Shim Jin Hwa later revealed that their company took the entirety of the ₩100 million KRW (about $72,800 USD) life insurance payout from the accident. The company reportedly made its artists sign up for insurance policies where, in case of an accident, the money would get paid to the artist directly, but in case they pass away, the insurance money would instead go to the agency. Before the family could even understand what had happened, they had already settled with the agency for USD 100,00. Later, the company claimed to be struggling financially and told the family that they could only pay USD 50,000 for their loss. However, Kim’s parents later revealed that they ended up receiving only USD 24,000 dollars.

Shim Jin Hwa also revealed that all of them were living like “slaves,” earning money for the agency, while they themselves lived in poverty. Despite their 47 TV shows, 29 radio appearances, and 10 live performances, the members only made USD 2000 each through their activities as Charlie’s Angels. The company staff, such as the makeup artist and stylist, also didn’t receive their payments and eventually left.

Though tragic, Kim Hyung Eun’s incident was not a one-off tragedy. In the past many years, multiple idol groups have faced similar accidents due to impractical schedules and pressure from their agency. Girl group SECRET had a similar car crash in 2012, but thankfully, all members survived. Super Junior also got into a deadly crash, which ended up injuring multiple members severely. Another girl group, Ladies Code, also suffered a similar accident, which claimed the lives of two of its members, EunB and Rise.

Ladies’ Code investigators find speeding to be the cause of tragic car accident

These incidents serve as a bitter reminder of how little artists’ lives are valued by their own agencies, and despite the standards improving with the globalization of K-Pop, it is imperative for fans to remember that the glamor and glitz of an idol’s life is not the whole truth.

You can watch KBS’s whole documentary about Kim Hyung Eun’s death here: