[SBS Star] Late Sulli Discusses Hardships as a K-Pop Idol in Her Posthumous Anthology; Fans' Hearts Break

Late K-pop star Sulli revealed her struggles as a K-pop idol. 

On November 13, Netflix released Sulli's posthumous anthology 'Persona: Sulli'. 

'Persona: Sulli' consists of two parts; the first part is the opening act, which is a drama titled '4: Clean Island', and the second part is the anthology where Sulli shares her journey as a K-pop star while also reflecting on her life as a human being. 
In the second part, Sulli discussed various topics, and one of the things that she touched upon was whether she considered K-pop idols as laborers. 

Sulli shared her honest thoughts, "A lot of people don't seem to accept idols as human beings. I remember being constantly labeled as a 'product'. I actually didn't think it was that weird at first. But that was something that I heard the most after my debut." 

She continued, "Some might never directly refer to me as a 'product', but I was always treated like one. I had to act the ways they wanted me to act, and fear that I may lose my product value." 
Despite feeling this way, Sulli explained that she was unable to speak up or seek help for various reasons. 

"I couldn't express myself because I didn't know how to. I also didn't know if it was okay for me to share my opinions with others. On top of that, things weren't going to change even if I did tell them I was having a hard time anyway." 

"Nobody in the industry ever asked me if I was okay or how I was doing lately. The only thing I would do was blame myself and give myself pain. Those were the only options I had." 
Sulli went into a little more details after that, "There were times when I had to think that I was better than others in order not to get hurt while being in such a fierce competition within the entertainment business." 

She resumed, "I feel like I've been trapped in the word 'pretty' ever since I was young. When people told me that I was pretty, I wondered why they would say that to me. Their words made me think like I had to behave prettily at all times. If I wasn't a good girl in real life, people in fact did tell me off for it as well. So, I sometimes hated myself for being pretty.", then teared up. 
Back on October 14, 2019, Sulli's manager found Sulli dead at her home in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do.

Police concluded that Sulli took her own life based on the result of autopsy and investigation. 

(Credit= MISTIC STORY, SM Entertainment) 

(SBS Star)