Kim Sung-jae was born on April 18th, 1972. He was a South Korean singer, rapper, dancer, and model. He is known as a member of Deux, an influential first-generation K-Pop group and Korean hip-hop group that gained prominence in the early 1990s. Kim Sung-jae was murdered in 1995 at the age of 23 years old. Although it was a long time ago, his death is still considered a mystery and has not been solved to this day. In 1995, Kim Sung-jae was found dead in a hotel room on the night of his solo debut. This certainly broke the hearts of the fans and his groupmate Lee Hyun-do. This incident became a huge K-Pop scandal involving an idol, especially being the first-ever of this kind that had happened at the time. An autopsy showed that his right arm had needle marks and it appeared he had been injected with animal sedatives in high doses. It was finally suspected as murder with his girlfriend as the main suspect. Want to know the details about the death of first-generation idol Kim Sung-jae? In this article, Channel-Korea will provide you with details about the tragic death of first-generation K-Pop idol Kim Sung-jae in 1995 and the aftermath of his death. So, stay tuned and keep scrolling down.
Kim Sung-jae As A Popular Idol
During his lifetime, Kim Sung-jae was a very popular first-generation idol. He was a member of the rapper duo Deux, who debuted in the 1990s. Deux was a K-Pop duo that debuted in 1993 with an album titled Deux and the hit song “Turn Around and Look at Me.” Deux was a K-Pop duo that introduced hip-hop music to the music genre in South Korea. Besides being famous for their hip-hop music, Deux were also known for their dance and hip-hop style clothing. Deux managed to attract the attention of the community at that time. Popular among the people, Deux, whose music was of the hip-hop genre, had a serious and quite large fan base. Unfortunately, in 1995, Deux was disbanded because the members decided to pursue solo careers. Lee Hyun-do and also Kim Sung-jae decided to make a solo debut after Deux disbanded. After disbanding, member Kim Sung-jae made his solo debut by releasing the song “As I Told You” on November 19th, 1995. Not only he released the song, but Kim Sung-jae also performed his new song on SBS GAYO 20, a popular music program at the time.
Kim Sung-jae’s Girlfriend As The Suspect Of His Murder
A surprising piece of news came after Kim Sung-jae made his solo debut. On November 20th, 1995, Kim Sung-jae was found dead in a hotel room. He was found with 28 used syringes on his right hand. Initially, the investigators suspected that he had died of an overdose. But the National Institute of Scientific Investigation found traces of animal anesthetics in his blood. This directly referred to the allegation that Kim Sung-jae’s death was actually a murder. Allegations directly lead to Kim Sung-jae’s girlfriend at the time who was known as Kim. Kim became the prime suspect after being found buying an anesthetic for animals. Witnesses later emerged, confirming that Kim had bought the animal anesthetic. The court rolled in, Kim who was named as the main suspect then received a death sentence. But in the middle of the court process, the witness changed her statement by saying that she had forgotten. Because of these changes, Kim was later released on the grounds of lack of evidence. Of course, this sparked the anger of fans and relatives and Lee Hyun-do, Kim Sung-jae’s partner in Deux. But in the end, Kim remained acquitted of charges. The news stated that Kim came from a wealthy family, the owner of 10 pharmacies and she was even related to politicians. This case was later closed but until now it still remains a deep mystery. Lee Hyun-do, his partner in Deux, released a song dedicated to the memory of Kim Sung-jae.
The Aftermath Of Kim Sung-jae’s Death
Fans sent a petition to re-investigate the Kim Sung-jae death case. On April 2nd, 2018, a petition titled “Please Investigate the Kim Sung-jae Case” appeared on the Blue House petition page. On April 5th, 2018, more than 3000 fans joined this petition. On November 19th, 1995, Kim Sung-jae, a 24-year-old member of the popular duo DEUX had a successful solo debut with the song “As I Told You.” That night, Kim Sung-jae spent the night at the hotel with a staff member and his girlfriend. The day after that, on November 20th, 1995, Kim Sung-jae was found dead in a hotel with 28 needle stick marks on his arm and chest. Traces of tiletamine-zolazepam (a type of injection anesthesia for animals) were also found in his body. However, the national forensic service finally claimed his death was caused by “Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome” or the sudden and unexpected death of an adult while sleeping or commonly referred to as a heart attack. Meanwhile, his girlfriend was the person who was suspected to have killed Kim Sung-jae because she bought the drug that caused the death of Kim Sung-jae. His girlfriend came from a non-celebrity circle and was proven to have been together with Kim Sung-jae the night before he died. At that time, there was also a witness who stated that she bought animal sedatives at the drugstore. She was sentenced to death for the case, but later escaped the clutches of law because of the help of her family. To date, no perpetrators have been convicted of this case. The mystery of Kim Sung-jae’s death still leaves curiosity because the case is just closed. Netizens want a re-investigation to find out the truth. Some netizens commented, “His girlfriend is very suspicious,” “His girlfriend might be the real killer,” “Please re-investigate. We lost a very talented person at a young age,” “This needs to be reinvestigated.”
K-Pop Idols Commemorate Kim Sung-jae
To commemorate the work of the late Kim Sung-jae, a number of well-known South Korean idols brought back their debut solo song from the late Kim Sung-jae, “As I Told You.” They also performed the song on end-year festival music programs and variety programs. The famous idols include BTS and also Monsta X. Below is the appearance of BTS and Monsta X performing the song “As I Told You” by Kim Sung-jae to commemorate his work!
