Stamped His Fingerprint, Saying "I Have Suffered from Depression for a Long Time"
Pianist Lim Donghyuk, 41, posted a message on social media suggesting an extreme decision, prompting the police to respond.
According to the Seocho Police Station in Seoul on December 16, a report was received at around 8:30 a.m. that "there are concerns about Lim Donghyuk." Police rescued Lim at a location in Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu. He was transferred to a hospital for treatment and is currently reported to be in stable condition.
At 7:34 a.m. that day, Lim posted a handwritten note on social media. In the message, he revealed that he had been suffering from depression for a long time and expressed feelings of isolation and alienation in his life as a performer.
He also stated that he had been taking antidepressants since 2015 and explained that the gap between the applause on stage and being left alone in everyday life after performances had become a significant mental burden. "Perhaps it was even harder for me because I am inherently prone to loneliness," he wrote, adding, "There were times when I relied on alcohol, but in the end, music was everything to me."
Lim also directly addressed the controversies surrounding him in his letter. Regarding his relationship with his ex-wife, he wrote, "There are materials I wrote on my computer but never released. They are about my ex-wife and others, and if I am gone, they will probably be made public separately." He continued, "My ex-wife claimed that I sent obscene messages during our divorce proceedings, but I did not send any, and we were not even in the middle of divorce proceedings."
At the end of his letter, Lim wrote, "I may be somewhat vulgar, but my music is not," and added, "I have been happy and grateful thanks to all of you," signing off with a fingerprint and the time '12/16, 5:35 a.m.'
Lim Donghyuk drew attention in 2005 when he won joint third prize at the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland. Since then, he has been recognized as a widely known performer in the Korean classical music scene, having placed in major international competitions such as the Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Queen Elisabeth competitions.
Meanwhile, in 2020, Lim Donghyuk was prosecuted on charges of prostitution at a massage parlor in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and was fined 1 million won in the first trial in September this year.
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