On the afternoon of November 12, the whole of Asia was shocked by the news of Song Jae Rim’s sudden death. The actor’s funeral was held at Yeouido St. Mary’s Funeral Home at 12 noon on November 14. He was 39 years old. According to the police, the actor died in an apartment in Seongdong-gu, Seoul and a two-page A4 suicide note was found at the scene.

Song Jae Rim’s sudden death shocked the public.

On the same day, Song Jae Rim’s former management agency told TV Daily, “We don’t know his future after his exclusive contract expired earlier this year.” 

Song Jae Rim was born in 1985, originally a model but then entered acting with his first movie Actresses in 2009. Just 1 year later, the actor got closer to the audience through a supporting role in the blockbuster TV series that caused a fever in Asia, Secret Garden . Although he only appeared as a supporting actor, his natural acting received many compliments from the audience. The biggest turning point in the actor’s career must be mentioned as the blockbuster The Moon Embracing The Sun – a movie with an average rating of more than 40% and exploded strongly throughout Asia. 

Song Jae Rim in Moon Embracing the Sun – the movie that created a big turning point for the male actor

In the film, Song Jae Rim plays Kim Jae Woon – Lee Hwon’s loyal bodyguard. Although he doesn’t have as many scenes as Kim Soo Hyun or Jung Il Woo, Jae Woon is still a character that receives a lot of love from viewers because of his sharp eyes, cold demeanor and beautiful action scenes. Continuing his success, Song Jae Rim gradually tried to escape from supporting roles and affirmed his acting ability when he became the male lead in Nail Shop Paris, Fantasy Tower, Fantasy Tower, Unkind Ladies, Drama Stage Season 3: Big Data Romance, Blood Riding Love ,… Before his death, the actor had appeared in a total of 26 TV series, 11 films, 1 online project and 1 film that was still in the planning stage.

The actor also received love and support after participating in the reality TV show  We Got Married  with actress Kim So Eun. At that time, the actress praised her co-star, and admitted that Song Jae Rim was her ideal boyfriend.

The audience was shocked by the shocking death of the actor when in 2024, Song Jae Rim was still very active in the arts. The actor appeared in two films, Queen Woo and  My Military Valentine , and he also appeared in the musical  The Rose of Versailles, which just ended last month. Not to mention, the actor also has a film scheduled to air, Death Business . In all projects, the actor still participated in script readings, showing no signs of mental instability. 

Image of the actor at the Queen Woo script reading in August 2023 (2nd photo from right)

Image of the actor in Queen Woo which was just aired in August 2024

He plays the role of a prince who was dethroned by his father but always dreams of regaining the throne.

Talking more about Death Business , the film tells the story of a group of young criminals who started a business by taking advantage of bonuses from the elderly, children and disabled. But their business failed and they were forced to close the business. At this time, the group unexpectedly received a Series A funding from a mysterious organization through a virtual currency service. Unexpectedly, this amount of money led them to an irreversible end. The film completed post-production and was about to air at the end of 2024, no one could have expected that it would become the actor’s last work.

Death Business becomes the actor’s last film

Song Jae Rim at the Death Business script reading in November 2023 (center photo)

On his SNS account, Song Jae Rim’s most recent post was 41 weeks ago. His last post was in March last year. The actor also restricted the comment function and changed his account name to “The Long Journey Begins”, making fans even more heartbroken by the unexpected news. 

The actor’s last SNS post

The last pictures of the late actor on his personal page