Singer and DJ Koo Jun-yup confirmed the death of his wife, Taiwanese actor Barbie Hsu, and said he was "not okay," according to local media outlet Ilgan Sports on Monday.

"It's not fake news," Koo added in a sad, grieving voice, the media outlet reported.


Hsu died from pneumonia at the age of 48. She was traveling in Japan with her family during the Lunar New Year holiday and suffered from pneumonia, triggered by influenza.

The news of Hsu's death was announced on Monday by her sister Dee Hsu, who is also active in the entertainment industry, through her agency.

Prior to the announcement, rumors spread through social media on Sunday that a Taiwanese actor died while visiting Japan, which later was speculated as Hsu.

The death came as a shock to Koo's fans who had been hoping the singer would have a happy ending with his "first love."

It was Hsu who reached out to Koo first when he debuted in Taiwan in 1998. The two celebrities then began dating in secret for about a year before Koo ended the relationship. In various interviews with local media after his marriage with Hsu, Koo said that he had ended the relationship because he was "under a lot of pressure from his agency about dating."

Hsu married Chinese businessman Wang Xiaofei in 2011 and the couple had two children together, but divorced in 2021.

Koo said he'd always "kept memories about her in his heart, but did not look her up or tried to contact her after hearing that she got married." But when he heard the news that she had a divorce, Koo said he "took courage and called her using the number he had kept for 20 years."

To Koo's surprise, Hsu had been using the same phone number and the two reunited dramatically. Koo often described in various interviews that their love story was "like a movie."

Their reunion was met with immense media attention, with Taiwanese broadcasters even livestreaming Koo's journey to Taiwan to reunite with Hsu. Koo revealed his marriage with Hsu by posting on his Instagram account in March 2022 that he intended to "continue the relationship that was left unfinished 20 years ago."

Hsu debuted as a singer in 1994 as ASOS with her sister Dee Hsu. She later began her career as an actor and rose to fame in Asia through her role in the Taiwanese version of the drama series “Boys Over Flowers” in 2001, also known as "Meteor Garden." The actor appeared in other TV series, including “Eternity: A Chinese Ghost Story” (2003).

Koo debuted in 1990 and gained fame as a member of the first-generation K-pop boy band Clon. The band released hit songs such as "Bing Bing Bing" (1997) and "Kung Ddari Sha Bah Rah" (1996).


BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]