Top South Korean model found dead

Last updated 22:38 20/11/2009

LAST WALK: Daul Kim has been found dead at her apartment in Paris.

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A top South Korean model who was a fixture at fashion week in Paris and London was found dead at her apartment in Paris, an official said.

Daul Kim, 20, was found dead on Thursday by French police, a Foreign Ministry official in Seoul said. The official declined to provide further details and asked not to be named, citing ministry policy.

Media reports called it an apparent suicide, but officials have not confirmed the cause of death. Her Seoul agency, Esteem, said her family and agency officials were heading to Paris.

Raised in Seoul and Singapore, Kim modelled in Asia before making her fashion week debut in Paris in 2007, modeling for Chanel, Dries van Noten and Maison Martin Margiela, among others, her agency said.

She became a fashion week regular in New York, Milan, Paris and London and most recently appeared during Seoul fashion week in October, according to Esteem.

Known for her thick mane of hair - sometimes dyed blonde - and her quirky sensibility, the 178cm model was celebrated for her sense of style. She was featured recently in a commercial for designer Christopher Kane's line of clothing for British retailer Topshop.

Kim also was an accomplished painter and video filmmaker who had a solo show of her artwork in Seoul. She often listed "collecting forks" as a hobby.

Bloggers in South Korea mourned her death, speculating she felt the pressure of high-fashion modelling and a loss of identity.

In an October 30 entry on her blog, Kim wrote she was "mad, depressed and overworked", and in another entry said "the more i gain the more lonely it is ... i know i'm like a ghost."

The last entry on her blog, dated November 18, was titled "say hi to forever" and carried a video of the song I Go Deep by British singer Jim Rivers.

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- AP