Kim In-hyeok (; July 14, 1995 – February 4, 2022) was a South Korean indoor

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player. He played as an outside hitter for

Suwon KEPCO Vixtorm Suwon KEPCO Vixtorm () is a South Korean volleyball team. The team was founded in 1945 and became fully professional in 2008. They are based in Suwon Suwon (; ) is the largest city and capital of Gyeonggi Province, South Korea's most populous ...

from 2017 to 2020 and

Daejeon Samsung Fire Bluefangs Daejeon Samsung Fire Bluefangs () is a South Korean professional volleyball team. The team was founded in 1995 and became fully professional in 2005. They are based in Daejeon and are members of the Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO). Their hom ...

from 2020 until his death in 2022.

Early life and senior career

Kim In-hyeok was born on July 14, 1995, in

Gimhae Gimhae (, ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, situated near the Nakdong River. It is the seat of the large Gimhae Kim clan, one of the largest Kim (Korean name), Kim clans in Korea, cla ...

South Gyeongsang Province South Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World Heritage Site Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple tha ...

. He graduated from Jinju Dongmyung Middle School. He attended Jinju Dongmyung High School and competed as part of the school's volleyball team at the Samsung Fire Cup 69th National Men's and Women's Volleyball Championship in 2014. It won the competition by defeating Youngsaeng High School at the finals with a final score of 3–0. Kim earned the Best Player award for his performance. The team went on to win at 48th Presidential National Men's and Women's Middle High School Volleyball Championship, where he was credited in part for the team's victory. Kim later enrolled at

Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology (GNTECH; ) is a national university located in Jinju, South Korea. The university was integrated in the Gyeongsang National University Gyeongsang National University (GNU, 경상국� ...

. He joined

via rookie draft in 2017. In his second year, Kim left the team because of the difficulties he faced with the lifestyle of a volleyball professional and he cut off contact. He returned about a month later at the advice of the coach, staff, and teammates. In a match against

Cheonan Hyundai Capital Skywalkers Cheonan Hyundai Capital Skywalkers is a South Korean professional volleyball team. The team was founded in 1983 and became fully professional in 2005. They are based in Cheonan and are members of the Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO). Their ho ...

, Kim scored ten points via serve, a record among South Korean players and surpassing the 8-point record previously set by Hwang Du-yeon. In the 2019–20 V-League season, Kim scored 344 points in 32 matches. Early in the 2020–21 V-League season, Kim was traded to

. He sustained a torn finger during the first team practice, which impaired his ability to play. He scored six points in fifteen matches during the season and participated in two games the following season. By February 2022, he played a career total of 83 matches and scored 575 points.

International career

In 2015, Kim was selected for the

South Korea men's national volleyball team The South Korea men's national volleyball team () represents South Korea in international volleyball competitions and friendly matches, governed by Korea Volleyball Association. The Republic of Korea (ROK) has competed in the Olympic Games eigh ...

to compete in the 2015 Asian Men's U23 Volleyball Championship. He aided the squad in advancing to the quarterfinals by accumulating 38 points in the three preliminary matches, second only to Jung Ji-seok's 41 points. The team advanced to the finals, but lost 0–3 against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

; Kim was bestowed the Blocking Award.

Personal life and death

Throughout his career, Kim was subject to malicious online comments. He was accused of being gay, wearing makeup, and being a

pornographic film actor A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts on video that is usually characterized as a pornographic film. Such videos tend to be made in a number of distinc ...

. In August 2021, he pleaded with

netizen The term ''netizen'' is a portmanteau of the English words ''internet'' and ''citizen'', as in a "citizen of the net" or "net citizen". It describes a person actively involved in online communities or the Internet in general.

s to stop posting false information. On February 4, 2022, Kim's volley club was unable to get in contact with him. His home in

Suwon Suwon (; ) is the largest city and capital of Gyeonggi Province, South Korea's most populous province. The city lies approximately south of the national capital, Seoul. With a population of 1.2 million, Suwon has more inhabitants than Ulsan, tho ...

was visited by an acquaintance that day at around 3:00pm KST, who found Kim dead. He was 26 years old. Prior to his death, Kim added the text "1995.7~2022.2" to the description of his

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

profile, signifying his birth and death year. His body was transported to the Gimhae Hansol Rehabilitation & Convalescent Hospital. An investigation by the determined that there was no evidence of foul play. The death was ruled a suicide. At the request of his family, an autopsy was not performed. Entertainer

Hong Seok-cheon Hong Seok-cheon (born February 3, 1971) is a South Korean actor, television personality, restaurateur and member of the dissolved Democratic Labor Party. He caused considerable controversy in his home country when he came out as gay in 2000, ...

mourned Kim, lamenting his inability "to save another friend". Two days after his death, in their match against Ansan OK Financial Group Okman, the players of Daejeon Samsung Fire Bluefangs wore a ribbon on their jerseys in tribute to Kim. Ahead of the match, both teams observed a ten-second

moment of silence A moment of silence (also referred to as a minute's silence or a one-minute silence) is a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to flying a flag at half-mast, a moment of silence is often a gesture o ...

References

{{Reflist 1995 births 2022 suicides 2022 deaths 21st-century South Korean sportsmen Daejeon Samsung Fire Bluefangs players Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology alumni Outside hitters Sportspeople from Gimhae South Korean men's volleyball players Suicides in South Korea Suwon KEPCO Vixtorm players