[2] Her death caused a national scandal in 2009 when it was widely reported that she had been sexually and physically abused by a number of prominent entertainment executives during her career, including the CEO of Jang's former talent agency, The Contents Entertainment, Kim Sung-hoon.

[6] Since the death of her parents in a traffic accident in 1999, Jang had been living with her older sister and younger brother.

[7] Prior to her own death, Jang had been suffering from clinical depression and had received medical treatment for her condition during the past year.

During a phone call at 3:30 p.m. that afternoon, Jang had complained to her sister about the "overwhelming stress" she was under, saying that she "wanted to die".

[5] Having later been unable to reach her on the phone, Jang's sister returned to their shared home at 7:42 p.m. to find her body hanging from the stairway banister.

[8][9][10] According to widespread South Korean entertainment news reports, it was believed that Jang claimed that her agent Kim Sung-hoon had regularly beaten her and forced her to sleep with a string of VIPs, including directors, media executives and CEOs.

[11] It was unconfirmed that Jang wrote a 7-page note listing at least 31 names of media executives, CEOs, and directors that she claimed she was forced into having sex with.

[15] Approximately 250,000 fans visited Jang's website on the day of her death to express their condolences, with a further 700,000 visiting the site the following day,[7] while the entire cast of Boys Over Flowers paid their last respects at the mourning hall set up at the Seoul National University Hospital in Bundang.

[8] Jang's funeral was held there on 9 March, and was attended by family, friends and fellow actors, including Boys Over Flowers lead Ku Hye-sun.