Singer Kim Jang-hoon was admitted to Hyundai Asan Hospital on Tuesday morning after suffering from a severe panic attack, an affliction that has haunted him since childhood.

Kim took part in a concert hosted by a cable TV channel in Seoul on Monday, but before he stepped onto the stage, he found himself struggling to breathe and felt pain in his chest, so he cancelled the engagement and went to the hospital, Kim's management agency said.

Typical symptoms of a panic attack include sudden feelings of fear and anxiety accompanied by chest pains, dizziness and the inability to breathe properly. In 2008, Kim confessed on a TV program that he has been suffering from such attacks since he was very young.

On the way to the Dokdo Islets for a concert to assert Korea's sovereignty over the territory, which Japan also claims, in March of this year, he suffered another attack on the boat there. He said he barely managed to make the five-hour trip to the islets with the help of some sedatives.

Kim's acquaintances say Kim seems bright and cheerful when he appears on TV, but this merely masks a more shy personality who veers away from social contact, meaning that there are very few fellow celebrities in his close circle of friends.

Kim has held dozens of large concerts a year and has been very active in social issues, including making huge donations to charity and carrying out a campaign to protect Dokdo.

He has apparently been under a lot of pressure and stress recently due to his busy schedule. The singer published a book of photographs about Dokdo, released a number of new songs and has been preparing for a series of concerts.

Woo Jong-min, a professor at the Department of Psychiatry at Inje University's Paik Hospital in Seoul said, "Kim seems to have relied on medication in order to appear before audiences, but his symptoms must have deteriorated due to the intense stress."

Source: Chosun