A rising star in the dizzying world of high-fashion modelling known as much for her quirky sensibility and fondness for Tolstoy as her lustrous hair and doll-like features has been found hanged in her Paris apartment.

As news of South Korean Daul Kim's death sent shockwaves through the industry, and raised questions in a country rocked by a string of celebrity suicides, a French police official confirmed that the 20-year-old's body had been discovered by a friend yesterday morning.

Kim's agent, Alessandra Bertoldini of the Next modelling agency, said the model's mother was travelling to Paris last night. An agency spokesman said in a statement: "She was a top model and a great friend to all of us. We will all miss her very much."

Kim graced the pages of Asian fashion magazines before appearances in Korean Vogue propelled her on to a global stage.

She quickly became a fixture at shows in New York and London, where her perfect walk and willowy form won Kim high-profile champions.

Karl Lagerfeld, creative director at Chanel, has cast the model in almost all his shows since 2007, while edgy glossies fell in love with her impeccable street style. Kim starred in a recent campaign for Christopher Kane's collection at Topshop.

But it was her life off the catwalk and billboards that most endeared Kim to fans and fellow models.

Displaying a warm and at times irreverent wit rarely associated with a world where girls are defined by their looks, she blogged with sometimes painful honesty about life in the rarefied world of high fashion.

Her blog, I Like to Fork Myself, became a virtual book of condolences yesterday as hundreds of fans left comments expressing their shock and sadness.

For those looking for clues about Kim's death, her blog also painted a picture of an occasionally troubled soul.

In a post dated 15 October, the model wrote: "freedom comes with such cost. but is it even freedom? one could get numb living like this... decadent nights to make up for losses. but this endless loneliness. there must be something wrong from the core."

Two weeks later, the model 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."

Her last post, made on Wednesday, was titled "say hi to forever" and carried a video of the song I Go Deep by British DJ Jim Rivers.

Kim's death is likely to re-ignite debate in the industry about the risks that come with plunging young models into the claustrophobic world in front of the harsh lens of high fashion.

Similar examination followed the death, in June 2008, of a 20-year-old Kazakh-born model and former Russian Vogue cover girl. Ruslana Korshunova plunged to her death after apparently jumping from the ninth-floor balcony of her Manhattan apartment.