Allow me to open this article with an honest statement: I am not a big
fan of Korean pop music (K-Pop). Instead, i like to blast the heaviest of Metal
songs possible, but recently I can't really resist writing this piece, because
in either case, everyone and every soul is a precious life form, and must be
preserved. It was a month ago on one afternoon after hours when I came across a
disturbing story of a former K-Pop Idol named Sulli (real name Choi Jin-ri) of
the girl group f(x) who was found dead in her apartment in Seongnam, South
Korea on October 14. During the process of writing this article, the Korean
Police Force has determined her initial cause of death to be suicide by
hanging, with the autopsy currently taking place. She was at the tender age of
25 years old. Prior to this shocking turn of events, she had stated that she
has been fighting depression for the course of her life. This poor but pure
soul was also known to have social anxiety disorder. Now, we all know these
artists often portray themselves as happy, bubbly and energic, but beyond those
faces, lies a deep, dark and possibly disturbing secret that has been brewing
inside. These unknown facts are not only hidden inside these idols in plain
sight, but also inside K-Pop as an industry itself.
Speaking of the idols' fight with whatever they suffered, in some cases,
it can be because of love lives gone wrong, their struggle to reach the top of
the charts, annoying fans and equally annoying haters, or even their own
agencies trying to screw them over. Yes, the last thing is real and happening
in the industry. Let's start by dissecting how an artist or a group is being
brought to the K-Pop spotlight. These idol hopefuls, otherwise known as
trainees start their training as young as 9 or 10 years old. And during the
course of said training, these hopefuls are expected to have an impeccable
singing and dancing abilities, and the ones redeemed not sufficient, will be
instantly replaced. This, effectively turn this otherwise a good training
program for the future into a fight for survival with a hefty consequences of
getting kicked out of training with nowhere to go. The training can last for
years, and by the time these trainees are considered ready, they are formed
into groups and certain agencies will sign them for their debuts. By now, these
girl groups and boy groups further hone their skills in order to give the best
performances possible (and I mean, perfection is the only thing that is
tolerable in this situation). The agencies also expected these guys and girls
to do plastic surgeries; others even did it before the training. The practice
itself is pretty common in Korea. It is often considered as a High School
graduation present for not only girls, but boys too. And this is also tied to
the fact that these idols have to look flawless. The girls have to look pretty,
skinny and sexy, while the boys have to look masculine, energic and muscular.
After their debuts, the groups must do their activities together, often put in
the same apartment. This is said to maintain the working relationship within
the group. Their activities ranging from training, recording songs, shoot a
music video, attending fan meets, appear in variety shows and touring. During
those activities, the money that they made is going to the agencies first,
before being distributed to the groups evenly. The number varies depending on
their success. The more successful a group can be, the more income they will
make. But how is this related to those sketchy facts lying underneath? Well,
prepare yourself, because this might be the most disturbing thing I've ever
written.
I did mention about how these girls and boys train their backsides off
before their debut, right? Apparently, some girl trainees (some of them can
even be consider as underage) are told to meet certain investors to talk about
the prospect of their debuts, but instead of a serious talk, those same
investors (estimated to be around 40 and up) actually took those girls and
forced them to be sexually active. This disturbing fact doesn't even end here,
this disgusting practice continued even after their debuts. In order to be
pushed to greater heights, these guys often force the members to participate in
some sketchy meetings, where they would end up as a prostitute. Being in a
successful K-Pop group doesn't guarantee you to be rich and famous. You can be
famous, but rich? Not necessarily. The executives would do anything in their
power to keep these artists productive, even if it means to overwork them and
make them receive little numbers on their paychecks. Moreover, these guys
started to collect debts way before they are even known to the masses. The
agencies pour their resources to their talents, from housing to their daily
activities like food and other amenities, and also hospital bills from the
plastic surgeries they received. And in order to break even, they start taking
those paychecks with the reason to pay them back. Then what the hell are these
guys doing in their spare time then? A little something called part-time jobs.
About tight work schedules, an idol or a group are subjected to do their
activities as public figures, and many times those schedules are crammed
together. This is done so the idols have to work more hours in order to make
more money, but that also means going into several events in quick succession
in the course of one day, sometimes to different cities. This resulted in high
numbers of car crashes, as some drivers have to speed in order to make the
destination on time. A girl group named Ladies' Code was involved in this
accident in 2014 during a rainy night, with two out of five members lost their
lives.
In K-Pop, appearances are considered the most important aspects of an
idol, that means to look perfect, pretty, handsome and overall faultless. In
order to achieve the desired weight, some artists engaged in tight diets (when
I say tight, I mean so extreme that the only thing they are allowed to eat is
merely a lettuce) and workouts. TWICE's Momo Hirai even revealed in one interview
that in order to lose 7kg in one week (which she did) in order to go up for a
showcase on stage as told by her company, she only ate a single ice cube and
went to gym over the course of the same week. Now that's what I call extreme.
Aside from the already mentioned cosmetic enhancement surgeries, these diets
are also employed by the agencies to keep the idols in top shape (If you say
that top shape means to starve these poor beings to death, then who am I to
judge anyway). The artists are also expected to obey whatever the executives told
them, even goes as far as blackmailing a member if he/she contemplates to break
their contracts. The most common (but underhanded) method to do this is to film
the member's sex tape and uses it against her in order to compel the girl to
stay with the agency. The contract itself is also a sketchy one. Dubbed the
"slave contract", the contract restricts the group’s activities and
leaves them with almost no paycheck and has to stick with the agency for a long
period of time. TVXQ once sued their agency, SM Entertainment because of this,
claiming that their 13-year contract is too long and too restrictive. As the
result, the Korean Fair Trade Commission (KTFC) issued a rule that limits the
maximum duration of a contract to seven years.
These disturbing facts not only presented themselves inside the industry
itself, the outside factor also contributes to the dark facts today. You might
think Koreans as cute and kind, but inside, mostly the Korean Netizens are
known to have the most hostility towards artists or groups. Take the survival
show Produce 48 for instance. This
TVN show aired the new series featuring both Korean and Japanese idols, mainly
from the 48 Family. The reaction from the Korean fans are mostly in favor of
the Korean contestants, while the Japanese ones are subjected to hostile
comments on the Internet. This is the same case with the Japanese fans watching
the same show. The ways idol industry operates in both countries are entirely
different. The Japanese idols are known for their cuteness and adorable
persona, while their Korean counterparts are known for their sexy and alluring
images, with emphasizes more on technicality. Some of these keyboard warriors
often bully another, more established Korean idols online. The recent events
with Sulli tied with her suicide case, just two days before her death, she was
streaming on her Instagram, and reportedly cried while saying "what did I
do to you?" She did took a break from the entertainment industry because
of the rampant hate comments in 2014, all because of small controversies like
allegedly kissed Goo Ha-ra in one instance, but decided to return in 2017 to
focus on her acting career. Sometimes these heartless bastards just don't care
if the idol in question has a mental illness or an emotional breakdown. All
they wanted to do is to throw shades at someone they don't like, to the point
of it's actually can be classified as hate speech, body shaming, or just being
rude in general.
The idols themselves are not always happy with their life as the face of
the Korean music industry. Some even struggle to make ends meet because of the
harsh working conditions, some even struggle with mental illnesses like
depression and anxiety. Late Sulli and former SHINee member Jonghyun took their
lives because of this illness, despite with different methods, with the latter
died from carbon monoxide poisoning due to purposely inhaling the smoke from a
coal bricket. They might show in public as happy and enjoying their fame, but
thanks to depression, both of them often felt empty and worthless inside. There
is also a jinx called "the Seven Year Curse". Some groups once they
reached their peak of popularity, they slowly faded into obscurity for exactly
seven years time. This can be the group member themselves who wanted to pursue
a solo career, or they just couldn't compete with other groups in the K-Pop
scene. The girl group 2NE1 is an example of this Seven Year jinx. They were
once the most popular K-Pop band not just in Korea, but also the world. After
some of their songs went popular, like their 2013 single I Am The Best, they slowly faded, rarely even show up to the
public. They disbanded just a few years ago.
Even with these annoyingly disturbing facts stated above, the K-Pop as a
musical genre is still one of the most listened genres in the world, alongside
Pop, Hip-hop, and the fastest growing genre today in the form of Heavy Metal.
But let's be clear. We as human beings despite being the most clever creatures
of God, often make mistakes and often have to suffer the consequences and
living with the guilt. Although I don't really like K-Pop, but everyone working
in the industry deserve a better working environment and better life. And for
those of you currently suffering from any form of mental illness, I suggest you
to find some help. Find a friend or a psychiatrist to talk to. Don't bury those
thoughts yourself. And lastly, for Choi Jin-ri, or Sulli as the fans once know
you as, rest in peace, you beautiful soul. You are no longer suffering from the
unfair nature of this mortal life. And may God grant you the best place on His
side. As the final statement, I want you to remember that mental illness is
neither a simple matter, nor something to be ignored.
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