KPOP HIDDEN FACT ON A BAD SIDE

It’s hard to go on the internet these days without seeing K-pop as the genre is quickly getting a lot of attention in the United States. BTS, possibly the biggest group to have come out of South Korea, is leading the way and becoming a household name on every continent.

When a K-pop performer agrees to a contract, it's not only for a record deal; they basically sign their life away to a permanent commitment. An agency trains future stars, many of whom are in adolescence, in a range of performance arts - such as acting, vocals, and dance - for 10 to 15 years before the stars appear in any public act.

Although the agency has a supposed commitment to training their performers in a type of "boot camp," industry leaders often take advantage of their trainees. The agencies make these contracts last for over a decade at times, so if an idol chooses to back out, they need to pay a hefty fee.

These contracts open the door for the agencies to virtually turn the trainees into slaves. Korean laws allow agencies with "touring artists" to work their "employees" as much as they want, even if it means keeping them from sleeping, as in the case of 2AM idol Jo Kwon.

If you've watched any K-pop videos, you probably thought the bright and shiny Korean pop star lifestyle portrayed a perfect world of bubblegum, rainbows, beauty, and whimsy. Unfortunately, the candy-colored sheen coats a sinister underbelly with ugly truths about K-pop. From a young age, these bright and peppy performers essentially enter an uncaring, exploitative entertainment harem in the K-pop industry.

Any faction of the entertainment world is bound to have its secrets; sometimes these are dark yet open secrets overlooked because of convenience or greed. However, what's going on in the K-pop industry isn't hidden: Children who grew up in the industry as manufactured pop products have exposed the mental and physical abuse they suffered through their careers.

From what K-pop trainees endure at the start of their "boot camps" to the suicide attempts, racism, and sexual and physical assaults, the truth about K-pop stars and their industry is anything but glamorous.

K-pop is generally seen as a very fun music industry with its catchy pop songs and colorful music videos. However, looks sometimes can be deceiving. Below the surface, the K-pop world has a lot of dark sides and there are shocking struggles that K-pop stars go through as they put themselves and their lives on the line in order to achieve their dreams.

Young kids have to go through years and years of training

The K-pop industry works rather differently than the American one, starting with how most people would go about becoming a pop star — called “idol” in South Korea.

Any young person in South Korea who wants to become an idol has to sign with one of the many entertainment companies in the country. Most people get into a company by either auditioning or being street-casted.

After young hopeful creatives sign with a company, they become known as a trainee and will begin the grueling process of preparing to become a singer. The K-pop industry has extremely high standards for its performers, so everyday trainees are given lessons in singing or rapping — depending on their aptitude. They’ll also learn dancing, how to act, being funny on TV, foreign languages, and anything else a company sees is beneficial for its talents.

Training is actually a very stressful process for many people. Companies regularly do evaluations to make sure the trainees are on-track and improving. If no desired improvements are made, they can be dropped completely.

When it comes time for the company to form a K-pop group, the pressure gets added even more and trainees are forced to compete with each other for limited spots in the final lineup. Those who don’t make it to the band will continue training without knowing exactly when they can make their debut (if ever).

This training period usually lasts a few years for most people, though some are lucky enough to only train for a few months while others have been known to train for ten years or more.

High beauty standards result in a lot of plastic surgeries

Plastic surgery is far more common in Korea than the United States. Whereas 1 in 20 women in the US may undergo plastic surgery at some point, the statistics for Korean women claim 1 in 5 chooses to go under the knife.

With plastic surgery being more culturally accepted and often promoted, the standards of beauty have changed, and many teens also desire plastic surgery. Many agencies force idols to undergo surgery - sometimes multiple times - to achieve a "perfect" look and uphold their aspirational aesthetic.

Most stars do not openly discuss their plastic surgery, in part to maintain their idol image, but their physical changes are usually apparent, especially around their eyes, lips, and noses. The average viewer might not notice the differences at first glance, but a plastic surgeon can spot them immediately. As one writer posited:

This seems to be a universal truth, and no other industry exploits this as much as the entertainment industry; banking off the sexual appeal of their "products" and distorting to a consuming public what beauty is.

In Korea, this method of sexual appeal thrives. In fact, it's the only method in which the "music geniuses" behind the small handful of Korean music labels can think of to market their talent.

Aside from honing their trainees’ talents, companies will also work on their image. South Korean society as a whole is known to have high beauty standards and, of course, celebrities are expected to be even more beautiful than average people.

It’s not uncommon for companies to suggest that trainees to get plastic surgery before they can debut, usually to fix some features on their faces, such as their jaw, eyes, or nose.

Idol industry executives reportedly prefer talent whose ethnicity is 100% Korean and often on the fairer-skinned side. Though younger generations of Koreans show more progressive and open-minded views, racism is still rampant in Korea, particularly toward darker-skinned people.

Idols are sometimes extraordinarily discriminatory and culturally insensitive to other ethnicities. K-pop girl group Mamamoo faced backlash after releasing a video for their cover of Bruno Mars's "Uptown Funk," during which they wore offensive blackface makeup. Though the group later apologized and said they didn't realize the implications of their actions, this was not the first time blatant bigotry appeared in K-pop.

Rapper Kim Eunmi, who goes by the name Grazy Grace, said that, while plastic surgery is not entirely forced and anyone can choose not to do it, most people agree to go under the knife anyway.

According to Kim, during her training period, company staff members would often make comments to trainees about their looks and give preferential treatment to those who were more “beautiful.” With this pressure and the knowledge that idols who are good-looking tend to attract more fans, a lot of trainees will not hesitate to fix their appearance for a better career prospect.

Companies often have the final say in everything

Perhaps it is evident at this point that in K-pop, companies run everything. In fact, individual creativity is not really something one should expect to be able to show as a K-pop star.

If you have ever seen K-pop music videos or performances, you might notice that they are often quite elaborate with their otherworldly concepts and eye-catching designs. Most of the time, these things are decided by the company in question. Idols are simply there to carry out the visions that their company has with often very little say over what they are doing.

Even an idol’s look is not always their own. The colorful hairstyles that many K-pop artists have could be forced on them against their will. Member Heo Chan from the group Victon once said in a radio interview that, after having light-colored hair for a while, he wanted to go back to having black hair since it can be painful to keep dying and bleaching. Despite the fact that his company initially agreed to let him have black hair for the next release, they didn’t keep their promise and his hair was dyed again to his dismay.

Many K-pop stars actually struggle to make money

While there are numerous K-pop stars (such as BTS) who earn good money, the truth is that a large number of idols struggle quietly behind the scenes.

This is because every idol has a debt to pay off when they start working. Companies poured all of their resources into developing these idols, housing them, feeding them, and footing the bills as they perform on stage – and all of this results in a huge sum of money that idols must work to pay back before they can truly profit.

However, getting to that break-even point is extremely hard. As Christine Park, a member of the disbanded girl group Blady, shared: “the amount of money that’s put into you is so much more than” what one can expect to earn during one’s career.

Song Jaeho from the disbanded group Madtown revealed that for one K-pop release — which usually includes a music video, an album, and many promotional performances — a K-pop group can incur a debt of as much as $500,000. This is usually split between the group members, but even then it is still a lot of money to have to pay back, especially when combined with the debt from their trainee days.

Oftentimes, only K-pop groups who are famous enough to get lucrative advertisement deals can expect to pay off these debts. Less popular groups just rely on album sales, ticket sales, and appearance fees to make money, though these methods do not pay as much. Song Jaeho said that in one promotional period, it’s possible that one person might make only around $7,000.

It’s not uncommon for some K-pop idols to have part-time jobs, such as waiting tables or doing construction work, to make ends meet.

Car crashes are common due to extremely busy schedules

The need to make money and pay off these debts result in many K-pop idols having extremely busy schedules during a promotional period and it’s normal for groups to have several events in one day. This can cause road managers in charge of shuttling K-pop stars to drive more dangerously in order to fulfill everything on their tight schedule. Kim pointed out that they can actually be required to go to different cities as well, which adds more to the pressure that their managers experience.

The heavy workload has resulted in quite a lot of car accidents and crashes, which can sometimes turn deadly. In 2014, the girl group Ladies’ Code was involved in a crash when their manager was speeding on a rainy night. Out of the five members in the band, one was pronounced dead on arrival while another passed away a few days later at the hospital.

More recently, the boy group MustB got into an accident in April 2019. Although the members involved made it out okay, their manager ended up passing away not long after.

It's difficult for K-pop singers to break their contracts. In some cases, it's nearly impossible because of the substantial penalties and fines. If a music agency doesn't want to cut ties with an idol yet, they're reportedly not above blackmailing the person to compel them to stay. Managers were even known to film their idols' sexual activities and use the footage against them.

K-pop idol Baek Ji-young's manager filmed her having sex and brought out the footage when she wanted to change contracts. She thought he was bluffing until he put the video on the internet. She tried to sue him, but he fled to the United States, where authorities apprehended him for statutory rape. She claimed her career was nearly ruined by the incident and took years off before returning to the music scene.

Fortunately, in 2017 a movement emerged to end the "slave contracts," giving stars more autonomy over their health and well-being.

As manufactured idols of commercial art, K-pop stars must uphold a particular aesthetic at all times. Being an idol in K-pop requires a look catering to extreme distortions of beauty - specifically, toothpick-thin bodies. While some pop stars adhere to strict diets, others admit they starve themselves.

Sojung of girl group Ladies' Code admits she dieted so much, her hormone levels lowered to "those of a menopausal woman." OneKet from Global Icon allegedly consumed only one bottle of soy milk per day; the rapper reportedly lost nearly 20 pounds in a month. Notably, performer T.O.P purportedly lost almost 50 pounds in a five-week period after restricting his diet to water and the occasional red bean jelly.

Jang Suk-woo, Open World Entertainment's CEO and talent coach, was a notorious sex offender to the aspiring idols who walked through his doors. As the executive in charge of screening talent and coaching young celebrities, he took advantage of his position. He allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted his trainees from November 2010 to March 2012.

Eventually, authorities disbanded his harem of young idols. Charged under the Children and Youth Protection Act, his sentence entailed six years of jail time.

In 2017 the CEO of another K-pop agency was "brokering his agency's female trainees." His penalty included a fine and prison sentence. According to one writer:

Sponsorship or transactional sex between influential entertainment executives and aspiring celebrities is a thinly veiled, often accepted part of the industry. Wannabe idols enter the industry at a young age, and most are separated from their support structures to commit to their new life... Trainees have little access to experience equipping them to protect themselves from corrupt executives.

An anonymous person claiming to be a K-Pop idol shared a horrific story from before their debut. She wrote the post in hopes that people would listen and understand more about the dark sides of the entertainment business.

According to the poster, the trainees (three of who were underage) went to a bar to meet some investors where they were forced to pour drinks for them (all of who were above 40 years old). The investor who looked the most powerful had pointed out the prettiest member of the group as having caught his eye and later, he took her out to coffee alone. The investor had continuously convinced her to “play” with him, even offering money, but as the member continued to refuse, the investor got angry and threatened her by saying that he could call out any other member.

As a result, the investor took the member, who had no cell phone or money with her, to a sauna where she was eventually forced to sleep. When she woke up, he had left $100 and a message saying he’ll see her soon. The poster continued that after they debuted, the CEO told the prettiest member something the investor had said but indicated that she could not reveal any more as she feared that her company would catch her writing about it.

An anonymous male trainee revealed on PD Notebook his experience with a “sponsor”. He explained that a person from his agency introduced him to the woman. He said that the woman began giving him gifts and allowances of $70 to $180 USD in the beginning, which he was tempted to accept since he had no other means of income at the time. Then, the woman offered a bigger sum of money ($930 USD) and encouraged him to accept it, calling it a gift.

After a while, the women texted the trainee asking him to come over to her house. When he declined, she became upset and asked how he could do this to her after all she’s done for him. Feeling uneasy about the situation, the idol decided to break ties with the woman and told her he would pay back all the money he received. What he didn’t realize was that the amount added up to around $18,000-$27,000 during the time. His struggle to make ends meet as a trainee ended up bringing him a bigger debt that he started with.

A CEO of an agency had been arrested in May 2017 for brokering female trainees from his agency. He was charged with 20 months in prison and fined approximately $17,800 USD.  He had brokered 4 of his female trainees to a wealthy Korean businessman in Los Angeles and was also accused of arranging for the prostitution of another woman.

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