FOEIM / Grade-7 ( Old System )

The dark side of K-pop

Written By Team=K ( Khine Zin Wint Hlaing and Lynnlae Nay

Chi )

Introduction

( Photo of K-pop groups )

Music can make people feel emotions such as happiness,

sadness, excitement, energy, or any other feelings depending on
the genre of music that they are listening to.
According to the Music Genre List, there exist 41 primary genres
of music and within those primary categories, 337 subcategories
of music.

Among all of them, a genre of music that originated from South

Korea called, "Kpop", long for "Korean popular music" has a big
influence on teenagers. Based on my research, Kpop is highly
popular among teenagers and 20s, especially for teenage girls.

What is Kpop?

Kpop is a genre of music that is influenced by various styles and

genres around the world such as Ballet, Hip-Hop, Rock, R&B,
Rap, Electronic Dance, Rhythm and blues, and its traditional
Korean music roots.

Each Kpop group has a different genre of music. Some groups

might be influenced by rock music or some might be influenced by
ballet music. Therefore, Kpop fans can choose either their favorite
genres or groups.
(A picture of "TXT" boy group)

For instance, Tomorrow x Together, short for "TXT" Kpop boy

band's genre is K-pop alternative and rock-pop music while
"EXO" Kpop boy band's genre is Ballet, Rhythms and Blues
and Hip-Hop music.

(A picture of "EXO" boy group)

What makes k-pop stand out from other types
of music?

Comparing Kpop to Western pop, there are a ton of differences.

Trainee System

( Photo of girls practicing dance )

There is no "Trainee System" as what Kpop has in Western pop.

In Kpop, Kpop idols have to become trainees first before they
become an idol. They have to train, eat, sleep at agencies for
years until agencies officially announce them as "Kpop idols"
either solo or in a group.

As trainees, they have to take dancing classes, vocal training

classes, modeling classes, rapping classes, language classes,
and they also have to learn how to act in public, etiquette, and
manners, in agencies.
That is why becoming a K-pop idol does not rely that much on
natural talent. It relies on a lot of hard work.

Meanwhile, in Western pop, western artists do not need to go to

agencies and train as hard as Kpop idols in comparison to all
areas such as rap, dance, and vocals. In Western pop, musicians
are chosen for their talent which is cultivated in their own time.

Unique Positions For Each Member

In a Kpop group, there are positions for each member. For

example, ‘Leader’, ‘Main vocalist’, ‘Lead vocalist’, ‘Sub
vocalist’, ‘Main dancer’, ‘Lead dancer’, ‘Sub dancer’, ‘Visuals’
which means the most good-looking member of a group,
‘Maknae’ which means the youngest of a group and many more
roles.
(Photo of a Kpop boy group called, "BTS")

Kpop has all of those positions in one group while Western

pop has singers/dancers/rappers individually.

( Photo of Western singers )

Visuals

(A photo of a Kpop idol "Cha EunWoo", a member of

"Astro" Kpop boy band who fit Korean beauty
standards very well)

In Kpop, Every group has a 'Visuals' member which

is considered as the most good-looking member of
the group. However, the rest of the members must
also have good looks. Good-look is one of the most
important factors to getting the group to popularity.
There is a high chance of becoming a k-pop idol for
good-looking people who fit Korean beauty
standards.

Physical appearance plays an important role in the Kpop industry

whereas western pop only requires a sense of music.

(A photo of an English Singer-Songwriter "Ed Sheeran")

History of Kpop

The first K-pop group

( A photo of Seo Taiji and boys band )

According to Google, the very first Korean pop group was called
"Seo Taiji and boys". They debuted in 1992. Their debut song is
called ‘I know’ ( Nan Arayo ). There were three members in the
group. Their names are Seo Taiji, Yang Hyun-suk, and Lee Juno.
The group leader was called Seo Taiji. The group was active from
1992 to 1996.
 Yang Hyun Suk who was a member of "Seo Taiji
and Boys" during the 1990s is now a former chief
executive officer of YG Entertainment, one of the
biggest record companies in South Korea.
(Photo of Yang Hyun-suk)

Yang Hyun-Suk has produced extremely successful artists

under his company such as "Big Bang", "2NE1", "Ikon",
"WINNER", "Blackpink" and "PSY".

( Photo of Gangnam Style )

K-pop started to become popular in the

2000s because of the ‘Gangnam Style’ song
which was sung and produced by PSY. The
song was released on July 15, 2012, by YG
Entertainment as the lead single of PSY's
sixth studio album, PSY 6, Part-1.

He won the Mnet Asian Award for song of

the year, Billboard Music Award for Top Streaming Song (
video ), the Mnet Asian award for best dance
performance-Solo, Melon music Award for Song of the year,
Korean Music Award for song of the year, and Golden Disk
Award digital Daesang award. His ‘Gangnam Style’ music
video hits 4.3 Billion on Youtube.

Korean pop groups have been breaking records, covering

music charts, emerging into the Western entertainment
industry, and winning the hearts of listeners all around the
world.

The first step of becoming a k-pop idol is known as a

trainee's life

( Photo of K-pop audition )

Becoming a k-pop idol is not very easy. The one who wants to be
a k-pop idol must be 11 or 12. However, some agencies do not
have an age limit.
As stated in Google, famous k-pop agencies like YG and JYP
entertainments do not have an age limit.

The one who wants to be a k-pop idol has to audition for a K -pop
agency. When they pass the audition, they can be called
"trainees", and they are put under a contract with their
corresponding company. Contracts can differ from two years to a
decade.

A typical trainee's schedule starts from 4 a.m to late midnight

filled with dance practice, vocal lessons, and language lessons for
foreign trainees.

"I could have been a K-pop idol - but I'm glad I quit" by a former
K-pop trainee, "Elanie Chong" was headlined in a BBC article on
February 13, 2020.

( Photo of BBC NEWS)

In the article, Elaine Chong stated that trainees starving

themselves and passing out due to exhaustion were normalized.
Trainees have to train for at least one day to become k-pop idols.

(A photo of Olivia Hye)

Based on Google, Olivia Hye of ‘LOONA’ only had to

train for one day while Jihyo of ‘TWICE’ had to train for
ten years.

The training period is dependent on improvement and

the choice of producers.

Trainees sacrifice their blood, sweat, and tears for a chance of

becoming a k-pop idol. Nevertheless, not all trainees debut. Some
trainees remain in entertainment agencies for years and never
end up debuting.
The dark side of K-pop

Lack Of Education

( Photo of k-pop idols )

Before becoming a popular idol in the k-pop industry, there are

several things that a trainee has to risk and let go of. Some
trainees drop out of school to focus on their careers.
( A Photo of Kang Daniel )

According to my research, Kang Daniel, a leader of a disbanded

group named "Wanna One" who is now the CEO of his label
"KONNECT ENTERTAINMENT", stated that he dropped out of
his school to fully focus on his career.

He did not enter college either. He trained from day to night for 2
years and 5 months. However, all his hard work paid off on
August 17, 2017. He made his debut in the "Wanna One" group
as a leader. Although the group disbanded in 2019, Kang Daniel
is still one of the most popular celebrities in Korea and also one of
the youngest CEOs in the k-pop industry.

Examples of other famous idols that dropped out of school are

Taemin from SHINEE, Mark from GOT7, Doyoung from NCT,
Lisa from Blackpink, Jennie from Blackpink, and Rose from
Blackpink.
However, dropping out of school is not a "must" for all trainees.
But when it comes to foreign trainees that come to train from
different countries, they mostly drop out of school.

Members of "Blackpink", Rose, Lisa, and Jennie all dropped

out of school when they moved to Korea to join YG entertainment.

(Jak of Enhypen wearing a Dwight School Seoul's uniform)

But, Jake of "Enhypen" attended an international school called

"Dwight School Seoul" in Korea when he was a trainee.

Based on Google, his school costs about US$27,000 per year. So

it turns out that only foreign trainees that grew up rich before
finding fame can continue their education.

Generally, foreign trainees have to make the difficult decision of

having to drop out of school even without knowing surely about
becoming an idol or not.
Plastic Surgery

( Photo of SNSD leader Taeyeon )

Some trainees also have to let go of the natural appearances that

they were born with to fit Korean beauty standards.
 According to Koreaboo, a member of Kara,
Gyuri was encouraged by her agency to get
some plastic surgery when she was a trainee.
Her agency thought that it would increase her
visuals. But Gyuri was confident enough to
decline the offer.

( Photo of Gyuri )

Some agencies suggest plastic surgery to their trainees who do

not fit Korean beauty standards. Trainees have the option to
decline. But it can affect their chance of debuting.

However, some agencies do not suggest plastic surgery to their

trainees and idols.

Based on Google, YG artists are not allowed to have plastic

surgery. The company will not allow even the artists themselves
to want plastic surgery.

( A photo of rapper Beenzino )

On the other hand, Big Hit entertainment

was once known for suggesting plastic
surgery to their artists. In 2020, there was a
very popular article about a famous male
rapper named "Beenzino" who refused to
join "BTS". The article stated that Beenzino
revealed how Bang Si-Hyuk, the chairman
of Big Hit entertainment encouraged him to have plastic surgery
to shave his jaws by the lyrics in a song that he featured in 2015.

( Photo of Beenzino’s song lyrics )

The lyrics were, "During my underground days, this producer

said this to me, if I [work] with him, no matter what I do,
everything will work out, the last thing is the punchline, he
said [everything] would work if I shaved my jaws a little, I do
not need your bulletproof, just like that, to the offer of being
his boy, I declined."

Over Controlling

According to Koreaboo, idols even have to discuss what to talk

about on Vlive( South Korean live video streaming app) before
they start a Vlive. Idols always need to be watched by staff
members when doing a Vlive.

( Photo of NCT’s Vlive )

Agencies have very big control over their idols. On a Vlive of NCT,
Taeyong of NCT revealed that staff members in front of them
were telling them to stop the Vlive and they had to immediately
stop it.

Staff members watch them and make sure that they do not say a
single word wrong or do a single thing wrong. Idols have to stay
with their managers 24 hours. Idols barely have their own free
time.
No romantic relationship

( Photo of Hyuna and E’ Dawn )

According to Koreaboo, in 2018, singer Hyuna and E' Dawn of the

boy band Pentagon were kicked out of cube entertainment after
they announced that they had been secretly dating for two years
and confirmed their romantic relationship.

Kpop fans are always very serious about their idols dating
news. That is a reason that agencies have dating rules for
their artists. Most k-pop idols are not allowed to date
according to their contracts by their agencies. And if they date
and break the rule, they are most likely to get kicked out of the
agency just like Hyuna and E’ dawn.

Toxic fans

Kpop fans obsessing with their favorite artists can go very far
which can lead them to turn into "toxic fans".

According to MBC's "Radio Star" program aired on January

23, 2006, a member of TVXQ, Yun Ho revealed that he had
once been poisoned by a toxic fan with an orange juice.

Suicide

According to Google, a member of FX, Sulli was found dead

in her apartment on October 14, 2019, at 3:20 PM. She
decided to take her own life after getting so much hate on
social media for expressing her ffeelings freely and living
freely. She had once revealed that she was suffering from
severe depression in October 2018.

‘What did I do to deserve this?’ was the last sentence that

Sulli said in her last instagram live before her death in 2019.
Sulli got a lot of hate on social media for expressing her
feelings freely and having a unique K-pop idol life which led
her to give up on her own life.

There are several idols that suffered from depression and

gave up on their lives after not being able to handle all the
hatred they get from haters. For instance, Kim Jonghyun of
‘SHINee’ and former member of ‘KARA’ who was also a close
friend of Sulli.
Overworked

( Photo of K-pop idols overworked )

Kpop idols have to work almost 24 hours. They have to perform,

practice dancing, practice singing, and practice many more other
things so that their fans can be entertained and not get bored.

Kpop idols who have to be in several groups

have to do more. For example NCT of Mark.
He is in NCT, NCT U, NCT Dream, NCT 127,
and SuperM.

( Photo of Canadian rapper Mark or Kpop idol

Mark)
Generally, k-pop groups have comebacks 2 or 3 weeks a year
where they come back with a new album.

"Comeback" time is the time when idols have to work the most
since they have to do a lot of promotions during comebacks.

As Kai of "EXO" mentioned in a "Knowing Brothers" variety show

episode, he needed to practice 10 to 12 hours a day for months
for his group's comeback.

(Kai of EXO is in one of a "Knowing Brothers" episode)

To begin with, Idols have to prepare 2 or 3 months before their

release date. They have to learn the dance of their upcoming
released songs in the album individually. Then, they have to train
to dance perfectly and in sync with their group.
(A comeback stage of EXO in 2019)

So that they can perform perfectly on a comeback stage. After

performing on a comeback stage, they have to go to music shows
and perform there.

(EXO on a music show in 2019)

Afterward, they have to go to fan signs where they interact with
fans directly and answer fans' questions, give them signs, hug
them and receive gifts from them. In general, idols have to
interact with around 150 fans in about 2 hours at a fan sign.

Subsequently, they have to perform on so many different TV

shows to promote their new release album directly from the TV.

According to Google, a member of F(x), Krystal fainted during the

"SM Town" comeback concert held in Shanghai, China, on
October 18, 2014. She needed to overwork for her group's
comeback and fainted due to the dizziness that came from it.
( Photo of Backstage SM Town )

Kpop idols cannot eat like normal people and they have to work
almost every day and almost 24 hours. They do not have enough
energy to perform. Most k-pop idols faint while performing.
( Photo of k-pop idol fainted while performing )

( Photo of k-pop idols )

Kpop idols even have to perform when they have injuries while
they are performing. Some k-pop idols have to perform while
being injured.
Reflection

We also are k-pop fans by ourselves. After researching the dark

side of k-pop and knowing what is happening in the industry, it
amazed us. We did not know the dark side of k-pop inwardly until
we researched for this report project.

Even as an outsider of the k-pop industry, it is very obvious to see

how cruel the treatment of Kpop trainees can be. We would
describe the training period as a "boot camp".

( Photo of boot camp )

Nevertheless, "boot camp" helps your mental health and makes

you feel stronger, more confident while "training period" drains
your mental health, makes you unconfident.
Our thoughts about idols getting suggested plastic
surgery

( Photo of a group of trainees )

As two insecure people, if we were in the place of trainees getting

suggested to get plastic surgery, I think we would get plastic
surgery as they suggest. We would be scared of affecting our
chance of debuting if we decline. Plus, as we mentioned, we both
are very insecure sadly.

That is the reason why we have high respect for idols like Gyuri
and Beenzino for being confident enough to decline the plastic
surgery offers. They also had the bravery to share their
experience, stand up for themselves, let us know what they had
gone through, and the dark side of the industry.

We believe that they made the right choice that many people in
the industry cannot. Still, we would not blame idols in the industry
who have had plastic surgery. Their bodies are their choices. And
their bodies should be their choices and should not change
because of somebody's encouragement.
This part could change if Koreans lower their beauty standards
and do not expect too much from k-pop idols, remembering that
they are still human beings with individual uniqueness. To our way
of thinking, suggesting plastic surgery and making someone
insecure just because they do not fit Korean beauty standards
sound so wrong.

However, this part of the story gives us the inspiration to be more

confident and love ourselves.

Our thoughts about idols having to drop out of school

It is very pitiful to realize that idols cannot enjoy their childhood or

teenage years. In general, school is one of the most important
places for childhood or teenage years. It is where we turn our
classmates into our best friends, complain about our
assignments, gossip, and sneak our snacks while we sit at the
back of the class.

Notwithstanding, idols who drop out of school do not have a

chance to do those things and have to spend their childhood or
teenage years as trainees in training rooms where they train until
they faint.

Though we respect their passion and we see that they are willing
to risk their entire childhood to pursue their dreams, we feel very
pitiful for them not having childhood or teenage memories.
Besides, we realize how extremely lucky we are to have a chance
to enjoy our teenage years in the present and feel the importance
of it.

We think k-pop fans should know some facts about the dark side
of k-pop. Most of our friends are big fans of k-pop. If they know
the dark side of k-pop, they can support them in the right way
without harming the idol.

We felt very sad when we read the story because we cannot

believe that they have to live like that. They gave up everything
for their dreams to become k-pop idols. The smiles that idols
show to their fans cannot be true smiles all the time. Like smiling
is their job. Idols are treated like dolls by their agencies.

We learned being something that is not as easy as we thought. If

we want to be successful, we have to work very hard. When
choosing a career path, we have to choose the path that we are
truly passionate about, because doing something that we are truly
passionate about can give us the strength to withstand hatred
from any person.

It is very pitiful to realize that idols cannot enjoy their childhood or

teenage years. In general, school is one of the most important
places for childhood or teenage years. It is where we turn our
classmates into our best friends, complain about our
assignments, gossip, and sneak our snacks while we sit at the
back of the class.
Notwithstanding, idols who drop out of school do not have a
chance to do those things and have to spend their childhood or
teenage years as trainees in training rooms where they train until
they faint.

Though we respect their passion and we see that they are willing
to risk their entire childhood to pursue their dreams, we feel very
pitiful for them not having childhood or teenage memories.
Besides, we realize how extremely lucky we are to have a chance
to enjoy our teenage years in the present and feel the importance
of it.

Our thoughts about the romance between male idols and

female idols

In our opinion, we think love is an emotion and emotions can't

even be controlled by the ones that're feeling them. We are not
even the ones that's feeling them so we are not even close to
controlling them.

We think every human-beings can love freely. K-pop idols are also
human beings.

We really respect Hyuna and E’dawn who were able to risk

everything for their love that they have for each other. After
getting kicked out from their group and agency, they joined ‘P
Nation’ agency. They are now expressing their feelings openly as
to what they should be doing in the ‘P NATION’ agency which
accepts them for who they are. They are now one of the most
popular couples in South Korea.

We think that they made the right decision and learnt that good
days are always waiting for us behind bad days. We will have an
opportunity to receive them if we stay strong during bad days.

Our thoughts about idols suiciding

It is very cruel to hear about idols giving up their own lives. We

feel words are very important. Hate comments are very easy to
write. We just need to spend a few mins typing on our keyboards
but we will never know how it will affect the other person’s life.

We feel like we should be more careful while saying things so

cases like these won’t happen.

We hope our friends who also love Kpop should know about the
dark side of the Kpop industry so they can support their favorite
idols without harming them. In conclusion, Kpop idols should be
treated with kindness and respect.
Reference list

_ yg audition age limit - Search

_jyp audition age limit - Search

_https://www.koreaboo.com/lists/9-steps-every-trainee-must-go-
prior-debut/

_https://kbizoom.com/a-famous-rapper-refused-to-join-bts-becau
se-big-hit-forced-their-idols-to-have-plastic-surgery/

_https://www.kpopstarz.com/amp/articles/295063/20201005/male-
idols-dropped-out-school-pursue-dreams.htm
_https://youtu.be/H3IYCHp53Io

_https://www.soompi.com/article/662751wpp/sm-updates-on-fx-k
rystals-condition-following-fainting-incident-during-sm-concert

_https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2018/09/13/hyuna-and-edaw
n-kicked-out-of-cube-entertainment.html

_https://www.koreaboo.com/lists/8-kpop-idols-considered-encou
raged-get-plastic-surgery-ultimately-decided-not/