K-pop is genre of pop music based in South Korea. It has global reach because of its addictive melodies, synchronized dance of groups, divine vocals and ethereal visuals of K-pop idols.
K-pop is more than simply a type of music, it is a complex combination of expert choreography, aesthetic music videos, and attractive asian pop stars smothered in makeup and decked in the latest cutting edge fashion.
The world biggest band BTS is also a k-pop group. BTS is the first and only k-pop group to crack the top ten Billboard Hot 100 with their blockbuster hit single "dynamite" that remained no.1 for two consecutive weeks and not leaving the top 10 charts on Billboards hot 100 till now.
Every group is groomed to perfection by an entertainment agency. The more the famous agency, the more famous the group- except, the case of BTS. In 2013, BTS debuted under a small company and struggled hard to reach where they are today. Their debut was not that huge because of financial issues and they even tried disbanding but somehow they continued their career. Their career finally boosted up with their hit single "I need u" in 2015.
BTS's breakthrough in the international music industry is an abnormality, espescially since they debuted as underdogs in the great face of K-pop. To truely understand the career behaviour of a typical k-pop group and furthermore to illustrate the hidden nature of the k-pop industry, we must not focus on the BTS but on archetypal stars experience in the field.
However, there's a horrifying side of k-pop. "Dispatch", a korean tabloid, deploys paparazzi to secretly follow celebrities around and hunt down any scandalous relationships the celebrity might have. K-pop stars are restricted to date. Even if they want to date, they can't because of the amount of hate they'll receive from netizens, that might harm their smooth flowing career. K-pop idols have incredibly dedicated fanbases who, in return, for the fan's extensive investments of money and time, expect k-pop stars to reciprocate a certain level of devotion, including refraining from romance since it seemingly detracts from the star's appreciation for their fans.
Being a k-pop idol involves catering to endless expectations, social norms and athletic excellence. Idols suffer enormous pressure to maintain the expectations of their fan. They are well awared about the fact that any mistake, misbehaviour and flaw can affect their entire self being by their own fandom sadly.
Also, South Korea has very high standards. Racism there is on its peak. People with dark complexion is considered to be ugly and they are mistreated too. They're often bullied for their appearance. Therefore, cosmetic surgery is quite common there. Everyone has to go through the extremely painful surgery in order to fit in there.
Korean celebrities has to go through all this because it is mandatory for them. They have to be in front of camera and public most of the time so they have to be pretty, according to korean beauty standards. They also have to follow strict diet mostly in order to not gain weight. Sometimes, they are even provided with only one meal a day and they can't avoid it. Their strict diet plans often leave them starving. There are many news and videos where k-pop idols faint on stage due to weakness. There are videos where idols are often seen getting treated for their wounds and sometimes the external oxygen providing equipment is even used to treat them off stage.
Park Jimin, a vocalist of BTS, showed signs of anorexia in early stages of the BTS debut. He admitted that he used to eat only single meal within the span of ten days because of his intent to lose weight and appear slim like a typical k-pop idol.
Despite of their struggles and hard works, they are discouraged from speaking their feelings out. They are expected to meet an extremely high moral standard in order to represent k-pop as "safe and wholesome"; free of violence, drugs, mental health issues and other unmarketable or unprofitable topics.
Their every move is controlled by the agency. Their looks, hair styles, performances, MV looks, diet plans, everything is under control. They have limited freedom to enjoy themselves on their own.
Innocent victims of the horrifying norms:-
Jonghyun, 27 year old, from popular boy band SHINee took his own life on december 18th, 2017. His suicide note reveals the motive for doing so:- "The depression that has slowly eaten me, and I couldn't beat it".
Two years later, on 14th October 2019, Sulli from girl group f(x) died by suicide, due to the malicious hate speech of netizens who bashed her routinely expressed viewpoints that offended Korea's social norms and gender ideals.
Right after six weeks of Sulli's death, the death of 28 year old Goo Hara, a member of girl group Kara committed suicide and the reason is unknown.
Conclusion:-
Only god knows how many k-pop idols took their life because of the horrifying rules. When we talk about equality, it clearly means that everyone should be treated equally. Korean celebrities are also human beings, kindly keep that in mind before commenting anything shameful about them. They are not slaves and they also have rights to be free like us. Let's treat them with all humanity. They are our idols afterafter all, not slaves. Everyone deserves to be respected and so they do. We should respect their views, opinions and decisions.
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