The Dark Side Of K-Pop
International Stars Who Lost To Stardom
The deaths among young South Korean K-pop stars are front and center and have rocked the country’s entertainment industry. On Wednesday, December 4 Cha In-ha, 27, was found dead in his home, making him the third young entertainer to die in South Korea in the last two months. He was previously a member of the K-pop group Surprise U before appearing on the TV series, Love with Flaws. The news of Cha’s death comes after the recent suicides of two beloved female K-pop idols.
Sulli of the girl group f(x) and Goo Hara of KARA were famous throughout Asia. Sulli, 25, took her life in October, six weeks later her best friend Goo was found dead at her home in Seoul. In December 2017, lead singer of the boy band SHINee, Kim Jonghyun died by suicide and left a disturbing note that was made public a day later. He wrote he felt “broken from inside.” “The depression that gnawed on me slowly has finally engulfed me entirely,” adding he “couldn’t defeat it anymore.”
The suicides have sparked debates about the pressures endured by K-pop stars including cyber bullying, harassment and sexual abuse.
Goo found no sympathy for taking her ex-boyfriend, Choi Jong-Bum, to court when he allegedly threatened to release sex tapes of them. He was convicted of assault and blackmail and received a suspended 18-month sentence. A constant barrage of internet trolls spreading vicious comments took a toll on the young star. On Instagram, she asked for compassion, “can you please ask yourself what kind of person you are before you post a vicious comment online?”
Sulli’s feminism and public battle with depression attracted online abuse. “Some female idols have been ostracized for not smiling in a television show and reading a book about feminism that contradicts male-dominated, patriarchal South Korean society,” Park Hee-A, a K-pop journalist, told the Associated Press.
The talent agencies operate a factory-like production of girl groups and boy bands. Young South Koreans train for years, honing their dance and singing skills with dreams of making it big. That stardom is short lived. The rise is quick as is the fall to obscurity. By their late 20’s the fading idols find it difficult to transition to a more normal, everyday life.
Lee Hark-joon, a South Korean journalist produced a TV documentary on K-pop and co-wrote the book K-pop Idols: Popular Culture and the Emergence of the Korean Music Industry. He told The New York Times, “They seldom have a chance to develop a normal school life or normal social relationships as their peers do.” He added, “theirs is a profession especially vulnerable to psychological distress-they are scrutinized on social media around the clock, and fake news about their private lives is spread instantly.”
South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates in the world and is now forced to do some soul searching. The K-pop suicides are shedding light on an issue that has plagued the country and a culture that views mental health as taboo.