What is K-Pop, and how did it become a global phenomenon? Delving deeper into the dark side of the industry
By Mahnoor Siddiqi
Source: JYP Entertainment
K-Pop and the idol industry as a whole have been a growing global phenomenon ever since it was introduced and popularised by South Korea. Not only does ‘Hallyu’, known as the Korean wave, include K-Pop, it also has everything Korean-related: from Korean dramas to skincare, beauty and fashion. This ‘Hallyu’ wave has had a massive global impact and has completely changed how society sees South Korea.
Korean pop music, or ‘K-Pop’ for short, has become a global phenomenon thanks to the catchy melodies, smooth choreography, high-end music videos, and huge production from each group and soloist, added to the industry’s attractive K-Pop idols. These K-Pop idols train under companies for years to perfect their performance, honing many vital skills such as singing, dancing, acting, and language.
Naturally, K-Pop first started in South Korea with groups such as H.O.T., Wonder Girls, Girls Generation, S.E.S., and more, which are currently referred to as ‘first generation groups’ or ‘first gen’ for short. However, Wonder Girls’ track ‘Nobody’ was sung in four languages, including English and reached Billboard’s Hot 100, thus introducing K-Pop to the Western audience.
Shortly after, a K-Pop soloist known as PSY released the ‘Gangnam Style’ mega hit. PSY claimed that the song was merely meant to be a joke, though it blew up immediately on YouTube, reaching over three billion views, setting a record for the most viewed music video.
K-Pop groups usually have a ‘comeback’ (releasing a new mini-album/full album) yearly. Companies do this in order to ensure the group stays relevant. Although this keeps the fans and companies satisfied, idols are often overworked. They occasionally have to go on breaks to prioritise their mental health, such as TWICE’s Mina and Jeongyeon, who were previously on hiatus.
Unlike ‘soloists’ or western artists, K-Pop groups’ albums are usually photo books including CDs, photocards, posters, and more group merchandise
People are mainly hesitant to listen to K-Pop because of the language barrier. People prefer to know all the lyrics to a song they like, in a language that they are familiar with. Additionally, others find K-Pop fans, or ‘stans’, annoying as they believe they only listen to the music because they fetishise Korean culture. However, for most K-Pop fans, this statement is untrue as some groups feature members of different ethnicities. An example of this is the famous girl group known as TWICE consisting of nine members. Many people like them as they have different members of different ethnic backgrounds.The group includes three Japanese members: Momo, Sana, and Mina.
Through the popularisation of K-Pop in western media, many more Western viewers were able to see and learn more about what K-Pop is really like: the dancing, the singing, the stage presence, and the facial expressions. All of these factors are what makes a great K-Pop performance.
Although the K-Pop industry may seem ‘perfect’, it does have a dark side. Idols are constantly pressured to fit into extreme beauty standards. For example, female idols are always expected to have a skinny waist, long legs, pale skin, and double eyelids. These unrealistic standards are constantly pressuring idols to starve themselves, undergo plastic surgery, and exercising to the point where they weigh the same as an average fourteen year old girl. K-Pop idols are often sexualised as well. For example, TWICE's Tzuyu, who was asked to be in a commercial when she was around fifteen years of age, was dressed in a fairly revealing outfit and had to dance in an elevator. Many netizens believed that Tzuyu was too young to be demanded of such content. It must have been very uncomfortable for Tzuyu herself, though she was made to do it anyway because of her dream to debut in a K-Pop group.
Similar issues remain constant in the K-Pop world. SHINEE’s Jonghyun and f(x)’s Sulli were driven to suicide. Jonghyun was severely depressed because of all of the pressure that was put upon him, while Sulli was receiving malicious hate comments and death threats and was also dealing with severe depression. The K-Pop industry had very high expectations for both Jonghyun and Sulli as they were members of very popular ‘second generation’ groups, meaning that they were expected to set many standards for the future generation groups. Amber Liu, a member of f(x) stated in an interview with CBS that when [Amber and Sulli] were in the same group, Sulli would never get beaten down by these comments, but expectations grew higher and pressured many of the members as the years passed.
I asked a few K-Pop fans what they knew about the ‘dark side’ of the industry. One stated that ‘sasaengs’ remain a prominent problem. ‘Sasaengs’ are known as over-obsessive fans that care too much about idols they like, so they stalk them, take photos of them and spread rumors about them. Another K-Pop fan I talked to stated that there were a lot of ‘meaningless fan wars’ that took place online, with people debating and getting upset over topics such as which group was the best, which group was not successful, which idol was the worst. Some fans would even begin spreading and circulating untrue rumors online. For example, many idols, such as LOONA’s Chuu, and (G)I-dle’s Soojin, have been accused of being bullies with little to no evidence. Some fans even take it to the extreme and send death threats to other fans, occasionally even to idols and groups.
There will always be two sides to the same coin. K-Pop as a whole has its pros, such as fans who have been saved by their favorite idol’s or group’s music, as well as its cons, such as fans who are obsessed with an idol to the point where they attack others online for disagreeing with their opinions. It is safe to say that K-Pop has impacted the world greatly, and will continue to do so in the future.