The Extensive Abuse of Korean Idols
With the constant shifts found within the K-pop scene, one thing has remained consistent in its nature: the excruciating training regimes of aspiring and existing idols. In order to create the clean, polished, near unachievable image that idols have, entertainment agencies find it necessary to instate a gruelling training regime. However, this has shown, time and time again, to have severe effects on the mental and physical health of the artists.
The Treatment of Trainees
While a trainee’s schedule differs from company to company, most of them begin their days between 5–7am, and only finish around midnight, with little to no rest in between. If a trainee is still young enough to be in school, they have to balance their classes, homework, and exams with their training, which places even more burdens on their shoulders. In many companies, trainees have their phones confiscated during practice, and are prohibited from having any social media accounts. There are also strict dieting constraints, with some companies having weekly weigh-ins to ensure that trainees remain under a certain weight. As a result of these strict diets, it is not unusual for trainees to collapse from having to do physical activity for long hours without having eaten enough.
A documentary from 2010 that chronicles the lives of K-pop group 9MUSES before their debut explicitly shows cases of them being berated and overworked. Their appearances are insulted, such as being called ‘ugly ducklings’, and being told that they only deserve basic respect once they reach stardom. This derogatory behaviour is painted as a necessity that aims to ‘encourage’ the trainees to work harder, but it simultaneously dehumanises them, which inevitably takes a severe toll on their mental wellbeing. A psychiatrist’s analysis of 9MUSES prior to their debut showed that all of them were classified as extremely depressed. One of the reviews of this documentary commented that ‘a recurring theme’ seemed to be middle aged men (the staff) essentially bullying these extremely young girls.
In addition to what was practically emotional abuse, the members of 9MUSES, much like other idols, were forced to practise and perform regardless of serious physical injuries. In this documentary, the trainees had been in a car accident, and one of the girls was forced to continue with her training despite having broken her arm.
The Treatment of Idols
There are also several recent instances of Korean idols collapsing or sustaining injuries while performing, such as SEVENTEEN’s Hoshi dislocating his shoulder during a concert, and LOONA’s Yeojin fainting because of the high altitude and lack of rest. Countless cases like these have shown that these Korean idols are put in dangerous situations both before and after debuting. This has barely improved in the past decade.
Because of the extreme amount of work these trainees are put through, it would seem reasonable that they are compensated with sufficient pay after debuting. However, all the work that goes into creating idol groups, from paying trainers and staff members, to producing music and shooting music videos, costs the entertainment agencies a lot of money, so most of all the money made from the groups’ success goes straight to the company. In the likely event that a group is unsuccessful, the members can find themselves in debt to their company, never making a cent off of their hard work.
The LOONA Case
In the last two years or so, all twelve members of LOONA left their company, Blockberry Creative. Around late 2021, news broke that Blockberry faced extreme financial trouble, with their stylists, producers, and other external people working for months without monetary compensation. This debt accumulated to anything between 85–750k USD, which seemed strange to many netizens as LOONA had seen substantial success since their debut. It was later confirmed that the members of LOONA also hadn’t been paid enough, if at all, despite having worked for the company for around five years by that point. One of LOONA’s choreographers, Kim Hwayoung, said the company kept promising to pay her for all the songs she had choreographed for, but never did. She added that the only reason she continued to help LOONA was because all the members were diligent workers who took their craft extremely seriously.
One of LOONA’s most popular members, Chuu, filed a lawsuit against Blockberry in June of 2022, openly speaking about never being paid. Because of how popular she was amongst fans, the company had her do many solo advertisements, variety shows, and other schedules on top of all the work she was already doing with the rest of LOONA, but never paid her for all of her effort. Chuu also spoke about the binge eating disorder she developed because of all of her stress and lack of money. In order to save what little money she had, she would order only one large spicy meal per day and eat it extremely quickly, which led to her having to go to the ER multiple times.
Chuu was not the only member to go through a lot of physical pain. LOONA was extremely overworked during their world tour, with some members not making it to some of the concerts because they had fallen ill. One of the members, Haseul, was seen with a shoulder strap during some of the concerts, being forced to perform despite her injury.
A former employee at Blockberry Creative wrote a string of tweets exposing them. This included how they would force the LOONA members to perform whilst they were ill, to the point of constant vomiting. Some of the staff members would come to work drunk and scream at the young trainees, and when the company failed financially, they would blame the idols to their faces.
What Now?
As of the publication of this article, all the LOONA members have left Blockberry Creative, with most of them debuting under new companies. However, cases like this of extreme abuse and financial exploitation are not exclusive to LOONA, and are still happening in most Korean entertainment agencies. On top of what has been described in this article, there are also dating bans, extreme cyberbullying, unachievable beauty standards, and even sexual assault that many idols are faced with, and most companies do a very good job of hiding it from the public.
It appears as though the K-pop industry sees itself as a machine, pumping out new idols every year in order to make money off of their potential success, and exploiting the dreams of young innocents along the way. With the rise in popularity of Korean music, many more people are aiming to become K-pop idols, but the chances of being successful are extremely slim. If you are particularly interested in becoming a trainee, be sure to do proper research into the companies you intend to audition for, and if you are accepted, to read through the contract properly before signing.
As for the current state of the industry, there is little that the general public can do. It is up to the Korean authorities to deal with these companies. However, there is no harm in taking a stand and shedding light on these horrific cases of exploitation. The more aware people are of what goes on behind the scenes, the less these entertainment agencies are able to hide it.
[Written By: Kianna Chan, Edited By: Adryna Chin Yee Shin]
