Gritty reality beneath glitz
SEOUL: Known for its ultra-competitive, pressure-cooker society, South Korea has one of the world’s highest suicide rates. And this week, the even higher stresses in the country’s lucrative showbiz industry took their toll on a K-Pop superstar.
Kim Jong-hyun, 27, lead singer of the hugely popular boy band SHINee, took his own life in a hotel room here on Monday, with his death sending shockwaves through fans around the world.
Five-member SHINee was at the forefront of the “Korean Wave” that has seen South Korean pop culture sweep Asia by storm in the past decade and lap at shores even further afield.
The band has found fame and fortune with multiple chart-topping albums and soldout concerts at home and abroad since their debut in 2008.
But a grittier reality lies beneath the glitz and glamour of the KPop scene — cutthroat competition, lack of privacy, cyberbullying and relentless public pressure to maintain a wholesome image at all times at any cost.
Many stars like Kim are picked by agencies at a young age, usually in their early or mid teens, their lives then taken over by gruelling singing and dancing training, with the ever-present risk of falling foul of a cut-throat screening process.
Holidays are rare and privacy an unaffordable luxury as many live with bandmates in dorm-like apartments provided by agents, who dictate everything from music styles and diet regimen to mobile phone use and dating bans.
Many struggle with a constant lack of sleep and privacy.
Kim Se-jeong, a popular singer, confessed to once sleeping a total of one hour in four days.
“I had to perform on stage, appear in TV shows and shoot ads all at the same time,” she told a television interviewer this year.
Kang Daniel, of the popular boy band Wanna One, said his biggest wish was “just one day of rest”.
“For months ahead of my debut, I usually woke up 4am or 5am... practised until 2am or 3am the following day,” Kang, 21, said in a television interview in August.
He was “grateful” to get a chance at fame, he said, but the gruelling schedule affected his health. He cancelled all public appearances this month.
Many K-Pop stars face tremendous pressure to look and behave perfectly in an industry powered by “fandoms” — groups of well-organised admirers who spend enormous amounts of time and money to help their favoured stars climb up the charts and attack their perceived rivals.
In return, stars are expected to tread carefully in an industry where today’s fervent fans could be tomorrow’s vicious critics if their idols fail to meet their expectations.
Drug use or drunken driving are seen as career-breakers, while behaviour that causes a “stir” — anything from a social media gaffe to a failure to smile ceaselessly — could be criticised for years.
“These ‘idols’ virtually live in a fishbowl and are pressed to put on a smiley, happy face while behaving nicely 24/7,” said cultural commentator Kim Seong-soo, adding that the strain could “cripple them emotionally”.
Such challenges are common among celebrities around the world, he said, but are amplified in the hyper-wired South, and taboos about mental illness dissuade many from seeking help. AFP