I’m late to the funeral. It was announced a day before my birthday on December 18, 2017 that Jonghyun of my favorite k-pop group has committed suicide. Out of all the male k-pop groups, Shinee was by far my favorite even though I don’t listen to a lot of k-pop. I really liked Shinee because they were a boy group…that looked like boys. Most of the male groups in k-pop are often feminized, where the gender lines become so blur, you don’t know who is male or female. I’m all for gender bending, but when an entire industry does it to their males then I view it more as a marketing tool more so than a ‘social awareness’ tool.
Nonetheless, me finding out about the death of Jonghyun wasn’t a surprised. I know that sounds horrible but anyone who knows about the k-pop industry, knows that it’s more intense and lucrative than the American k-pop industry. During the months, Americans and Europeans had a #Metoo moment so as to highlight rape, and sexual misconduct in the entertainment industry; South Korea was quiet when they should have been the main ones speaking up about sexual misconduct, and the abuse those in power partake in to both females and males.
Shinee made their music debut in 2008. Jonghyun was 27 when he passed, so that means he was around 18 when the group debuted. And although the group debuted in 2008, they must have trained for about one to three years prior. So that means Jonghyun had been with this group for about eleven to twelve years! That’s a long time to be in a boy group and a long time to be with the same record label, S.M Entertainment. Most boy groups last about two to five years in western society. For example, Backstreet Boys debuted in 1995 but formed in 1993. BSB broke up mid 2000’s then reformed again(after solo ventures and projects failed, and after starting families and raising kids). Nysnc had a similar path coming a couple of years later, debuted in 1998 but formed in 1996. They broke up in 2001. Even then this is rare. Out of all the boy groups that came out during that era, Nsync and BSB lasted the longest compared to LFO, Take 5, 5, Dream Street, O-Town. Even in this new era, Jonas Brothers had about a five year span, and One Direction is starting to go their own ways too after forming a few years ago.
Training camp, dorm life, and Hallyu business ventures is pretty similar to American entertainment except…not really. While k-pop artist go through training camp, or boot camp so as to practice their vocals and dance moves, they also live within a dorm during this duration. This is similar to American artist except, often times these groups even after reaching success still find themselves living in these dorms.
Something that is important to understand is Hallyu is a government funded venture. So this means the government funds a lot of these entertainment deals so as to spread Korean influence in the form of soft power. The government will fund movies, music, fashion, science, sports, etc, etc, etc. A business model even China is incorporating with FFC. Why is this important? It’s important because as a result of the government spending so much money into these businesses and these businesses spending so much money on these artist, investing in them, when the artist gets paid, they owe a lot of money back to the businesses, leaving them with hardly anything. In reality, a lot of these k-pop artist are broke or in debt.
So not only are these artist broke, and that they often spend years, sometimes surpassing 10 years with the same group and record label, but a lot of them are foreign. When Jay Park first went to Seoul to be apart of 2PM, he confided to his fans online that he would cry daily from loneliness. He was in a new country, didn’t speak the language, and didn’t like the food; he spoke about being depressed. He spoke poorly of the treatment he and others faced while in the industry. And while signed under JYP Entertainment, he continue to speak poorly about the industry, and label via his Myspace and had to leave once it was leaked. When he left, he had to start all over again with his name, his brand, and finances because he didn’t really have anything.
Money, power and of course sex makes the world go round, some say. When it comes to rape and sexual assault just like other countries, it can be difficult for victims to come forward because of victim shaming, especially experienced here in the Miryang assault case. Victims were told it was their fault for the rapes and assaults, police were neglectful to the victims, and even one of the perpetraters’ girlfriend became a police officer in 2012. Years after the incident, it wasn’t until 2015 when South Korea tried to educate parents, and families about young sex offenders, but even then, it can still be hard for many to come forward. And easy for those who offend to get away with it especially if they have money, and/or power.
In 2015, a woman came forward saying a member of a boy band raped her. In 2016, another artist had his charges dropped. In 2014, another artist beat the crap out his girlfriend. Ju Hyuk also committed a rape during his music height but before his acting height in popularity.
But what about sex between artist and executives such as rape, black mail, or bribes? Well in 2012, it was mentioned many females and males were forced into sex with powerful men. Sexual acts included fellatio and sexual intercourse, often times when the artist were attending training camps, and under age. Sometimes it got so rough for many of the hopefuls that some dropped out, losing all hope their dreams would come true. Most recently a CEO of an “unnamed agency” was arrested, not only once but twice on grounds of prostitution. He was selling many of his underage trainees to business clients or potential business clients. In fact, there’s even a word for it called sponsorships. Sex abuse alone can be the cause of depression, and eventually suicide. It’s unsure if Jonghyun was sexually abused, but he did tell his sister he was ending it. Fans and journalist also knew he was battleling depression. It also wouldn’t be the first time someone committed suicide while in the k-pop industry.
U;Nee committed suicide in 2007. Choi Jin-Young took his life in 2010; Park Yong-Ha also took his life in 2010. If you look at this list, you’ll see all of these people have one thing in common: depression. With this entire piece and Jonghyun’s situation: loneliness, plus debt and/or lack of personal funds, intense work environments, lack of freedom, followed by depression can be, and often is, the overall cause in suicide in South Korea.
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