Kim So Hee, famous from the reality show Produce 101, said her former company boss often acted too intimately since she was a high school student.
Kpop is currently immersed in grief and controversy. When the news of the death of Astro member Moonbin was announced, many international media outlets once again expressed concern about the cruelty behind the Kpop halo, although this issue has been discussed many times.
At the same time, Hankook Ilbo reported in a new program aired in Japan that the Sky Girls group exposed the abuse of power and harassment they have endured for a long time from their management company.
According to Insider , the back-to-back incidents once again shed light on the mental health crisis in the Korean entertainment industry.
Obsessed with losing weight, sexually harassed
Sky Girls is a four-member girl group. They are originally from Japan, but debuted in South Korea as a K-pop group in 2019, under SKY Entertainment and ONETOP Entertainment. The group was formed by singer-songwriter Yang Sung Jeung, and debuted with the single Because of You .
Unfortunately, they failed to make a name for themselves amid the influx of girl groups in Kpop. Just about 2 years after their debut, the group quietly disbanded due to the severe impact of Covid-19.
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The Sky Girls group had to give up their idol dreams because of the pressures of Kpop. |
After several years away from the spotlight, members Karina and Runa shared their traumatic experiences as K-pop idols. According to the girls, the company must have invaded their privacy as they had to report every minute of their personal activities via text messages.
But what they found most difficult was losing weight. Runa and Karina revealed that the company threatened to cancel their schedules if they did not lose weight and follow a certain diet, despite the fact that it was very dangerous for their health.
The members shared: "Girl groups need to subtract 120 from their height to find out what the company considers a normal weight. If you are 1.65 m tall, you can only weigh 45 kg. Every meal, I take a picture for the manager to see what and how much I ate."
“I also weighed myself in the morning and evening and sent it to my manager. I only ate a quarter of a bowl of rice. Because of the strict diet, I felt extremely dizzy and had nosebleeds every day, but they didn't even give me time to rest," the singer said.
Singers were even harassed. Managers in the company constantly groped members under the pretext of "checking" their bodies. The company also forced members to undergo plastic surgery but paid for it themselves.
According to Korean law, the contract between a management company and an artist lasts for a maximum of 7 years. Taking advantage of the fact that the Sky Girls members are Japanese and do not understand the law, the company offered a 10-year contract. However, after experiencing all the terrible things mentioned above, the members could not bear it and all returned to Japan.
In response, the management company filed a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court, Japan, demanding 46 million won (about $111,000 ) in compensation from the members for breach of contract. However, in a ruling last month, the court rejected all of the company's claims and approved the members' request to terminate their contracts.
In court, the company justified forcing members to diet: "Korean idols do this a lot."
Forced dieting is actually very common in the Korean entertainment industry, especially among idol singers. However, what is even more frightening is that many singers and girl groups have admitted that they have been harassed and abused by managers and bosses of Korean entertainment companies.
A former trainee named Kwon Hyuk Jung revealed that she had to give up her dream of becoming an idol singer because she was harassed by the director of her management company. "In the meeting room, it was just me and him. He said very rude things, commented on my body and tempted me to take off my clothes for him to see," Kwon said.
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Kim So Hee said she was harassed by her former boss. |
Kim So Hee, who became famous from the reality show Produce 101, said her former company boss often acted too intimately since she was a high school student. Cheska, a former member of the group Fiestar, said she was sexually harassed and even raped when she was 18.
“There was a lot of sexual harassment, but I never experienced it (pause). Actually, I'm lying, I experienced sexual harassment. I don't want to say this but it was terrible, as soon as I arrived in Korea, I was raped. I don't think I will share this with anyone,” Cheska confided.
The music market is full of burdens
Kpop has long been known for its harshness and the passing of male singer Moonbin at the age of 25 or before that Goo Hara, Sulli, Jonghyun... is proof of that, according to Guardian .
"K-pop stars are selected by entertainment companies from a very young age. They live under tight control and undergo rigorous training most of the time," said the Guardian . In Sulli's case, the singer had suffered from online bullying for a long time before her death. Her death has raised alarm about stronger punishments for malicious comments online in South Korea.
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Moonbin was found dead at his home on the evening of April 19. |
The British BBC also mentioned the sad endings of the above singers and other cases such as actress Jeong Jae Yul (26 years old), Yu Ju Eun (27 years old). The BBC pointed out that Moonbin's story shows the immense pressure that Kpop idols face.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported: "Moonbin is one of a number of South Korean celebrities in their 20s who have died suddenly. In some cases, the reasons for their deaths are extreme. The passing has forced South Korea to reflect on where one of its most popular cultural exports went wrong."
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