Mar 22·edited Mar 22Liked by K-Culture with Jae-Ha Kim
I feel all this apologizing for dating, joking around, minor drug use, etc. is causing extremely stressful lives for K-Pop idols and celebrities. No wonder so many are "taking breaks" or worse (death by suicide) to deal with their mental health. During your interviews, I'm sure you have heard many tales that you just cannot print. Perhaps some of the younger celebrities who are dating are testing the waters to see how their fans will react or just have the courage to be honest. Gail Lamotte
Thank you for writing about this! I feel so strongly about it because, as a K-Pop and K-Drama fan, I support the actors/actresses and artists, but I feel so bad when they get into dating "scandals" (why is having a relationship a scandal in the first place?). And then people start throwing them under the bus, getting mad at them, calling them traitors for dating.
For example, Chen from EXO. I know even now, fans are still demanding that he leave the group, stating that his role as a husband and father may be getting in the way of his duties as a K-Pop idol, and I'm like...how???
I always talk about celebrities having actor/singer/artist as their daytime job. In short, they're professionals, just like the rest of us. When they're off work, they're themselves. It's not like we demand our banker or doctor never to marry either so why can't celebrities date in peace without people demanding apologies left and right?
Very well said! I've been following K-dramas and K-pop since 2012 and this "apology" mania in Korean pop culture has always driven me crazy. I have a question. Does it also apply to sports figures, classical musicians, fine artists, and politicians? Is it something left over from Confucianism, under which each person had to know and maintain their place in society? Or is it purely a product of the young k-pop culture where celebrities have to be "Pure" to have any intrinsic value? It is certainly confusing for us Westerners to understand or appreciate since egregious behavior like sending protest trucks seems sadly ineffective and laughable. Thank you, Christina Olds
This “ownership” that fans have towards their favorites is something I could never truly understand. If you truly liked and supported an artist why wouldn’t you want them to have a life after they’ve found stardom? These fans know what their faves had to go through to get where they are. Why continue to be gatekeepers to their lives? It’s disheartening to watch.
Living a normal life is not something you apologize for. I really feel sorry for Korean actors and idols when they feel the need to apologize for doing something normal which fans see as a disgusting behavior. This remains to be an issue which has never been addressed. The artists are human beings just like the fans who want to live normal lives because everyone is meant to do just that. Fans in Korea cause so much stress to these artists by creating an "ideal" type of idols that fans love and those who fall short are harassed, disowned, insulted, maligned, which they do not deserve. The cancel culture practiced by fans seem to grow affecting stock prices which is ultimately blamed on the artist. This has to stop. Fans should support and respect the artists they love by being just that, fans. We do not "own" our favorite idols/actors, we admire them for their talents, looks, character, etc. and respecting their choices is something we can do as a means of showing support. Their personal lives are their own, the least we can do is respect that and give them the privacy that is due them.
My first experience of this was when Twice's Tzuyu was forced to apologize for displaying the flag of her own country (Taiwan) due to pressure on JYP from Chinese fans. Not to mention she was a literal child at the time!
In 2020, I wrote about that incident and had inserted it into this piece before I went to bed last night, along with a bit about HyunA and Dawn! (I think you commented as I was editing!) The man who instigated that whole thing was a 52-year-old entertainer who had been born in Taiwan, but hated the country and attacked prominent Taiwanese celebs regularly. He saw an easy victim in a 16-year-old child! So gross.
I'm so glad you wrote about this. It is baffling to me. I began watching kdrama a few years ago and am still enthusiastic about it. I'm noticing so much about the culture, including a level of courtesy we don't see much in the west. The contrast with the implied ownership of celebrities is jarring, to say the least. It seems to me to even be insulting to the hard-working human beings who make the dramas possible. B Haines
It is sad. Even sadder because there are some other places that do like Korea. Even Celebs are people with normal needs and they already pay a high price for being well know. It is really unfair and sad.
When you mentioned public apologies, I immediately remembered what Lee Sungkyun went through before his death. I wish we could remove this pressure from them :(
Mar 24·edited Mar 24Liked by K-Culture with Jae-Ha Kim
My goodness -- I did not know about any of this, Jae! I don't know whether to laugh or cry (I guess both?). Our homeland can be a rather strange place. My personal beef has always been the slavish level of respect automatically given to older people. I mean if you're an ass as a young person, there's a fairly good chance you'll be an even bigger ass as an older person, since you've had all those years to hone your ass-craft. So by the time this person is in his or her elder years, look out!
Thank you for bringing this up. The whole phenomenon is so strange to me. Some of what you cited borders on emotional abuse to me by these so-called fans. These celebs and idols are real people who want to live real lives. As long as they are not committing crimes, people should leave them alone.
I feel all this apologizing for dating, joking around, minor drug use, etc. is causing extremely stressful lives for K-Pop idols and celebrities. No wonder so many are "taking breaks" or worse (death by suicide) to deal with their mental health. During your interviews, I'm sure you have heard many tales that you just cannot print. Perhaps some of the younger celebrities who are dating are testing the waters to see how their fans will react or just have the courage to be honest. Gail Lamotte
The world is paying attention to Korean entertainment now and one thing that Korea doesn't want to be regarded as is "backwards."
Thank you for writing about this! I feel so strongly about it because, as a K-Pop and K-Drama fan, I support the actors/actresses and artists, but I feel so bad when they get into dating "scandals" (why is having a relationship a scandal in the first place?). And then people start throwing them under the bus, getting mad at them, calling them traitors for dating.
For example, Chen from EXO. I know even now, fans are still demanding that he leave the group, stating that his role as a husband and father may be getting in the way of his duties as a K-Pop idol, and I'm like...how???
I always talk about celebrities having actor/singer/artist as their daytime job. In short, they're professionals, just like the rest of us. When they're off work, they're themselves. It's not like we demand our banker or doctor never to marry either so why can't celebrities date in peace without people demanding apologies left and right?
(I told you I feel strongly about this! 😅)
Very well said! I've been following K-dramas and K-pop since 2012 and this "apology" mania in Korean pop culture has always driven me crazy. I have a question. Does it also apply to sports figures, classical musicians, fine artists, and politicians? Is it something left over from Confucianism, under which each person had to know and maintain their place in society? Or is it purely a product of the young k-pop culture where celebrities have to be "Pure" to have any intrinsic value? It is certainly confusing for us Westerners to understand or appreciate since egregious behavior like sending protest trucks seems sadly ineffective and laughable. Thank you, Christina Olds
This “ownership” that fans have towards their favorites is something I could never truly understand. If you truly liked and supported an artist why wouldn’t you want them to have a life after they’ve found stardom? These fans know what their faves had to go through to get where they are. Why continue to be gatekeepers to their lives? It’s disheartening to watch.
Living a normal life is not something you apologize for. I really feel sorry for Korean actors and idols when they feel the need to apologize for doing something normal which fans see as a disgusting behavior. This remains to be an issue which has never been addressed. The artists are human beings just like the fans who want to live normal lives because everyone is meant to do just that. Fans in Korea cause so much stress to these artists by creating an "ideal" type of idols that fans love and those who fall short are harassed, disowned, insulted, maligned, which they do not deserve. The cancel culture practiced by fans seem to grow affecting stock prices which is ultimately blamed on the artist. This has to stop. Fans should support and respect the artists they love by being just that, fans. We do not "own" our favorite idols/actors, we admire them for their talents, looks, character, etc. and respecting their choices is something we can do as a means of showing support. Their personal lives are their own, the least we can do is respect that and give them the privacy that is due them.
My first experience of this was when Twice's Tzuyu was forced to apologize for displaying the flag of her own country (Taiwan) due to pressure on JYP from Chinese fans. Not to mention she was a literal child at the time!
In 2020, I wrote about that incident and had inserted it into this piece before I went to bed last night, along with a bit about HyunA and Dawn! (I think you commented as I was editing!) The man who instigated that whole thing was a 52-year-old entertainer who had been born in Taiwan, but hated the country and attacked prominent Taiwanese celebs regularly. He saw an easy victim in a 16-year-old child! So gross.
I'm so glad you wrote about this. It is baffling to me. I began watching kdrama a few years ago and am still enthusiastic about it. I'm noticing so much about the culture, including a level of courtesy we don't see much in the west. The contrast with the implied ownership of celebrities is jarring, to say the least. It seems to me to even be insulting to the hard-working human beings who make the dramas possible. B Haines
It is sad. Even sadder because there are some other places that do like Korea. Even Celebs are people with normal needs and they already pay a high price for being well know. It is really unfair and sad.
When you mentioned public apologies, I immediately remembered what Lee Sungkyun went through before his death. I wish we could remove this pressure from them :(
My goodness -- I did not know about any of this, Jae! I don't know whether to laugh or cry (I guess both?). Our homeland can be a rather strange place. My personal beef has always been the slavish level of respect automatically given to older people. I mean if you're an ass as a young person, there's a fairly good chance you'll be an even bigger ass as an older person, since you've had all those years to hone your ass-craft. So by the time this person is in his or her elder years, look out!
Thank you for bringing this up. The whole phenomenon is so strange to me. Some of what you cited borders on emotional abuse to me by these so-called fans. These celebs and idols are real people who want to live real lives. As long as they are not committing crimes, people should leave them alone.
Real relevant today...
I can't believe that some of the new couples have already broken up, no doubt due to pressure from fans and management.