Fans all over the world were shocked when K-pop star Moonbin died. His death also showed again how hard it is to be a performer.
Astro had a member who was 25 years old, and he could sing, act, and model. His death happened in the middle of a world tour that he and another Astro member, Sanha, were doing as a team.
Police said Moonbin “appears to have killed himself,” but they are still looking into the exact cause of death. It’s the latest sudden death of a young South Korean celebrity in the entertainment business.
This month, an actor named Jung Chae-full, who was 26 years old, was found dead in her home. In August of last year, Yoo Joo-Eun died at the age of 27. Sulli, a former member of the girl group f(x), died in 2019 at the age of 25.
She had been bullied online for a long time. A month later, her close friend and fellow K-pop star Goo Hara were found dead at home. Not all of them were thought to be suicides. But the loss of Moonbin has brought the very competitive world of Korean show business back into the spotlight.
How Difficult It Is to Become a K-Pop Star
South Korea is known for being a very competitive place, and it also has the highest youth suicide rate among wealthy countries. Even though the suicide rate as a whole is going down, more people in their 20s are dying.
Rob Schwartz, an Asia reporter for Billboard Magazine, says that if they were famous in South Korea, they would be under a lot more pressure than pop stars in North America or Europe.
From the start, there is a lot of competition. A lot of young Koreans want to work in the entertainment industry. In 2021, the South Korean education government did a survey and found that actors, models, and singers were among the top 10 dream jobs for elementary school students.
Most people have to go through a tough training process to become K-pop stars. During this time, they will lose touch with most of their friends and peers, and this could last for years.
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K-Pop’s Other Side, Beyond the Glitz
Moonbin was a child actor in the famous Korean drama Boys Over Flowers, which was shown all over Asia when he was only 11. However, he still had to train for eight years before he could join the idol group Astro.
Moon Sua, his sister, is also a K-pop star with the girl group Billie. She worked hard for 12 years to get ready. Only a small number of trainees make it to the stage after going through many tough rounds of selection.
And what they will find is a business that is already full of stars. Mr. Schwartz said that the main reasons Korean stars are under so much stress are the control of their agents and the culture of their fans.
In the past, it was common for people just starting out to be locked into what was called “slave contracts.” These were long, exclusive deals where the person had little say over their plan or pay.
In recent years, some K-pop stars have won court cases that let them out of unfair contracts, but he doesn’t think that the relationship between the two sides has changed much.
“K-pop stars have more control, in the sense that they are not as controlled,” Mr. Schwartz says. “Things have changed, but I wouldn’t say they got better because of that.”
And the fans’ excitement, which is amplified by how busy social media is in the country, could sometimes be a double-edged sword.
“They watch their every move and talk about their hair,” says Mr. Schwartz. “It’s crazy how much attention they pay to these guys.”
Once they become famous, not only their fans but also the whole world pays close attention to them. In a place where inequality has been talked about for a long time, being a public figure means the public holds you to higher standards.
People in South Korea think that drunk driving is one of the worst things a public figure can do, and it could easily end a person’s job there. After crashing her car while drunk driving, well-known actor Kim Sae-Ron, who is 22 years old, got a lot of bad press.
“Korea has very strict moral standards for celebrities compared to other countries,” says Ha Jae-Kun, a Korean pop culture expert.
“The people would attack a star if they did something just a little bit different from what they thought was “good.” And it’s hard for a star to ignore this kind of attack because strong unity creates a lot of social pressure.”
The Shame
Insiders have said that it could be very hard to be a star with mental health problems. In 2017, rap star Swings, who has been diagnosed with various mental disorders, talked to BBC Korean about how hard it could be for them.
“It’s just like walking around naked,” he said. “They say, ‘I thought this guy was sick, you know, how does he get on stage to perform?’ “It’s clear that they have no idea what’s going on.”
The business knows how hard it is on the mental health of their stars, and some K-pop idols have been taking long breaks for their own health.
Jeongyeon is a member of the popular girl group Twice. Since 2020, she has taken four breaks because of mental health problems and a neck injury. She got back into the game last month. Moonbin also took a break in 2019 and 2020 because of health problems.
Several companies have also started to offer therapy sessions for trainees and famous people. South Korea’s biggest search engine, Naver, shut down the comments section under its entertainment news in 2020 because the environment had become possibly dangerous.
But Some People Still Don’t Think that Big Changes Are Coming Soon
“K-pop is its own thing, and everyone wants to improve it for K-pop stars. But how would you do that?” argues Mr. Schwartz. “These idols’ fans are so crazy about them that it seems like they have to keep doing well because they are always under a microscope.”
Yuna Ku works for BBC Korean as a writer in Seoul. Joel Guinto in Singapore sent in more information.
