The Destructive Consequences of Netizen Comments

By now, you have probably heard about the suicide of Sulli, a former member of K-pop group f(x). When I first read the news, I was shocked and upset (like any long-time K-pop fan would be) to the point that I literally couldn’t concentrate at all the next day. I initially thought of it as being an almost complete parallel of the passing of her SM labelmate Jonghyun two years ago, and rapidly started making as many connections as I could between their respective deaths, but after reading more articles about the tragedy, I realized that Sulli’s case was so much more complicated and vicious than I had previously considered.

Not only was Sulli dealing with depression, but she also experienced harsh cyberbullying – and had opened up about the toll it took on her well-being through her show Reply Night and even through her private Instagram. Following her departure from f(x), she focused on her acting and became a sort of feminist icon who presented herself as carefree and liberal about her sexuality. This didn’t bode well with many Korean netizens, who criticized her harshly for breaking gender expectations in a conservative country, with some even engaging in sexual harassment towards her.

Idols and actors face intense scrutiny from the public whenever they fail to match up to standards of purity and perfection, and many have spoken up the hardships of fame on television or through social media.  Through forums like Daum, Nate, Pann, and Naver, netizens can leave comments on articles about Korean celebrities, but unfortunately, this gives them an avenue to chip away at entertainers’ mental health through hate speech, which shouldn’t be accepted anywhere. IP addresses are created solely for the purpose of harassing artists, and while Sulli had previously sought help from SM Entertainment for shutting down her online bullies, her company failed to actively seek out and identify malicious commenters.

The worst part is, even in the wake of Sulli’s death, the nasty remarks haven’t stopped. For example, netizens pestered Bang Minah of Girls Day, asking her whether she wanted to be the next to die after Sulli, which is extremely insensitive and makes me wonder whether some netizens are celebrating her passing and actively aiming to push more celebrities to end their own lives. Shindong from Super Junior is another notable example of someone who is currently being fat shamed by netizens and is giving in to their requests to lose a large amount of weight in order to be “healthier”. While Shindong has always been known as being on the bigger side compared to other idols, I see no problem with his unique body shape, and, as a matter of fact, gladly welcome deviations from the slender idol norm. And if he really needs to lose a bit of weight, he really doesn’t need to drop a whole 90 lbs in one go, right?

Although it is too late for Sulli, it’s not too late to prevent similar tragedies from occurring, and across Korea, actions are being taken to address and counter online hate speech. Many of Sulli’s fellow celebrities have shared their stories about mean commenters of their own and have vowed to take legal action against those engaging in defamation and infringement of privacy. Daum and Kakao have removed the comment section for entertainment news on their respective platforms in hopes of reducing negative mental health consequences for artists and entertainers.  Fans have started petitions to help identify malicious commenters by forcing them to use their real names. And even on a governmental scale, a “Sulli law” is being proposed to target anonymous netizens who leave malicious comments.

Even before this particular tragedy, netizens have left malicious comments for other celebrities, for no particular reason at all. To this day, we don’t fully understand what drives netizens to intentionally spread negativity and ruin the careers and lives of singers and actors, and whether anything can be done to foster more positive attitudes towards celebrities in Korean netizens before they even take to the Internet and interact with entertainers.  In any case, this hatred towards celebrities, who are human beings like the rest of us, needs to stop before anyone else dies, and hopefully Korea and the rest of the world will take meaningful action to make social media platforms a safer place for those who are vulnerable.

We NEED to talk about the mess that’s happening in K-pop right now

Disclaimer: This is a really sensitive topic, especially right now when it's still so fresh in everyone's minds. Also, I honestly don't know all the details about what's going on - this is just what I know based on everything I've managed to read about it.

This week, it felt like the entire K-pop world was falling into shambles. Scandal after scandal broke out relating to Seungri and the Burning Sun nightclub incident, which started when it was reported that women were being sexually assaulted inside a club, and a man was beaten by security guards while trying to save these women. Seungri was the co-founder of the nightclub along with Park Han Byul’s husband, Yoo In Suk.

While the Burning Sun controversy lost attention after a while, it came back into light a month later when it was revealed that Seungri was allegedly discussing hiring prostitutes for foreign investors with Yoon In Suk. Soon afterwards, he was shown to be participating in a KakaoTalk group chat along with several other men that involved sharing and watching sexual videos of women, taken without their consent. Singer and variety show star Jung Joonyoung was one of the main perpetrators in creating and sending these videos, and the most revolting part was that it was implied that some of these women were unconscious and/or drugged.  Other idols such as Yong Junhyung (Highlight), Choi Jonghoon (FT Island), and Lee Jonghyun (CNBlue) were also discovered to have been involved in either taking part in this group chat or at least viewing the videos. Seungri, Jung Joonyoung, Yong Junhyung, and Choi Jonghoon all announced their retirements from the entertainment industry one after another, and suddenly, all at once, K-pop fans all over the world got to see how truly vile some of their beloved idols were.

In the first few days of the scandal, I really allowed myself be angry and disgusted at everything that was happening. Why? Because these men not only did nothing to stop the hidden camera videos from spreading, but talked about women disrespectfully and didn’t even apologize to the victims. My friends and I became incapable of having conversations about anything else except for this huge scandal – along with other depressing world news that had happened throughout the week. I had to take down the Big Bang poster in my room because it broke my heart to know that they would never come back in the same way again. And every day, whenever I ranted with my friends about it, I used swear words and insults I’d never use otherwise, sometimes even lashing out at them for not taking all of this seriously enough. Truth be told, it was not a very Christian response to injustice. Anger is totally acceptable and even encouraged in these kinds of situations, but it isn’t productive unless it leads to action.

But even though I’m rightfully upset at these male idols’ perverted actions and tendencies, I never believed in the statement that “all men are trash”, even after #MeToo’s impact travelled across Hollywood in late 2017. I do believe the world has to change and put more emphasis on teaching men how to behave decently towards women, because women shouldn’t be perceived as mere objects – they deserve full dignity as human beings. All of us are capable of committing atrocious acts of evil – but we are all also capable of being good and kind, and most if not all of the men that I know are careful and respectful when it comes to what kinds of comments they make about me.  

The Korean legal system has problems of its own, and it would be an outrage if they didn’t at least get SOME jail time for this. If anything, the reputations and careers of all the male celebrities involved are ruined forever. I certainly wouldn’t want them to return to the entertainment industry, especially if they refuse to show remorse for their actions. But is there any hope for these disgraced idols? Well, thinking about what happened in the Bible, Paul the apostle started off as a criminal. He persecuted Christians and approved of the martyr death of Stephen - he even admitted that he was the worst type of sinner (1 Timothy 1:15). Yet God still transformed him and used him to spread the Gospel around the world. I won’t ever condone the gross acts people do, but a Christian alternative to simply condemning these men and wishing death upon them is “love the sinner, but hate the sin”. Maybe all of this "reflecting" that Korean celebrities keep mentioning whenever they have to write a public apology will finally go to good use here, and who knows, maybe God might truly spark in them a remorseful and contrite heart. 

A part of me wishes I could actually go and ask these celebrities what had happened in their lives that caused them to turn out like this, to put it in G-rated terms. Perhaps I might even want to work with criminals in the future so I can understand them better and help them work towards true change in character. I really don’t know at this point. And perhaps, hopefully, this mass unveiling of male celebrities’ behaviour will finally initiate that change not only in their personal lives, but in the nation of Korea as a whole.

One year later: reflecting on Jonghyun's death as a non-fan

Last year ended with yet another tragedy in the K-pop world: on December 18th, SHINee's Kim Jonghyun committed suicide at the age of 27. What made his death stand out from the Ladies Code accident three years before was that Jonghyun and his group were household names that had been in the music industry for almost ten years - everyone knew who he was when he was still alive. I haven't really addressed this incident before, but since it's been a year, I thought I should share about how Jonghyun's passing affected me and how it puts a spotlight on the stressors of life in Korea.

I don't follow SHINee's activities too much, and I'd go as far as to say that Jonghyun was possibly the only member who I wasn't really attracted to, but it's still really sad that this talented and influential young man took his own life. When I found out, I surprisingly didn't cry, but I was numb for the whole day. I literally felt sick to my stomach imagining what could've been going on during the last moments of Jonghyun's life. While some of my K-pop-loving friends and I did bring it up a few times in our conversations, I actively avoided all K-pop sites and even YouTube for at least a month after the tragedy - it was all too depressing for me.

It was known that Jonghyun had battled depression throughout his life and was even open about it in public, but simply speaking out about his problems wasn't enough. Suicide and depression are common problems all over the world and especially in Korea, where mental health issues are so taboo that any struggles are viewed as a sign of weakness. If you were following the Hallyu wave around 2008-2009, you might know that there were a lot of celebrity suicides during that period as well. Instead of seeking help, people are told to just "deal with it" or "get over it", hiding their difficulties out of shame until they can't deal with them anymore. Young people might commit suicide due to stress from school, while the elderly may want to end their lives to avoid "burdening" their families.

Even in my own life, there are people close to me who live with depression, and it debilitates them to varying degrees. There are moments when I wonder whether I myself display any symptoms of depression. I tend to be extremely critical of myself whenever I make a mistake, to the point that I feel the urge to hurt myself. I've never had good control over my emotions, and I deal with a severe lack of confidence for many tasks. I still don't fully understand depression or other mental health disorders, which is why, as a psychology student, I hope to learn more about them so that I can ultimately help and support people with these conditions.

I'm so glad SHINee is still doing so well after their loss. As an SM group heading into their tenth anniversary this year, they came back in full force less than half a year after Jonghyun's passing with a whopping four title tracks. It definitely must have been stressful and bittersweet for the remaining four members, but they've remained positive, using music and their various other activities as outlets for their grief. I'm especially proud of Onew for dealing with his scandal in stride and maknae Taemin for taking over the main vocal position.

Of course, the pain and impact of Jonghyun's death will never completely fade from the K-pop community. I've taken to listening to a few of his solo singles, especially "Lonely", which skyrocketed up the charts soon after his passing, and I'm starting to appreciate his unique voice and melancholy lyrical content more. His posthumous release was a nice farewell touch for fans who wanted to listen to him one last time, and I'm happy he's being commemorated for his life, not just his death. Although Jonghyun's life was too short, hopefully his contributions to Korean music and pop culture will be remembered for a long time to come.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, I just want to let you know that you’re not alone. Depending on which country you live in, you can call any of these numbers above. 

Starvation diets - a sign of hard work or ignorance?

After reading recent stories about Dasom’s and Momo’s “dieting” stories, I felt compelled to share my opinion about K-pop diets.

Most, if not all, female idols are considered underweight according to the BMI calculator. Their profiles usually put their weight between 40 to 50 kg, which would be fine if they were, say, close to my relatively short height of 157 cm. But a lot of these girls are pretty tall, and to imagine that they were my weight or even lighter freaks me out. I would probably be considered “too fat” if I ever tried to enter the Korean entertainment industry. I usually hover around 47 kg, putting me at a healthy BMI of about 19.1, but even if I drop to 45 kg (which is about average for female idols), I’d still be borderline underweight.

It really peeves me how the K-pop industry expects these girls to starve themselves, eat like 200 calories a day or less, work out for at least five hours and try not to collapse, and then be applauded for “working hard”.  I was honestly a bit sad after seeing Kang Mina lose so much weight over the past two years – she looks pretty either way, but her chubby cheeks were part of her charm! Like, when show hosts get impressed that girls have 17-inch waists or whatever, I just shake my head. I’m pretty sure people with 17-inch waists look like this: 

16/17-inch waists: only achievable via corset?

And not so much like this: 

Naeun's waist is apparently 19 inches, but compared to the previous pic, there appears to be more than a 3-inch difference. 

I’ll admit, my perception of “working hard” is kinda skewed from all the K-pop I’ve been exposed to, and sometimes I find myself cutting down my sleep to 5-6 hours just so I can feel more accomplished, but I almost NEVER skip meals. I love food too much to do that. If anything, I just exercise 2-4 times a week and hope to lose some fat on my stomach. I LOVE abs on girls, but I’d rather be a bit heavier with lots of muscle than be unhealthily skinny.

Momo’s story was the worst though. Losing 7 kg in one week? That equates to losing 1 kg per day! She really didn’t have to lose THAT much weight, especially if she was already underweight to begin with. Do Korean audiences really want to see stick-thin girls who may collapse at any moment from exhaustion? And if Jungyeon’s weight limit really was just 44 kg, that’s pretty screwed up considering how tall she already is. A few runway models have actually died from being too underweight, so I’m surprised there haven’t been any stories of trainees and idols dying from starvation or exhaustion… just trainees and idols dying from suicide, but that’s for another time. Anyways, if you want to make yourself angry, read this article: https://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/22381975.html#comments#comments

I’m not necessarily saying skinny or underweight is unhealthy and should be avoided at all costs. Some people, like Sunmi, are naturally skinny, and although her arms do look a bit scary, she otherwise looks pretty healthy.  This blog post is simply meant to warn people about the potentially damaging effects of Korean societal expectations on girls’ body images. If you really want to lose weight, make sure to use healthy methods to achieve your desired body type, and don’t be unrealistic about how much weight you can lose in a week or month or whatever. You can “work hard” without working yourself to death, and progress WILL happen. But trust me, all of you reading this, no matter what size you are, are beautiful. Just know that. J

VIXX in Vancouver - My First K-pop Concert

So I just came back from the VIXX concert in Vancouver. I have school tomorrow, so thankfully the concert was in a convenient location for me.

When they came out on the stage for the first time, I could only recognize Ken from a distance, since his features stood out the most. They started off with Fantasy, and then went with Chained Up, but after the third song we were all asked to put our phones and cameras away and just enjoy the show. I managed to get a few okay shots of them.

Hyuk showed off the best English, but all of them needed a translator. Points to all of them for trying and improving on their English skills. 

Hongbin's speaking voice is so deep (not like Wonwoo deep but you get the idea), you wouldn't expect it from a flower boy like him. 

Leo and Ken's high notes live were legendary. 

There was such a contrast between their dark, edgy, and charismatic dances and their real personalities. In the middle of the concert, they brought out some chairs and asked each other to do some challenges requested by Canadian fans. Ken started singing the ABC song, both him and N got to show off their vocals in musical-style, Hongbin died a little inside when he had to do some aegyo, N and Ravi had a staring contest, N was about to fight Ravi, and Ravi lost and had to do the "oppa-ya" dance. Also, Leo had to write his fellow members' names with his... belly button? He also died a bit inside.

Fun fact: my mom dubbed N "mouse boyfriend". Apparently he resembles a mouse?

There was SO. MUCH. SCREAMING. OH MY GOD. Sometimes, someone in the audience would yell out "I love you!" and N or whoever heard the comment would go like, "I love you too!" Those people were lucky. I tried, but I don't think they heard me. I think I lost some of my hearing after this. 

At the end, we all got to stand up and dance, and it really brought all of us together. 

Now, the part I unintentionally spent extra moolah on: the hi-touch. I was hyped to actually be touching VIXX, especially my biases N and Hongbin. It went by wayyyy too quickly, unfortunately, and I think they've forgotten me already. 

Leo looks a lot less scary up close. Ravi also looked soft. I kinda whizzed by Ken, Hyuk, and unfortunately Hongbin before I reached N at the end, although I do remember Hongbin and Hyuk being good-looking and gentle in person. The only things I had time to say to all of them were "good job" and "thank you", but once I got to N, I randomly blurted, "I like you!" I don't think he heard me though. My hand is still trembling from his high-five, though. 

Also, they're not as intimidatingly tall as I thought they were. Then again, I didn't really have time to check. 

Now every time I look at or hear VIXX now I'm going to remember this concert and remember their faces when they hi-fived me, it was just such an unforgettable experience 

TL;DR as a broke college student, spending $250-something to high-five VIXX for 1 second each as my first K-pop concert was definitely worth it. 

Why I like K-pop idols, but hate the idol culture

“Thou shalt not worship false idols”  - Exodus 20:4

As a Christian, I often wonder if my love for K-pop is contradictory to my faith. After all, K-pop idols are called as such for a reason. They are admired and basically worshipped by fans who spend all their time following them and their activities, and seen as people who cannot do any wrong until a controversy happens. Many undergo strict diets, excessive exercise, and even plastic surgery in order to look “perfect”, and are required to act in certain ways to please their fans. However, having all these expectations placed on them by others, and subsequently failing to meet these expectations, means that there is a large burden for these celebrities. I don’t even like using the term “idols” for these people because of this connotation.

I’m nowhere near famous or even popular, but I know what it feels like to be idolized. I know what it feels like to be the centre of someone’s life to the point that I’m all that they care about. I know what it’s like to act contrary to my true nature in order to not disappoint the ones I love and to fulfill their wishes for me. That’s why the stressful life of K-pop stars has become so much more relatable to me now, especially when they speak out – sometimes emotionally - about any issues and negative thoughts they’ve experienced, and any lessons they’ve learned being in the idol industry.

Like many, I got completely hooked onto Produce 101 earlier this year (making the mistake of spending more time and attention following the show than growing in my faith), and found myself falling in love with all the boys’ personalities. For some of the contestants, I started stanning them because I thought, “hey, they would make pretty good friends if I actually knew them”, making them seem so much more human to me. However, I had to think whenever they desperately cried out, “I want to be an idol”. Were they prepared to be basically worshipped and swarmed by crazy fangirls, every action only for the entertainment of others? Were they prepared to have people devote their entire life to them? For example, I’m pretty sure Kang Daniel is Christian, but he expressed the wish to be known as “God Daniel”, and now his fans basically worship him and everything he does. (Kang Daniel, if you ever find this, I’m not intending to hate on you and I’m sorry if it’s coming across this way. I like you too! I just wanted to point this out as an example.)

I had to put everything into perspective again when I found out that one of my former high school classmates is debuting as an idol later this year. Now naturally, my fangirl self was delighted that I actually knew a Korean celebrity, and to this day I’m hyped for everything that he has to show the world. However, I can’t help but worry for him, for his life once he debuts. This particular soon-to-be idol is a Christian as well, and he will likely find himself tempted to forget about the real reason why he entered this industry, which I can predict is to use his talent and passion for music to glorify God. Already, fansites dedicated to him have popped up, and it still shocks me that total strangers fawn over him more than his former friends and classmates do. For me, this is a good example of an idol being “just like the rest of us”. Having known this guy for five years, he is very human to me, and I can’t imagine how he’ll feel knowing that people may start swarming him, invading his privacy and – God forbid – endangering his safety, just because they adore him so much.  

Several K-pop artists identify as Christian, but very few have actually been outspoken about what their faith means to them as an entertainer, as an idol (for example, I really miss Siwon’s inspirational posts). I hope and pray that fans and idols alike will recognize that idols are, really, just like the rest of us, and that ultimately, they can’t be God for other people. Even when I pray to God for Him to do something, He does something else that I might not like at first. So if even the LORD doesn’t fulfill our desires all the time – or at least not in the way we want Him too – why should human beings feel obligated to do so for the satisfaction of others? 

April 16th: The Anniversary of a National Tragedy

*Very serious post ahead*

April 16^th is considered one of the saddest days in modern Korean history, as on that day three years ago, the Sewol ferry sank, killing almost 300 high school students around ages 16-17 from Danwon High School who were on a school trip. Now, I’m not Korean myself so you may be wondering what business I have writing about this tragic event. Well, being a K-pop and Running Man fan, I was still affected by the complete shutdown of the entertainment industry during that month or so. With time, I understood why the release of EXO’s new song or the latest Running Man episode was postponed for so long.

Every year on April 16^th, Koreans will post something along the lines of “잊지안겠습니다” or “I will not forget” to remember this disaster that took so many lives. Meditating on those words, they are similar to “Never forget 9/11”, which was an even bigger tragedy with almost 10 times more casualties, possibly the most well-known and devastating of all modern-day tragedies. Every time an event like this happens or the anniversary passes, I’m left wondering, “How will people ever move past this?”

From what I know about the Sewol sinking and its aftermath, the parents of the deceased students are still deeply affected by their losses. The ship was recently salvaged from the waters and brought onto land for investigation, which forced these parents to relive the grief they felt when they learned that their children were gone forever. There was also a lot of anger as most of these deaths could have been prevented if not for the crew’s commands for the students to stay on the ship as it sank. I’d read that some parents had even committed suicide because they couldn’t live without their children. 

These are just two of the 300 or so students who died in the Sewol sinking.

I don’t know much about the process of grief either, having rarely experienced it throughout my life, but I do know that everyone experiences it differently, and it will take varying amounts of time for each individual to come to terms with their loss(es). I’ve often thought of mourning as crying constantly every day, remaining solemn and silent, and refraining from happy thoughts and activities as those are disrespectful to the dead. This impression was reflected in the South Korean entertainment industry following the sinking, as TVs cancelled drama and music video showings to broadcast updates about the Sewol 24/7. I questioned even watching reruns of Running Man or talking about anything happy during that time, and wondered if it was unacceptable to immerse oneself in an enjoyable activity in order to escape, even for just a moment, the horrible reality of the world, when an entire nation that I’d invested myself into was in mourning.

Thankfully, after that somber first month after the sinking, South Korea slowly picked itself up and moved forward. In lieu of filming shows, celebrities used their wealth and influence to donate to those affected. Songs, drama episodes, and reality shows were finally released, much to fans’ anticipation. There were even several music videos that made direct or indirect reference to Sewol, with The Ark’s “The Light” being the most blatant example. Recently, even BTS’s “Spring Day” is said to address the event. 

The MV for "The Light", released in 2015, pays homage to the victims of the accident.

Of course, South Korea will never forget this heartbreaking day. I too will never forget that there were 300 students around my age whose hopes and dreams ended on that cold April 16th, 2014. Three years isn’t actually that long when put into perspective, so the memory is still fresh in many people’s minds. But while most of us never knew these students personally, we must not only remember the sadness and unfairness of their deaths, but also remember the joy that they exuberated and their legacies. We should acknowledge that our hearts hurt and that they might never fully heal, but at the same time we should live with gratitude, contentment, and youthful abandon, to honour those dreams that were never fulfilled.