October 28, 2014

Behind the facade of KPOP

It's not as it seems to be. Smiles and all, from cute to emotional and serious dancing skills. Because when one goes deeper into the world of Kpop, one will see more.

On December 21st, 2009. Han Geng, a member of Super Junior filed a lawsuit against SM Entertainment, the record label he worked for. “The most important thing to me was making money so my parents could live comfortably, and that was also the greatest motive.” However, after he debuted, he came across a number of difficult situations.

“I was not able to stand on stage even after debuting. I was the first foreign celebrity to debut in Korea so the law was not perfect. I could not film commercials and could not participate in certain portions of the schedule. I felt like I had lost all hope. I cried performing 'Twins' with the Super Junior members. I received a payment of 4000 yuan ($650 USD) my first year. I gathered money like it was life or death because seeing my mother suffer made my heart ache.”

Han Geng’s first difficulty was already a burden to him. SM was unfair to him, not giving him any lines and not allowing him to shoot commercials. In Super Junior’s first top single, Sorry Sorry; Han Geng does not even receive a one line solo. It’s either singing with everyone or one line he shares with Kangin and Kyuhyun.

When Super Junior were going to go on the red carpet when Han Geng fell ill. He had to be treated with saline solution. It is known to be dangerous to have a large dose of saline solution but time was running out and Super Junior’s CEO said to give a larger dose to Han Geng. When the time of the red carpet was a few minutes away, the CEO of Super Junior just yanked out the needle and forced Han Geng to walk the red carpet, almost causing him to faint. Han Geng then decided that this was too much and quit Super Junior.

But this wasn't the end.

Kris, a member of the boy group EXO which was also under SM Entertainment, filed a lawsuit against SM, saying he was treated unfairly, being overworked an racism China and Korea. Kris left just when their new single Overdoes came out and fans worried that it would affect the sales. According to www.hellokpop.com, SM later reported that Exo was to have their first world tour, the lost planet. However, they had lost contact with Kris and they were unsure if he was to perform in the tour. Kris never showed up.

Exo members started complaining saying that Kris was betraying Exo. Exo member Tao left a weibo message to Exo fans apologizing and asking fans not to give up on Exo. “We won’t give up because one person left us, we will work harder and become stronger than before. I feel really grateful in this moment. That’s why I want to work and practice twice as hard. I believe nothing can bring us down.” Tao also spoke up when he was asked by online media “(Kris) should not have done such a thing without telling anyone in advance, especially when the world tour that we have all been dreaming about is just around the corner.” 


Exo member Suho also released a statement “I cannot understand Kris’s actions. All the members are very shocked right now. Kris did not think of the members and acted very irresponsibly. Our members and our company have no issues. What Kris needs to do now is cancel the lawsuit and apologise to the members.” Perhaps in a response to Kris leaving EXO, members of the group have already un-followed the singer on their Instagram profiles. Lay, Tao, Chanyeol and Luhan have unfollowed Kris on Instagram.

But right after Kris left, Luhan also sued SM for the same reason, his father also voiced his support. "I'm supporting my son. There is no decision made yet, but I put my son's opinions first. I supported him when he said he would become a celebrity, and I will keep supporting him.” Fans are deeply saddened and shocked by the events happening

Just when fans couldn’t take it anymore, there was another break out news.

Tuesday the 4th of September 2014, Jessica Jung from Girl’s Generation updated her Weibo claiming that SM had kicked her out of her group for she had recently created her own fashion line, BLANC. At the beginning, SM and Girl’s Generation’s members were happy for Jessica and congratulated her. However, after a few months, the members had a group meeting and decided that Jessica wasn’t taking Girl’s Generation that seriously and came to a conclusion that Jessica would only be a drag to the group, they took action and convinced SM to kick out Jessica, as reported by Jessica’s Weibo and www.alkpop.com, Jessica was very disappointed to leave Girl’s Generation, “I’m no longer a member. I’m devastated.” and “For no justifiable reason, I am being forced out.”

Jessica also mentions that she had always prioritized Girl’s Generation and was greatly upset by the fact that she has just been kicked out. Fans expressed their anger and disbelief through comments and have reached an agreement that it was probably a hacker. SM the next day officially announced that what Jessica said was true and that she is now not a part of Girl’s Generation. SM however claims that she is still under SM and that SM would take care of Jessica. Fans are still in awe of what had just happened, and are signing petitions to bring back Jessica into Girl’s Generation.

These stars are people too and they do not deserve so much pain and pressure. The things that happen are outrageous. You can make a change today to help these stars, you can sign petitions to give artists more respect and civil right at http://www.change.org/p/sm-entertainment-give-their-artists-more-respect-and-civil-rights

Written by Karen

1 comment:

  1. I agree with you. I'm also kind of interested in K-pop news. Like Jessica, she has been in the group for a long time, but just because of she opens another extra new business, and then kick her out. It is just too cruel and also really unfair, isn't it? They should be able to stay together no matter what. And SM should forgive some problems if they can.

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