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Post by Admin on Nov 28, 2019 19:01:51 GMT
Goo made headlines when she took her former boyfriend, Choi Jong-bum, to court last year. Choi claimed to have been assaulted by her, while Goo accused him of threatening to release a sex video of her. During the dispute, Goo’s Korean agency didn’t renew her contract. A court sentenced Choi to 1 ½ years in prison on charges of coercion and assaulting and blackmailing Goo. The jail term was suspended, keeping him out of prison. Choi appealed and the trial is still ongoing.
K-pop is highly competitive, with dozens of groups debuting each year. Industry experts have long warned about the dark side of the scandal-ridden industry. Aspiring artists, as young as their early teens, train for years. Only a few debut and even fewer are commercially successful. The likelihood of their success increases if they sign with a handful of top entertainment agencies.
The industry is known to have strict rules for their stars — including dating bans, spartan training and diets, and sometimes slave-like and unfair contracts. Experts say the industry has additional requirements for its female artists, unspoken rules reflective of South Korea’s patriarchal society.
Park Hee-A, a K-pop journalist and writer of Interviews with K-pop Stars, said female stars are bound by rigid societal rules of femininity. “Some female idol members have gotten ostracized for not smiling in a television show and reading a book about feminism that contradicts male-dominated patriarchal South Korean society,” Park told The Associated Press.
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Post by Admin on Nov 29, 2019 2:24:48 GMT
Expectations of purity and chastity govern women in South Korea. Goo faced a barrage of hate comments following media reports about the sex video despite her being the victim of revenge porn. “The topic of sex is taboo in South Korea compared to western countries,” said Tae-Sung Yeum, attending psychiatrist at Gwanghwamun Forest Psychiatric Clinic. “There’s a high moral standard required, especially for female celebrities, because South Korea is a patriarchal society.”
Sulli, Goo’s long-time friend, also made headlines, often malicious and misogynistic, for speaking out about subjects such as ageism and feminism. She was criticized for wearing shirts without a bra, calling older male colleagues by their first names and openly supporting feminism.
Yeum said it’s difficult for K-pop stars to seek professional help for depression, especially in a country where many people believe that psychiatric disorders can be “treated with one’s will.” He said multiple suicides in the industry stem from stars being plunged into a hypercompetitive system with a plethora of abuses from a young age.
When Sulli was found dead in her Seongnam home, Goo bid farewell to her friend in a live-streamed video. “I will live more diligently for you,” Goo cried while apologizing for not being able to make it to her funeral. Two days before Goo’s death, she uploaded a final selfie on her Instagram with the caption, “Good night.”
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Post by Admin on Nov 30, 2019 2:32:14 GMT
K-pop singer HyunA no longer wants to put on an act. In the wake of the deaths of singers Sulli and Goo Hara, the former Wonder Girl and 4Minute member has posted that she now wants the world to accept her as she truly is. Revealing that she has had fainting episodes, she said she no longer wants to hide that fact from product sponsors and event organisers. In her Instagram post on Thursday (Nov 28), HyunA, 27, wrote that she was happy when she managed to enter show business, with Wonder Girls debuting in 2007.  "I was under a lot of pressure not to make any mistakes... (but) I wanted to be everyone's favourite." She thought she could cope with the stress since she had support from people around her, and fans. But, deep inside, she knew that not all was well. In 2016, she consulted a doctor who told her that she had "depression and anxiety". |
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Post by Admin on Dec 1, 2019 18:21:39 GMT
 The news of Goo Hara (구하라)’s death has taken everyone by surprise, with many friends and fans already express their sadness over her passing. However, the sadness quickly turned to rage as netizens found out that the former Kara member’s parent will be receiving her inheritance.  For those that didn’t know, the K-pop star actually moved out from her parents house at the age of 14 following their divorce. This lead her to live with her aunt before enrolling as a K-pop hopeful. Despite her parents’ neglecting her, Hara has maintain a close relationship with her brother. This is why fans were outraged upon knowing that the late singer’s money and inheritance will be given to her family, and that include her parents who abandoned her. According to Korean custom, if the person died without leaving behind a will, their possessions will divided among their parents and siblings. |
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Post by Admin on Dec 3, 2019 4:51:43 GMT
The deaths of Sulli and Goo Hara likely aren't just the result of the entertainment industry's "dark side," analysts said, as South Korea already suffers the highest rate of suicide among countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a collection of developed nations.
There were 13,670 suicides in South Korea last year, an average of more than 37 per day, according to Statistics Korea, a part of the country's ministry of strategy and finance that generates and analyzes data. Among those aged 10 to 39, suicide was the leading cause of death, according to the agency.
For comparison, according to OECD data from 2017, per 100,000 persons, 24.6 in South Korea died by suicide compared with 13.9 in the U.S.
Experts have said that's due to a combination of complex social, cultural and personal issues.
Before the death of Goo, 28, a K-pop singer and former member of girl group Kara, there were warning signs, experts told ABC News.
"Her case was a red flag. She had attempted suicide before. That meant she could try again anytime," said Lee Dong-gwi, a psychology professor at Yonsei University.
Shortly after the death last month of Sulli, Goo's close friend, Goo bid farewell in an Instagram livestream video, saying, with tears running down her cheeks, "I hope you will live happily as you please up there. I'll live more diligently for you. I'll work harder."
'High risk'
"She was definitely categorized 'high risk,' in need of treatment," Lee added. "Goo should not have been left alone."
Contributing to high suicide rates in South Korea is a social taboo against treating depression as an illness, analysts told ABC News.
"The use of antidepressants is the lowest in the world. Here, there is a tendency to regard getting medical help as embarrassing and only for 'crazy' people," said Lee Je-wook, a psychiatrist at Bright Future Neuropsychiatric Clinic.
Lee added: "Although perceptions against medical treatments are improving, it is still tough for celebrities to seek help for depression."
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