Top Fall 2009 controversies surrounding Korean Entertainment

Fall is such a synonym for what has been happening in just the past 30 days. The Korean news and blog sites have exploded due to the many recent controversies which have contributed great down-fall of financial, mental turmoil and even the loss of vitality and health. In this blog special, I summarize the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse’s work in Korean entertainment.

1.2PM saga
The controversy of Jae Bum leaving his band prematurely has been deemed the TOP entertainment issue of 2009. Even with 5 summary issues released, it doesn’t scratch the surface. It is rare that a leader of a group leaves his career, for something he regrettably said in the past. He sacrificed his dream out of the blue because a bunch of 12 year old fan girls pushed him to leave. This shows that 12 year old girls hold the success or downfall of a band, even a record label. But apparently it takes much more power to forgive, in which the fans are powerless.

2.DBSK sues parent company
As of this moment, this issue is starting to overshadow the TOP issue above. DBSK is battling SM over contractual issues of their claimed overly long, 13 year “slave” contract. Many statements have been released, but a portion of them are false. The band is claiming many unpaid earnings, while SM says it’s simply an issue about their cosmetics company. Even right now the band is divided between 2 sides. DBSK wins round 1 vs. their company. Did they really win? SM retaliated and ceased all activities of the entire group until this case is settled. And you know that court cases take a minimum of 6 months, sometimes years. That’s WITHOUT pay. If this continues, it is likely DBSK will disband. It doesn’t help that evidence and speculation shows some of the letters generated are fake. However, they feel, if one is being truly abused, one must fight, right? They fight to give courage to future generations. This case is to be continued, and we’ll know who is right. This case has not only divided the band, the fans, but also the members of the SM family.

3.Flood of girl bands and boy bands
The past month more than a dozen new groups debuted at once. PHEW, good news on the list, or maybe not? It depends on the way you look at it. Take a look at no. 4 before you jump on the “positive band-wagon”. Child of Empire, one of the many groups who debuted this past October, are the ones who are without the aide of PR, promotions, managers and sing on wing cars for $100 a performance. They have to pay for their own food with that and are sleeping in tents. This poses a question, how many of these new debuting groups will actually be paid an entertainer’s salary or a McDonald’s one? The other dark side of it is that the competition is fierce between similar sounding girl/boy bands and many will dissolve due to natural selection. There is a bright side, of course, because the consumers choice has expanded and there’s no shortage of entertainment.

4.Economic downfall and despair of Korean Entertainment companies
- SS501
Kim Hyun Joong reported that he paid from his own pocket for a song that he wanted to produce because the label could not come up with the $8,000 USD necessary to pay the writer of the song. I guess all isn’t lost as they canned the song as they realized that it was a ripoff of an American song, saving themselves from embarrassment. A large entertainment company doesn’t even have $8,000 USD?
- Child of Empire
See above in no.3. How long will this madness last? I commend them for continuing, but I also feel no shame if they had to leave to another label if offered much better life. Isn’t having a career like this earned to support your family’s retirement? They can’t break away from their parents support!
- Jang Nara’s film promotion.
A fan recently gave a large portion (100,000,000W!)of money to help the promotions of her upcoming film, because the producers did not have any funds to actually promote the film. How is it that the glamorous companies have not a dime to their name?

5.Swine Flu and disease epidemic
Bae Yong Joon, Jo Kwon, and several unnamed huge stars were affected by the H1N1 virus and ceased activities. And Kim Hyun Joong was diagnosed in September. It seemed to rear its ugly head at the top celebrities. Other celebrities fainted, suffered from exhaustion or mysterious inability to walk normally (Lee Jia). Take note that the H1N1 is not a K-pop epidemic, but a world epidemic. This virus is predicted to evolve into the Spanish Flu that killed like the plague in past times. The more serious issue is the vaccinations are much to our controversy, of being a failure. Many reports of death from the vaccinations themselves have been reported, and many more of the shots being completely ineffective. Will you will risk your life for a shot that won’t prevent a flu that has a lower chance of killing you? Do your research before deciding on receiving the H1N1 vaccination.

1.Sources:
1. Barry, John M., The Great Influenza, Penguin Books, New York, New York, 2004.
2. Brownlee, Shannon, and Lenzer, Jeanne, “Shots in the Dark,” The Atlantic, November 2009, pp. 44-54.

6.Favoritism of broadcasting stations affects music growth
MKMF has announced its departure and MAMA arrived. But why SM Groups having the lowest rankings for MAMA? What’s going on with other Korean TV stations banning SM groups from appearing on their variety shows? In addition SBS Inkigayo is favoring YG Entertainment and not considering the other labels. Word in is that SS501’s rankings on SBS Inkigayo are even in a miscount. If groups cannot perform and CD sales are dismal due to strong piracy in Asia, music groups will have no way to survive, and in turn affect all of K-pops survival.

Final Thoughts:
Can you believe that was just 30 days!? Yes, and that was only a summary. Unfortunately, due to length, there’s many other serious problems not blogged in this segment.

It used to be such a squeaky clean place of peace and Disney-like happiness. The irony, because even Disney had the worst of all controversies. Let’s hope it doesn’t get any worse than this. Hope might not be enough though, as these issues are all pending and yet unresolved. For the financial losers, I wish the best to the righteous. For the sick, I wish you to get well. For all of you, have hope you can pull out of this!

Thanks to: Kbites, Soompi, Allkpop, Popseoul, No-cut news, Sbs, Newsen, and for all of you for reading my super long blog!

Update: SHINee’s Jonghyun just came down with the H1N1.