The Korean Idol World Realities

“I fell through the cracks,” said the attractive brunette sitting across from me with her characteristic bluntness.

I first met Isak (real name: Ida Simmons) when I worked at Arirang TV and Radio, an English-language broadcasting station. The daughter of a Caucasian father and a Korean mother, Isak had previously been the member of an unsuccessful SM Entertainment act called Isak N Jiyeon. However, she managed to eventually parlay her bubbly charms into a successful career as both a DJ and VJ at Arirang Radio.

While Isak, who still has three years left on a ten-year contract, applauded SM founder Lee Soo Man’s ability to think outside of the box and accept a biracial Korean-American into his company, she also remembered the more suffocating aspects of being a K-pop entertainer in the earlier part of the decade. For example, when she lived with several other SM trainees in a dormitory-like setting, the girls’ managers devised a clever way to keep tabs on the talent:

“[T]hey were afraid that we would sneak out. They would put in a house phone for us, and we couldn’t call from our cell phones. We had to call from our house phone to our manager as soon as we walk[ed] in the door [to inform them] that we came in.”

Isak also recalled the strict no-dating policy at the time:

“No dating,” she said. “You get caught, you pay consequences.”

I asked her what the consequences were.

“I was threatened that if I didn’t break up with my boyfriend then I would be either cut from SM or not [be] able to debut.”

Ironically, Isak found that the no-dating rule could actually hamper an artist’s performance, especially since many K-pop songs were about the very topic that its singers were forbidden to engage in: love.

“They’re singing about love but they’ve never experienced love,” she complained. “I think that’s a very big error.”

Isak noted, nonetheless, that a lot had changed in the industry. While “just look pretty and dance” may have been the rule when she began her career, current K-pop fans expect a lot more personality from their favorite stars. Now, as Isak noted, “it seem[s] to be becoming a trend for celebrities to be dating in Korea… a lot of people were coming forward and being honest about their relationships.” And it didn’t stop there: entertainers like Lee Hyori would even appear on reality shows, doing things like going to doctor appointments sans makeup, allowing fans to become even closer to their idols.

The trend toward a more naturalistic and approachable depiction of idol stars, according to Isak, is a positive one, and she heaped a great deal of praise on 2NE1, a four-member girl group represented by YG Entertainment:

“I don’t think 2NE1 is the typical Korean pretty girl,” said Isak. “I think they’re the most beautiful girls in the world because they don’t have double eyelids; because they don’t have noses that hit the ceiling; because they don’t have that “entertainer” look that people have grown accustomed to.”

For all the positive changes that have happened in the industry, however, Isak had a warning for those who were dreaming of becoming an idol star: long contracts and hidden fees had not disappeared.

“They [the management companies] promise before you debut, ‘we’re going to house you, we’re going to feed you, we’re going to give you all the lessons you need. Do your best’ and then we think that that’s all free,” remembered Isak. She soon learned, however, that all the expenses that went into her upkeep, including stylists, salon visits, manager fees, food, and clothing, were deducted from her pay.

Young Kim, host of the Arirang Radio program “K-pop Zone” and former rapper for such groups as S#arp and Uptown in the late 1990s, noted just how little money one could make, even as a member of relatively successful groups: “I made about three thousand dollars in the seven months that I was promoting the [S#arp] album.”

Although Kim, Isak, and others I spoke with said that they believed conditions had greatly improved, recent legal battles and contract disputes (such as the one staged by three members of the immensely popular boy band TVXQ against SM Entertainment, their management company) suggest that something may be rotten in the candy factory. As one industry outsider told me with a knowing smile, “They work their kids hard.”

However, Mark Russell, a Korean pop culture expert, recently commented on his blog, the problem is actually not rooted in the management companies, but rather in the Korean music system itself. Having to train, house, and feed future stars whose success will ultimately have to recoup not only the investment in them, but the company’s investment in other trainees who have yet to make it or who simply fell through the cracks…the economic constraints of such a system are considerable, to say the least. Imagine, then, the costs that go into sustaining the thirteen members of Super Junior or the nine young ladies who make up Girls’ Generation.

More revealing was when Russell told me that, “[In] the late 90s, Koreans spent, depending on the exchange rate, somewhere in the neighborhood of four to five hundred million dollars a year on CDs and tapes. Last year, they spent 60 million. We’re talking about an 80% decline.” The steep fall in music sales could explain why over the years, K-pop stars have moved from being only singers to multitasking entertainers – unless you were writing your own music (and many idol stars do not), there just wasn’t that much money to be found in music anymore. Revenue would have to be generated through concerts, commercial shoots, and public television appearances. Meanwhile, selling talent overseas was no longer just a ploy by the bigger management companies to increase profits, but a financial necessity as the Korean music market continued to shrink.

There are big risks at stake for those investing in idol groups. These risks did not go unnoticed by Isak who understood her previous lack of freedom, stating that, “[We] are products. I know it sounds very bad, but we are products, and that’s why our companies…sometimes treat us like products.”

However, for all the financial risks the companies bear, perhaps the biggest gambles are still those taken by the talent in sacrificing their youth to achieve national or even international stardom. As D-Lite (Daesung Kang) of Big Bang put it, sacrificing “common things in life that we liked – walking around the streets, time to hang out with old friends, etc…” was something he knew he’d have to do.

Every idol star has gone into the K-pop game knowing the cost of fame. Behind the bright lights and their big smiles hides another truth, which D-Lite voiced in simple terms: “We all knew that we had to let it [their former lives] go when we decided to [join] Big Bang but, honestly, sometimes it’s tough on me.”

As I pondered the pressures of surviving in a shrinking Korean music market, I could only think, “It’s tough all around, kid.”


SOURCE: MTV IGGY, Seoulbeats
CREDIT: omonatheydidnt

[Lawsuit] TVXQ talks with SM Entertainment break down

TVXQ / DBSK / Tohoshinki members Xiah, Micky, and Jaejoong were trying to make efforts to resolve the issues with SM Entertainment behind the scenes but it seems all talks of coming to an agreement have broken apart. Korean Media Outlet Newsen recently had a phone conversation with the court overseeing the issue.

In the phone conversation, the court stated that it'll be all up to them to come up with the resolution as both sides despite talks of resolution, will not budge from their initial stances. They continued by stating that they're thoroughly reviewing all the papers, documents, and evidence given. After this thorough investigation, both parties will be notified of the decision. The Court stated that they don't know when exactly they'll come up with the decision but that it should be sometime this month.

As the talks have broken down, it seems there's no chance of resolution outside the courts. Hopefully the courts come up with a fair and firm decision.

Credit: allkpop
Source: Newsen.com

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[Lawsuit] TVXQ vs. SM Entertainment Pending Final Decision - All Evidence Due Today

The legal battle regarding unfair contracts between team TVXQ (Youngwoong Jaejoong, Micky Yoochun, Xiah Junsu) vs. SM Entertainment is slowly coming to an end.

The court had ordered SM Entertainment to turn in all financial documents by September 11th, 2009 (today in Korea). Upon review of these documents, a final decision is to be made.

The court has stated that this will be a final judgment and that both parties will not be returning for a retrial, once a decision is made.

SM Entertainment stated:

"After turning in all documents by the 11th, there is nothing more for us to do than await the courts final decision. As of now, we have no idea when a decision will be made by the courts."

Stay tuned for more developments.


Source : allkpop.com

[Lawsuit] 090831 TVXQ's Japanese Income Division; Each Member Received "150 million Won"

*note from your translator: for those who don't really know about the Korean currency
150 million Won = around $120,000 dollars*

TVXQ received only $120K in 4 years. This means $30K per year....thats equivalent or less than what a low-income, labour job earner gets in America!

---

Income was divided in the order of Avex-SM Japan-SM-Members... SM Double Acquisition Controversy

An argument that five member group TVXQ, who are currently in a legal dispute with their agency over their exclusive contract and inexact income divisions, earns an extremely low income from their Japanese activities has been put forth.

An influential acquaintance of the three members who are locked in this legal dispute (YoungWoong Jaejoong, Micky Yoochun, Xiah Junsu) stated, "The amount of money TVXQ has earned from when they started their Japanese activities in 2005 till now is a little over 150 million Won per member."

This is the first time TVXQ's Japanese activity income division has been referred to in detail.

He explained the income division process in detail saying, "A portion of the money TVXQ earns from their Japanese activities goes to their Japanese agency Avex, and some of it goes to SM Japan. The rest goes to SM Entertainment. Therefore, the members receive only an extremely small portion of the overall income."

He also added, "SM Entertainment owns more than 90% of SM Japan's quota and is the parent company of SM Japan," and conspired that, "Another controversy arises of their Japanese income division because of this." He stated that, "Since the members have never seen the actual Japanese contract, they have no clue of how the income division is going on between the agencies and are feeling very frustrated with the situation."


SM Entertainment owns 93.5% of SM Japan's quota

Actually, according to the quarterly report SM released in May, SM Entertainment owns 93.5% of SM Japan's quota (On March 31st).

Even the Civil Society Organization has pointed out that there are problems in the way SM Entertainment divides and calculates the income.

Lee Dong-yeon, professor at the Korean National University of Arts, stated, "The money TVXQ earns from their Japanese activities is first divided by Avex and SM Japan who co-manage the group by 50% each, then SM and SM Japan split the money SM Japan got by 50% each. Therefore, TVXQ only receives a small portion of 1/4 of their income, not a portion of their entire income".

At the debate that was on the prompt 'The Problems Regarding the Korean Entertainment Management System Revealed Through the TVXQ Dispute and the Solutions To These Problems', Professor Lee said, "It can be said that SM Japan and SM Entertainment are basically one company therefore SM Entertainment is using this to acquire twice the amount of money they should be getting from TVXQ's Japanese income."

Professor Lee also stated that, "It can easily be seen that we obviously cannot say that TVXQ and SM Entertainment have a fair and just contract agreement when carefully reading through the fine print of the contract and taking into consideration TVXQ's income division and the preposterous amount SME claims they spend on managing TVXQ (In truth, most of this money is actually not included in the income division.)"

On a side note, it has been found that SME did not adhere to the Preservation of Evidence Request that the three TVXQ members filed that was accepted by the Courts. This Preservation of Evidence Request includes all documents relevant to TVXQ's activities that would help calculate TVXQ's actual income that include account books, receipts, transfer slips, etc.

On the 21st, the Seoul District Courts asked SME at the first hearing to hand in all documents relevant to the trial, but SME did not follow through.

SME's lawyer stated before that, "These documents are all company secrets, and it would be fatal to SME if they were released to the media."


Source: [newsen+DNBN]
Translation credits: jeeelim5@tohosomnia.net
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[Lawsuit] DBSK`s Activities in Japan is About 1.5 Billion

In regards to the long term contract and undisclosed earning percentage split problem, it had created an unfair contract. Tohoshinki’s 3 members finally decided to go through court to resolve this dispute with their agency SM Entertainment.

Recently, the 3 members of Tohoshinki had requested to have their earning percentage split in Japan’s documents without taking in much consideration.

It is said that Tohoshinki had debuted in Japan in 2005 and till now, 4 years had passed and each member's earning in these 4 years could only reach about 1.5 billion. This is the first time that Tohoshinki’s earnings from their daily activities in Japan have been revealed.

Representatives had too expressed that SM JAPAN is a company that SM KOREA has 90% control over, and because of the matter over in SM Korea, it is said that it makes one suspricious of how SM Korea manages to pay for SM Japan too.

The members are rather confused over the whole percentage split earning because they have yet to see the whole real contract, according to SM in May revealed their financial status, SM Japan belongs around 93.5% to them. In regard to this matter, the public have raised questions.

Korean art schools professor, Lee Dong Ting said “Because of Tohoshinki’s activities in Japan, it had created a problem in percentage splitting. According to Tohoshinki’s agency, SM Japan and Avex would like to take in 50-50 of the earnings then between SM & SM Japan, another 50-50 in earning’s and in truth, Tohoshinki actually received only 1/4 of the earnings during these activities.

With an agenda of “Through Tohoshinki you could see that the companies system is full of problems and solutions were made,” Professor Lee also pointed out “SM JAPAN and SM been seen as 1 company is okay, therefore this kind of split for earning’s can bee seen as a dirty hand trick.” Professor Lee then said “The total amount that Tohoshinki is getting, being an artist and enjoying their reputation along with SM’s way of making use of the money in the name of ‘because it’s business’ (IE. Saying they need to pay their stylists etc) is not tallying with the reality calculation.”

Source: hohobbs
Translation: mel @ OneTVXQ.com
Credits: OneTVXQ.com { One World. One Red Ocean. One TVXQ! }
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[News] 090828 An Offering Of A Sacrifice To Spirits Done For "Heading To The Ground"

There was an offering of a sacrific to the spirits done for MBC’s new Wednesday-Thursday drama ‘Heading to the Ground.’

On the 24th at 2pm, the offering was one at MBC’s Yangju set and actors such as Jung Yunho, Ara, Lee Yunji, Lee Sang-yoon, Kim Jaeseung etc camealong with Director Park Sungsoo and all the staff.

Jung Yunho, who plays the lead role of Cha Bong-goon, prayed for the success of ‘Heading to the Ground’ by saying “Please help this drama be a big hit!” and praying alongside fellow actors Ara, Lee Yunji and Lee Sang-yoon.



Director Park Sungsoo said, “I was touched by the passions of these young actors who threw themselves into everything and anything we asked them to do. I think that the hard work of the actors will be seen in the eyes of our viewers,” and “I directed this drama with a fun and happy heart because the actors and staff always made the set come alive with their jokes and antics.”

Ara, who plays the role of Kang Haebin, said, “Overall, there are a lot of action scenes. Cha Bong-goon (Jung Yunho) especially has a lot of them, but he would rarely use a stunt double and worked hard in all his scenes and that gave all of us strength to work harder,” and “Because the script itself was funny, shooting the drama was fun too.”

Jung Yunho, who plays the lead role of Cha Bong-goon, said, “I’m doing everything for the first time so it took me some time to get comfortable, but all the staff members are excellent and all the actors on set were cheering each other on so I’m expecting this drama to be really good,” and “I still am lacking in some areas but everyone will be able to see me grow more along with Bong-goon each time an episode airs,” and was very modest.

The drama ‘Heading to the Ground’, which is gaining a lot of attention as this is TVXQ’s U-Know Yunho’s debut into acting, will first air on September 9th.

Source: [pimedia+DNBN]
Translation credits: jeeelim5@tohosomnia.net
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[Trans] 090829 GQ September Issue ‘The Real TVXQ Was In Japan’ CRITIQUES

TVXQ sings “I got you~ooo, Under my skin,” and dances. When the buttons on the shirts that cling onto their bodies cannot handle their powerful moves and burst, U-Know Yunho’s well-developed and chiseled pectoral muscles are shown. Fans from all over Korea, who may have had ill feelings towards the long stretch of Japanese activities, act as though the group had never left and stare at their TV and even go up to the TV screen and stroke it. I’m talking about the comeback stage of that happened after the album’s release last December. Fans found something a little odd about TVXQ during this stage. Although the five members’ faces were the same, it was as though their faces had been stuck on someone else’s body. This was because of their ‘muscles’.

TVXQ’s thin and muscular bodies are completely different from SM Entertainment’s preceding idol groups. The direction that the members of TVXQ are headed is being influenced by the Japanese activities they have been carefully and diligently doing. In Japan these days, their is a ‘Hosomacho’ or ‘thin muscle’ trend blazing through the nation. The biggest reason for this trend is because the majority of young Japanese women prefers the thin muscled hosomacho look over the heavily muscled gorimacho (gorilla macho) look.

What am I talking about? There are probably going to be some people who tell me that this trend has been around for a while with the majority of singers in Johnny’s Entertainment and with the majority of males in Tokyo having a thin muscle body structure. But what they are talking more about skinny guys who look as though they have muscles because they are skinny, not the ‘thin muscle’ look. But to think that TVXQ is just one of the many hosomacho groups is a big mistake. This is because the popularity of Tohoshinki, as they call themselves in Japan, is so great and out of this world that it cannot be fully comprehended or understood in Korea.

If we divide the dominating Japanese male idol groups into three categories, the first would be ‘role Lolita’, groups comprised of pretty boys, the second would be ‘Yankees’, groups comprised of members who have a bad boy vibe to them, and the third would be the TVXQ style. The TVXQ style’s popularity can be properly felt in Japan’s host clubs. Koreans may connect the words host or hostess with adult clubs and see these words with a negative outlook, but to many young, handsome and popular college students in Japan, it is the most preferred part-time job.



Different from Korea’s hosts, Japan’s hosts serve only alcohol and there is a different term for those who provide sexual intercourse and they are called ‘Urisen’. In these host clubs that can easily be found in Shinjuku’s Gabukicho area, the pictures of the hosts in the clubs tell women what kind of style each host is. Before, most of the people in the pictures copied the style of Johnny’s Entertainment’s idol groups. But now, at least one or two hosts in every club very conspicuously copies the style of one of the members of TVXQ.

In this area, there was once a time where the most manly people were nabe (a girl dressed up as a guy or a trans gender female). with their thin, pretty bodies. But now many Japanese women are asking for the hosomacho style, men who are not only pretty, but are also manly, and who are not only skinny, but has muscles. The TVXQ wind is blowing through the clubs of Gabukicho.

Since many Korean idol groups are popular not only in Korea but all of Asia, many Koreans may think that TVXQ’s popularity is similar to that of other celebrities. Shall we delve deeper to see just how popular TVXQ is in Japan? TVXQ’s most recent Japanese single sold almost 200K copies in one week. This sets TVXQ with the second highest first week sales in their agency, Japan’s biggest company Avex.

The only group above TVXQ is the 14-member group Exile, the group that received the highest award from the Japanese Record Association and the group that even creates big changes in society with their raging popularity. This means that TVXQ’s first album sales beats that of the female leaders of Japanese pop, ‘Amuro Namie’. ‘Hamasaki Ayumi’ and ‘Koda Kumi’. This is a feat that not even popular star ‘BoA’ has achieved. These are the kind of top singers we can compare TVXQ to now.

But I am not basing their popularity on album sales only. TVXQ has set a huge record of being on Japan’s representative music chart ‘Oricon Chart’ as 1st on weekly single sales six times already. Since the year 2000, the number of stars who have attempted to enter the Japanese market is enormous, with stars such as S.E.S, Sugar, Park Junghyun, Rain, Lee Soo Young, Se7en, SS501, Ryu Siwon, Park Yongha, Lee Byunghun, Yoonha, K, Sunmin, Big Bang and Super Junior.

But the only singers who have reached first on Oricon’s weekly single charts are BoA (once) and TVXQ (six times). TVXQ also succeeded in being invited to hold two concerts in July at the Tokyo Dome which is considered the Dream Stage, even to Japanese singers. This has never been completed by any other Korean singer before.

But the Bible sends a message, “Prophets do not get respect from their homelands.” For some odd reason, TVXQ’s outstanding achievements do not seem to be reported or praised in Korea. Also, it is sad to see that TVXQ’s success of almost selling 200K copies of their single was buried under the dispute between SM Entertainment and three members of TVXQ (Micky Yoochun, Xiah Junsu, YoungWoong Jaejoong) and the disbandment rumors that followed it.

They are not something something ’sama’ (like Yonsama) who were washed ashore by the Hallyu Wave. No, they even asked all Japanese media agencies not to associate the word ‘Hallyu’ with them (even asking for news articles to be pulled down if the word was used in relation to them), to show that they wished to succeed with their own powers and were able to become widely known in Japan. TVXQ had to erase their nationality in order to gain the acceptance from the Japanese population.

The rumors of disbandment at the height of their popularity has become a hot topic of conversation in the Japanese music industry. Japanese media has been created a daily special to update everyone about what’s happening in Korea with regards to TVXQ, and this has caused Avex’s CEO to come forward and give an explanatory statement to clam the Japanese fans. He announced that TVXQ’s Japanese activitees would continue regardless of what was happening in Korea and he decided to announce this himself. This has never happened before.

It seems as though the way Korean agencies set the income division when writing up the contract has surprised the people of Japan who are used to the Japanese agencies’ way of working that gives monthly salaries that may change. Since the first official event TVXQ held after the disbandment rumors came out was in Japan and not Korea, the source of such rumors, with the Fireworks Festival Concert, the Japanese media was more vigilant when it came to reporting the issue than the Korean media.

Therefore, whether they wanted this or not, this case has opened TVXQ up to a wider fan base including the younger generation. YoungWoong Jaejoong, who is the most popular amongst the members in Japan, was even seen in a paparazzi scandal magazine that only extremely famous Japanese celebrities appear in.

Although the situation in Korea is a complete mess, TVXQ might be able to take one step further in their Japanese activities through this happening. But they must once more grab hold of their Korean fans. There are already rumors that the ‘light fanbase’ is ready to embrace the new 6 member male idol group SM Entertainment is preparing.

As faithful as Korean fans are, they are also able to turn their backs on a singer very quickly. If even the fans who used to embrace them turn their backs on TVXQ, the group will become the prophets who are not respected in their homelands.

Source: [GQ Magazine+DNBN]
Translation credits: jeeelim5@tohosomnia.net
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[News] DBSK’s Expected 2 Months Break

Dong Bang Shin Ki outdoor concert, a-nation that is pre-scheduled to be held on August 29th in Osaka, Japan will keep going on.

After the provisional disposition facing DBSK’s agent SM Entertainment to stop exclusive contract effect from part of DBSK members, it’s been a difficult environment for DBSK to continue their activities, therefore the continuance of DBSK future activities has been gathered lot of fans’ attention ever since.

Recently DBSK’s Korea label SM Entertainment and Japanese label AVEX don’t catch any additional schedules other than ones have been pre-arranged. Except Yunho who will debut in MBC drama “Heading to The Ground”, the remaining members are said to be having break naturally (T/N: I’m not sure why the reporter doesn’t mention Changmin as well)

Members activities will be stopped at least for 2 months is being certain, but members’ concert in Shanghai that has been planned to proceed on October 2nd is expected to be executed.

The provisional disposition againts SM Entertainment filed by 3 DBSK members Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu has received its first hearing on August 21st in the morning. The judge at that time said, “For the sake of public responsible to DBSK biggest fans and also the members internal relationship, I hope the two sides to consider settlement of this dispute amicably.” advising for a consensus.

Next hearing will be held on September 11th.

Source: pressdot@newsway.kr
Translation: sharingyoochun@wordpress

[News] Despites The Crisis, Changmin is Still Concentrating on His Acting Debut

“This first debut, I want to carry it perfectly.”

DBSK member Changmin (21) has been concentrating on acting training for his first challenge drama “Paradise Ranch”. Recently DBSK meets crisis as in lawsuit case related to some of its members. During this lawsuit period, it’s been repeatedly stressed that the lawsuit and members’ individual activities are separate stories. They’re already preparing for another coming up activities.

Just few days ago, after finishing a performance in Japan, Changmin returned home and when there isn’t any official activity, he’s fully absorbed to the debut drama training. Going back and forth Japan – Korea, Changmin never once keeps aside his script reading training.

From Changmin’s assistant, “The series of recent crisis creates burdensome to him mentally, is true. But as acting has been his long dreamed challenge, makes a great motivation to him afterall. From now on, he’s going to be busy traveling back and forth between Korea and Japan. Even from his recent departure (in Korea) few days ago, he already portrayed an excitement about the drama preparation.”

“Paradise Ranch” is a co-production drama between SM Entertainment and Samhwa Networks and they have goal to broadcast the drama at the end of this year. A delightful story of romance is blended by beautiful music will show the fresh youth romantic acting of Changmin. The drama will enter its first shooting early next month.

Source: naver news
Translation by: sharingyoochun@wordpress