2019-11-11_Bloomberg_Businessweek

f K-pophasa spiritualhome,it’sprobablySMTown.

OperatedbySMEntertainmentCo.,thesix-storycom-

plexinSeoul’swealthyGangnamdistrictis a high-tech

shrinetoSouthKorea’smostsuccessfulculturalexport.

Thelobbywallsarecoveredwithframedblack-and-whitehead-

shotsofSM’s“idols,”asK-popstarsareknown.Bytheelevators

arehundredsofPolaroid-styleportraitsofthesameartistsin

a morecandidlight,albeitwithskinsotouchedupit appears

carvedfrommarzipan.

ThecenterpieceofSMTownisa museumhonoringthe

label’smostprominentgroups.There’sanextensivesec-

tionforSuperJunior,a 13-memberboybandthat

wasoneofK-pop’sfirstbig-ticketacts,andanother

forGirls’Generation,a syrup-sweetensemblethat

flirtedwithglobalstardomthankstomixed-language

trackssuchasI Gota Boy. (“Igota boy/Cool!/I got

a boy/Nice!/I gota boyhandsomeboy!”)Thereare

alsoseveraldisplaysforSHINee,a five-membermale

group.Orrather,a formerlyfive-member male group.

InDecember2017,lead singer Kim Jong-hyun died

bysuicideina Seoulapartment. “The depression

slowlychippedawayat me, finally devouring me,”

hewroteina finalnote. “It wasn’t my path to become

worldfamous....It’sa miracle that I endured all this

time.”Kimwas27;had he been revered in the West,

hemighthavebeenremembered in the same breath

asothermegastars,such as Jimi Hendrix and Amy

Winehouse,whodied at that age. But at SMTown,

Kim’sdeathneverhappened. An otherwise detailed chronol-

ogy of the band makes no mention of it; on one side of the rel-

evant date he’s in the photos, and on the other he isn’t.

It wouldn’t be entirely fair to call this a metaphor for K-pop’s

core bargain with its audience, but it wouldn’t be completely

wrong, either. K-pop depends on a highly controlled relation-

ship with fans. The idol, the genre’s base unit of stardom, is

gestated from adolescence through years of grueling training.

When he’s ready to meet his public, his labels place him in a

group, flowing his image and voice into the music, video, and

social media streams of fans across East Asia. The ideal idol has

a moral record as unblemished as his pores, eschewing drugs,

gambling, and public misbehavior of any kind. While female

groups employ the usual male-gaze clichés—the flirty school-

girl, the doe-eyed ingénue—the frank sexuality of a Rihanna or a

Lady Gaga would be unthinkable. And even though many, many

K-pop songs are about relationships and breakups, labels often

discourage dating. What the music loses in edge, it more than

gains in marketability. Korea and Japan are conservative societ-

ies in many ways, and China, a nascent market, often bans for-

eign acts it deems negative influences.

But the wall of virtue collapsed this year, thanks to a scandal

that continues to grip the industry. It began in January, after a

man said he’d been beaten by guards for trying to stop a sex-

ual assault at Burning Sun, a Seoul nightclub partly owned by

Seungri, one of K-pop’s most bankable stars. The claims spiraled

intoa seriesofoverlappingallegationsrelatedtosextrafficking,

date rape, spy-camera recordings, and bribery. Seungri and

several other idols are under criminal investigation, while the

founder of YG Entertainment Inc., the label responsible for

K-pop’s first global crossover hit, Gangnam Style, resigned as

a result of the turmoil. Prosecutors, meanwhile, opened an

inquiry into whether police had been running interference for

stars, ignoring reports of sexual assault and allowing venues

such as Burning Sun to function as hubs of predatory behavior.

The scandal shone an unflattering light on the idol system,

which elevates artists from tightly regimented training schools

to stardom in their early 20s with money and fame to burn. It’s

also triggered a larger debate about the treatment of women in

South Korea, huge numbers of whom face harassment, assault,

or surveillance by molka, or spycams, which are routinely dis-

covered in hotel rooms and public bathrooms.

GivenK-pop’stitanicculturalandeconomicsignificance—the

revenueofthefourlargestK-popcompaniesin 2018 wasabout

$1.1billion, according to music export agency DFSB Kollective—a

real change in how it operates could shift attitudes in South

Korea as a whole. But in a country where social progress often

lags behind technological and material advancement, no one is

getting their hopes up. For women in South Korea, “it’s a des-

perate situation,” says Sim Sang-jeung, a lawmaker and former

presidential candidate who’s pushed for stronger protections

against assault. At Burning Sun, “police and the authorities tried

to protect those who have power and conceal crimes,” she says.

“In women’s daily lives, nowhere feels safe.”

or most of his career, Seungri, whose real name is Lee

Seung-hyun, stayed within K-pop’s guardrails. Born in

the southern city of Gwangju, he made his debut at 15

as part of Big Bang, YG’s first attempt at an international

idol act. Reception was initially mixed, but the group eventually

became one of K-pop’s biggest names. Seungri, who has a square

jaw, thick hair, and prominent dimples, began releasing solo

work and became one of the most recognizable Korean celeb-

rities—staying popular even after a 2012 “sex scandal” sparked

bya Japanesemagazine’sreportthatwhilespendingtimeinthe

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Bloomberg Businessweek November 11, 2019

◀ BURNING SUN NIGHTCLUB KIM JONG-HYUN ▲