An idol () refers to a type of celebrity working in the field of
K-pop
K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...
in
fandom culture in South Korea, either as a member of a group or as a solo act. K-pop idols are characterized by the highly manufactured star system that they are produced by and debuted under, as well as their tendency to represent a hybridized convergence of visuals, music, fashion, and dance.
They usually work for a mainstream
entertainment agency
A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sport ...
and have undergone extensive training in dance, vocals, and foreign language. Idols maintain a carefully curated public image and social media presence, and dedicate significant time and resources to building relationships with fans through concerts and meetups.
Trainee system
![Girls' Generation in 2012 K-Pop Collection](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Girls%27_Generation_in_2012_K-Pop_Collection.jpg)
Inspired by the heyday of
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
in the United States,
Lee Soo-man
Lee Soo-man (, born 18 June 1952) is a South Korean business executive and record producer who is best known for being the founder of SM Entertainment, a multinational South Korean entertainment company based in Seoul. He has also been referred ...
set his sights on laying the foundation for the modern Korean pop music industry. He witnessed
New Kids on the Block
New Kids on the Block (also initialized as NKOTB) is an American boy band from Dorchester, Massachusetts. The band consists of brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood. New Kids on the Block enjoy ...
became very popular in Korea in the 1990s.The K-pop trainee system was popularised by Lee Soo-man, the founder of
SM Entertainment
SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company ha ...
. Hundreds of candidates each day attend the global auditions held by Korean entertainment agencies to perform for the chance of becoming a trainee. This was part of a concept labelled cultural technology.
The trainee process lasts for an indefinite period of time, ranging from months to years, and usually involves vocal, dance, and language classes taken while living together with other trainees, who sometimes attend school at the same time, although some trainees drop out of school to focus on their careers.
Once a trainee enters the system, they are regulated in multiple aspects including personal life, physical condition, and visual appearance. The survival, and training and regulation take precedence over natural talent in the production of Korean idols.
The system requires trainees to maintain a "wholesome image" while remaining "private about their lives and thoughts".
![G-Dragon 2012 4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/G-Dragon_2012_4.jpg)
Former trainees have reported that they were required to go through plastic surgeries, such as a
Blepharoplasty
Blepharoplasty (Greek: ''blepharon'', "eyelid" + ''plassein'' "to form") is the plastic surgery operation for correcting defects, deformities, and disfigurations of the eyelids; and for aesthetically modifying the eye region of the face. With t ...
or a
Rhinoplasty
Rhinoplasty ( grc, ῥίς, rhī́s, nose + grc, πλάσσειν, plássein, to shape), commonly called nose job, medically called nasal reconstruction is a plastic surgery procedure for altering and reconstructing the nose. There are two typ ...
, in order to adhere to the acceptable
Korean beauty standards
Korean beauty standards have become a well-known feature of Korean culture. In 2015, a global survey by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons placed South Korea in the top ten of countries who had the highest rate of cosmetic s ...
. Further criticism towards the trainee system arose regarding the companies' harsh weight restrictions, which often caused trainees to pass out from exhaustion or
dehydration
In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water, with an accompanying disruption of metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds free water intake, usually due to exercise, disease, or high environmental temperature. Mil ...
in an attempt to reach the required weight for their desired program.
The investment on a potential trainee could be expensive. In 2012, ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' reported that the cost of training one member of
Girls' Generation
Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piece ensembl ...
under SM Entertainment was US$3 million.
Personal image
When trainees are finally chosen to debut in new groups, they will face a new setting of personalities created by the company to cater the entertainment market. Each member of an idol group has his or her own character to play and therefore an important part of their job duties is to maintain that temperament in any kind of exposure they may get. One way to build the personal image of idol groups is through social media services with content managed by the company to ensure the consistency of these personal characteristics.
[Elfving-Hwang, Joanna. "K-pop Idols, Artificial Beauty and Affective Fan Relationships in South Korea." in ''Routledge Handbook of Celebrity Studies'', edited by Anthony Elliott. London: Routledge, 2018.]
Relationship with fans
The relationship between Korean idols and their fans can be characterized as "parasocial kin", which means for fans to create a familial connection with their idols rather than just being a "look-from-afar" fan. In some cases, within and outside of fandoms, fans also create familial connections with other fans through similar interests or just to make friends. These interactions can be initiated by the fans, the company, or the idols themselves, where they would most likely still have to go through their company to be approved. Some projects or activities, created by fans for the idols, must also be approved by the venue or the idols’ company to minimize any harm to the idols and fan-participants. Interactions and fan connections can be seen through events like fan meetings, also known as artist engagements, concerts or fansites, and artist cafés. An annual event known as KCon is also a place for fans and artists to interact. The nature of this "parasocial kin" relationship can also be seen in the proactive participation of Korean idol fans in production of idol groups. Even before debut, some trainees would already have their own fans. This leads to the "kinship" starting out early, and building that up is very important for the idol as an artist and the fan as a supporter. Once debuted, fans grow alongside their idols and idol-fan relationships become deeper. If anything happens, fans have their own unique ways to show their attitude and opinion on issues concerning "unfair" actions of management companies. Under this situation, fans often appear to be protecting idols from company mistreatment due to the familial connection built between both sides.
Working conditions
Several Korean idol groups and solo artists have resented the contracts issued to them by their management companies, claiming that the decade-long contracts are "too long, too restrictive, and gave them almost none of the profits from their success". A director of South Korean entertainment agency
DSP Media
DSP Media (Hangul: DSP 미디어) is a South Korean entertainment company established in 1991 by Lee Ho-yeon. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production company, and ...
stated that the company does share profit with the performers, but often little is left over after paying costs.
Korean entertainment companies such as S.M Entertainment have been called "factories" for their unique method of mass-producing stars. Members of groups are frequently retired and replaced with fresh trainees when their age or musical inclinations begin to pose a problem.
TVXQ
TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!), an initialism for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (), is a South Korean male pop duo consisting of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as DBSK, an abbreviation of ...
charged S.M. Entertainment for unreasonable terms in their contracts with the company in 2009.
[Lee, Dong-Yeun. "Who's Afraid of Korean Idols?" In ''Made in Korea: Studies in Popular Music,'' edited by Hyunjoon Shin, Seung-Ah Lee. London: Routledge, 2016.]
Commercialism
Entertainment companies in Korea use a boot-camp system in grooming their idols. In the case of
S.M. Entertainment
SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company ha ...
, the company receives 300,000 applicants in nine countries every year.
They possess training facilities in the
Gangnam district
Gangnam District ( ; , ) is one of the 25 local government districts which make up the city of Seoul, South Korea. Gangnam translates to "South of the (Han) River". Gangnam District is the third largest district in Seoul, with an area of . A ...
of Seoul, where recruits then train for years in anticipation of their debut. SM was called the first company to market "bands as brands", and commodify not just the artists' product, but the artists themselves. Such techniques have resulted in mass recognition abroad and helped to spark the
Korean Wave, which benefits entertainment companies by broadening their audience.
As domestic fandom is not generally enough to produce the profits that these corporations and their players require, branding and marketing of the artist/group has become central to industry profits and thus a defining feature of the genre today.
Reported earnings
According to the South Korean National Tax Service, the average annual earnings for a Korean idol in 2013 were KR₩46.74 million (US$42,000). This was almost double the 2010 figure of KR₩26.97 million (US$25,275), a rise attributable to the global spread of ''
Hallyu'' in recent years.
Recognition
The
Korean Wave has led to a global rise in interest in Korean idols, along with other aspects of Korean culture including
Korean films
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
** Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju languag ...
and
K-dramas being exported to other parts of the globe.
Nonetheless, some fanatical behaviors of K-pop idol fans have led to negative stereotypes of K-pop idols in the public, as well as caused criticism in society.
Sexualization
There have been criticisms on the
sexual objectification
Sexual objectification is the act of treating a person solely as an object of sexual desire. Objectification more broadly means treating a person as a commodity or an object without regard to their personality or dignity. Objectification is most ...
of female and male idols across the industry. The problem is exacerbated due to the higher rigidity of gender norms in contemporary Korean society. Korean censorship practices regarding
nudity and obscenity may have further reinforced this objectification.
Korean idols also frequently wear revealing clothes and dance provocatively in music videos as part of the companies' effort to market idols in multiple ways. In some cases, these efforts have resulted in censorship; for example, "
Miniskirt
A miniskirt (sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, separated as mini skirt, or sometimes shortened to simply mini) is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than below the buttocks; and a ...
" by
AOA was deemed sexually inappropriate to public TV shows and programs and was unable to be aired until the group modified their outfits and choreography.
This sexualization has also led to a notion of conformity in idol acceptance. Idols that do not perform in a sexually appealing way to their targeted demographic have been harassed; for example,
Amber Liu has received criticism for her androgynous appearance and disregard for gender norms.
See also
*
List of South Korean idol groups
The following is a list of South Korean idol musical bands. This includes a list of boy bands and girl groups, organized by year of debut.
Idol bands in South Korea started to appear after the success of Seo Taiji and Boys, whose debut in 1992 ...
*
List of South Korean boy bands
K-pop boy bands refer to South Korea's all-male idol groups who account for a large portion of the K-pop industry. Korean boy bands have aided in the global spread and promotion of Korean culture through their demonstrated prominence and popular ...
*
List of South Korean girl groups
The following is a list of South Korean girl groups.
Generation 1 (1997–2002)
Other girl groups
* Chakra
* Cleo
* Diva
* Jewelry
* Kiss
* Luv
* M.I.L.K.
* Papaya
* Shinvi
* Sugar
* T.T.Ma
Generation 2 (2003–2011)
Ot ...
*
List of South Korean co-ed groups
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*
Fandom culture in South Korea
*
Japanese idol
An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in acting, dancing, and modeling. Idols are commercialized through merchandise and endorsements b ...
*
Korean idols in advertising
References
{{K-pop
Idol
Idol or Idols may refer to:
Religion and philosophy
* Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents
* Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...
01
Teen idols