The dark side of K-pop

[HisMajestyBOB]

That's not the dark side of K-pop as far as I know.

When I was in Hong Kong I was talking to a guy I know in the entertainment industry there and who does a variety of business with Koreans. He related a story of one of his first visits there. His associate picked him up at the airport and the conversation went something like this:

"Who do you want to do?
"What do you mean who do I want to do?"
"Who do you want to fuck? [Name of a famous singer]?[Name of a famous actress]? Someone else?"
"Uh...."
"Let me know when you decide. I'll make the calls and hook you up."

Hong Kong/ Taiwan/ PRC are a bit better. Fewer suicides and it seems the sex for money/ favours thing while still fairly common (e.g. the Zhang Zhiyi scandal last year) is mostly voluntary rather than forced on the talent by managers and label executives as it seems to be the case in Korea these days.

The dark side of K-pop is the serious involvement of organized crime and the unsavory business practices of the industry leading to the inordinate amount of suicides.

That is probably a scam. They entice you with some star, and when the time comes to meet she will unfortunately be out of the country on some trip that came up at the last moment. But there will be another "star" available, only one you have never heard of.

There have been scandals in the Korean press where such things happened. Including a few cases where it didn't come out until the actress committed suicide.

[Jacob]

That is probably a scam. They entice you with some star, and when the time comes to meet she will unfortunately be out of the country on some trip that came up at the last moment. But there will be another "star" available, only one you have never heard of.

No, not at all. These guys were business partners, and he did his part to get his friend laid when the friend was visiting Hong Kong. And, as it happens, the guy who told me the story (and who is a Hong Kong celebrity, if not an A-list one) ended up marrying a Korean Hip Hop singer.

It wasn't an offer to some random Joe average fresh off the plane. It was a favour from one connected industry insider to another.

The Korean entertainment industry is notorious for pimping out their young starlets whether the girls themselves want to or not, with the Jang Ja-Yeon case being the one that's received the most coverage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jang_Ja-yeon

[The Brain]

ended up marrying a Korean Hip Hop singer.

The long winter evenings must just fly by.

[Jacob]

The long winter evenings must just fly by.

Hong Kong is pretty tropical. I don't think they have much in the way of long winter evenings.

[Josquius]

Hong Kong/ Taiwan/ PRC are a bit better. Fewer suicides and it seems the sex for money/ favours thing while still fairly common (e.g. the Zhang Zhiyi scandal last year) is mostly voluntary rather than forced on the talent by managers and label executives as it seems to be the case in Korea these days.

Zhang Ziyi scandal?
Googling all I can find is pictures of her on the beach. There's a whoring scandal?

[alfred russel]

That is probably a scam. They entice you with some star, and when the time comes to meet she will unfortunately be out of the country on some trip that came up at the last moment. But there will be another "star" available, only one you have never heard of.

No, not at all. These guys were business partners, and he did his part to get his friend laid when the friend was visiting Hong Kong. And, as it happens, the guy who told me the story (and who is a Hong Kong celebrity, if not an A-list one) ended up marrying a Korean Hip Hop singer.

It wasn't an offer to some random Joe average fresh off the plane. It was a favour from one connected industry insider to another.

The Korean entertainment industry is notorious for pimping out their young starlets whether the girls themselves want to or not, with the Jang Ja-Yeon case being the one that's received the most coverage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jang_Ja-yeon

I actually hadn't heard anything about this in Korea, but I've heard about it quite a bit regarding Bollywood, and always in the context of it being a scam. Maybe there is an underlying truth in both places (for people with the right connections), the rumors of which feed the scams to the common folk. Rather disappointing though.