EPAActress Kim Sae-ron‘s loss of life in an obvious suicide has renewed criticism of South Korea’s leisure business, which churns out stars but in addition topics them to immense stress and scrutiny.
Kim – who was discovered lifeless aged 24 at her house in Seoul on Sunday – had been bombarded with unfavorable press protection and hate on-line after a drink-driving conviction in 2022. Police haven’t supplied additional particulars about her loss of life.
Consultants discovered the circumstances resulting in it depressingly acquainted. Different celebrities additionally ended up taking their lives after careers upended by cyberbullying.
As Kim was laid to relaxation on Wednesday, analysts say they aren’t optimistic her loss of life will result in significant change.
South Korea’s leisure business is having fun with large reputation. As we speak, there are greater than an estimated 220 million followers of Korean leisure around the globe – that is 4 occasions the inhabitants of South Korea.
However there may be additionally growing highlight on the much less glamorous facet of the leisure business.
South Korea is understood for its hyper-competitive tradition in most spheres of life – from training to careers. It has one of many highest suicide charges amongst developed nations. Whereas its total suicide price is falling, deaths of these of their 20s are rising.
This stress is heightened within the case of celebrities. They face immense stress to be good, and are subjected to the calls for of obsessive “tremendous followers” who could make or break careers.
That’s the reason even the slightest perceived misstep might be profession ending. Kim Sae-ron grew to become so unpopular, scenes that includes her have been edited out of reveals akin to Netflix’s 2023 drama Bloodhounds.
“It isn’t sufficient that the celebrities be punished by the legislation. They develop into targets of relentless criticism,” Korean tradition critic Kim Hern-sik advised the BBC.
He referred to Okay-pop artists Sulli and Goo Hara, who died by suicide in 2019 after lengthy battles with web trolls, though they didn’t have recognized brushes with the legislation.
Sulli had offended followers for not conforming to the Okay-pop mould, whereas an web mob had focused Goo Hara over her relationship with an ex-boyfriend.
‘An actual life Squid Sport’
Cyberbullying has additionally develop into a money-making gig for some, Kim Hern-sik advised the BBC.
“YouTubers get the views, boards get the engagement, information retailers get the site visitors. I do not suppose [Kim’s death] will change the scenario.
“There must be harsher felony punishment in opposition to leaving nasty feedback,” he says.
Kim Sae-ron’s father has blamed a YouTuber for her loss of life, claiming the controversial movies they revealed brought on her deep emotional misery.
Others have pointed fingers at some native media retailers, who reportedly fuelled public animosity in opposition to Kim by reporting the unverified claims.
“This cycle of media-driven character assassination should cease,” civic group Residents’ Coalition for Democratic Media mentioned in a press release on Tuesday.
Na Jong-ho, a psychiatry professor at Yale College, likened the spate of movie star deaths in South Korea to a real-life model of Squid Sport, the South Korean Netflix blockbuster which sees the indebted combating to the loss of life for an enormous money prize.
“Our society abandons those that stumble and strikes on as if nothing occurred.. What number of extra lives should be misplaced earlier than we cease inflicting this harmful, suffocating disgrace on individuals?” he wrote on Fb.
“Drunk driving is an enormous mistake. There can be an issue with our authorized system if that goes unpunished. Nevertheless, a society that buries individuals who make errors with out giving them a second probability just isn’t a wholesome one,” Prof Na added.
Final yr, the BBC reported on how “tremendous followers” within the infamous Okay-pop business attempt to dictate their idols’ non-public lives – from their romantic relationships to their each day actions exterior of labor – and might be unforgiving when issues go off script.
It’s no shock that Kim Sae-ron selected to withdraw from the general public eye after her DUI conviction, for which she was fined 20 million received (£11,000) in April 2023.
It’s price noting nonetheless, that not all public figures are topic to the identical remedy. Politicians, together with opposition chief Lee Jae-myung, even have previous drink-driving convictions however have been in a position to bounce again – polls present Lee is now the nation’s high presidential contender.
In South Korea, it’s “extraordinarily powerful” for artistes to get better after they do one thing that places a crack of their “idol” picture, says Okay-pop columnist Jeff Benjamin.
He contrasts this to leisure industries within the West, the place controversies and scandals generally even “add a rockstar-like edge” to celebrities’ reputations.
“Whereas nobody cheers when a Hollywood movie star is arrested for DUI [drinking under the influence of alcohol or drugs] or despatched to jail for important crimes, it is not essentially career-ending,” he says.
Whereas the Korean leisure business has made strikes to handle performers’ psychological wealth considerations, it’s unclear how efficient these have been.
Actual change can solely occur when there isn’t any extra monetary or consideration incentives to proceed with such intrusive reporting, says Mr Benjamin.
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Extra reporting by Jake Kwon in Seoul
