EPAActress Kim Sae-ron‘s dying in an obvious suicide has renewed criticism of South Korea’s leisure trade, which churns out stars but additionally topics them to immense stress and scrutiny.
Kim – who was discovered useless aged 24 at her residence in Seoul on Sunday – had been bombarded with unfavourable press protection and hate on-line after a drink-driving conviction in 2022. Police haven’t supplied additional particulars about her dying.
Specialists 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 don’t seem to be optimistic her dying will result in significant change.
South Korea’s leisure trade is having fun with large recognition. Right this moment, there are greater than an estimated 220 million followers of Korean leisure around the globe – that is 4 instances the inhabitants of South Korea.
However there’s additionally growing highlight on the much less glamorous aspect of the leisure trade.
South Korea is thought for its hyper-competitive tradition in most spheres of life – from schooling to careers. It has one of many highest suicide charges amongst developed international locations. Whereas its general suicide fee 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 could be profession ending. Kim Sae-ron grew to become so unpopular, scenes that includes her have been edited out of exhibits similar to Netflix’s 2023 drama Bloodhounds.
“It isn’t sufficient that the celebrities be punished by the legislation. They turn into targets of relentless criticism,” Korean tradition critic Kim Hern-sik informed the RAYNAE.
He referred to Ok-pop artists Sulli and Goo Hara, who died by suicide in 2019 after lengthy battles with web trolls, regardless that they didn’t have recognized brushes with the legislation.
Sulli had offended followers for not conforming to the Ok-pop mould, whereas an web mob had focused Goo Hara over her relationship with an ex-boyfriend.
‘An actual life Squid Recreation’
Cyberbullying has additionally turn into a money-making gig for some, Kim Hern-sik informed the RAYNAE.
“YouTubers get the views, boards get the engagement, information shops get the visitors. I do not suppose [Kim’s death] will change the state of affairs.
“There must be harsher legal punishment towards leaving nasty feedback,” he says.
Kim Sae-ron’s father has blamed a YouTuber for her dying, claiming the controversial movies they printed brought on her deep emotional misery.
Others have pointed fingers at some native media shops, who reportedly fuelled public animosity towards 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 Recreation, the South Korean Netflix blockbuster which sees the indebted preventing to the dying for an enormous money prize.
“Our society abandons those that stumble and strikes on as if nothing occurred.. What number of extra lives have to be misplaced earlier than we cease inflicting this harmful, suffocating disgrace on individuals?” he wrote on Fb.
“Drunk driving is a giant mistake. There can be an issue with our authorized system if that goes unpunished. Nonetheless, a society that buries individuals who make errors with out giving them a second likelihood is just not a wholesome one,” Prof Na added.
Final 12 months, the RAYNAE reported on how “tremendous followers” within the infamous Ok-pop trade attempt to dictate their idols’ personal lives – from their romantic relationships to their every day actions outdoors of labor – and could 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 value 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 capable of 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 once they do one thing that places a crack of their “idol” picture, says Ok-pop columnist Jeff Benjamin.
He contrasts this to leisure industries within the West, the place controversies and scandals typically 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 isn’t essentially career-ending,” he says.
Whereas the Korean leisure trade has made strikes to deal with 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
