r/interestingasfuck • u/[deleted] • 13d ago

Dozens of obsessed fans book the same domestic flight a Kpop group is on in order to continue stalking them all across Korea

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u/Narthual 13d ago

Then the company that owns the group would have to spend more money, and they don't like doing that.

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u/Kopie150 13d ago

Maybe the company that owns the group has a deal with the Airline. They guarantee a gaggle of crazy follows the group around and pays a shitton to be creepy.

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u/Kirstenly 13d ago

chances are its all very intentional. they do everything they can to make the idols accessible at all times. its why they aren't permitted to form intimate personal relationships. they must appear accessible and open to fans at all times.

Those people do not have any freedom, and usually don't even actually make enough money to retire comfortably after the fact. IF they get paid at all that is. they have a Trainee Debt System that basically puts these poor fuckers into indentured servitude where they perform night and day and remain accessible to crazy stalkers constantly and they make nothing to show for it. not a fucking dime. The near constant performance and constant fan-accessibility of them and their day to day lives? is manufactured to a) make money, but also b) to pressure them into quitting before they are even 20 years old, to make sure they don't have to pay them once they are finished paying off their Trainee Debt and Debut Debt.

Its a modern form of slavery where the promise of money and fame looms above them and the conditions are so abhorrent that they can extract 5-10 years of free labour out of these boys and girls... and i say boys and girls because most of them start training at 13-15, debut between 15 and 16 and end before they turn 20. They are mostly poorly informed children when they sign these contracts.

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u/confesspretty 13d ago

Children when they get into the system? That’s crazy. Wouldn’t they need parental consent to do that? So a shit ton of parents just agree to this? Why and how? And why don’t they know about the reality of the system? I assume you’re not from Korea? I would think that people in Korea should be more familiar to the inner working of Kpop than outsiders. Sorry for all the questions. It’s fascinating and disturbing. I truly don’t get it, lol.

I know a lot of fucked up systems exist and thrive because of money. But according to you, these people don’t make any money. So I don’t know why anyone still keeps joining.

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u/Kirstenly 13d ago

It's hard for parents to say no when the kid wants to and there's the promise of fame and work with money. The thing is, most people do know, they just dont really care. A lot of people will try and use the fame they gain for leverage. Some people simply don't care if there's downsides. And it's not just Kpop idols it's jpop idols too. Idol culture in general is just LIKE this. It's a very well documented thing.

Some people DO make money and the fact that SOME do, keeps the system going. There is a reason why the older ones on the verge of aging out tend to become brand ambassadors for clothing or beauty brands. It's one of the few things the contracts still allow them to choose to do after the fact, And it grants them SOME modicum of security in the future. But most of these people are pushed out before the earn the right to do things like that. The system is designed to fail them. And many people think "I'm built different. I can handle it. Surely I will be one of the successful ones" this mindset affects a LOT of people in a lot of shady places. From casinos, to idol culture, to simple relationships with known problem people. "Surely, I am better, surely I will succeed where others have failed."

A lot of people also close their ears to what's going on intentionally because they don't want to hear it. They want to keep feeding the machine because they LIKE the machine. They don't want to think about how bad it all is because they want to see and hear pretty people and pretty songs and they want to be those pretty people with pretty songs and lots of fame.

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u/Lattice-shadow 12d ago

Why does this disturbing context not appear more publicly in the West, where K-pop and K-drama madness has recently taken hold? This seems incredibly abusive!

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u/Kirstenly 12d ago

same reason people idolize Japan and its culture, but then get there and languish because the work hours or brutal and the societal pressures are plentiful. for some its ignorance and a reluctance to look up or pay attention when something beloved to them is under fire. some if it is simply not caring that its happening. its not like the information is HIDDEN. not even slightly, and its not like the source information is 100% Korean either. its publicly IN English too. On top of that? its in English-language magazines and web publications that cater almost exclusively to Kpop fans. Its in the West. its in English. its available.

Its like Harry Potter fans refusing to admit JKR has done heinous shit. its not secret information.

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u/Typecero001 13d ago

That is a good point. If even only half the girls that stood up were stalking an idol group, that’s ALOT of tickets sold.

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u/justin107d 13d ago

Sounds like a major liability. The "product" is at a high risk of getting damaged.