Introduction
In just under a few short decades South Korean (henceforth, Korea/n) pop music has been transformed from a single group (Oh & Lee, 2013a) testing the creative constitutional boundaries of a dawning democracy to an international pop culture juggernaut that has gone from strength to strength. This cultural phenomenon has been a significant part of the much larger socio-economic success story of Hallyu, and while there is little doubt that there have been positive social and economic benefits (OECD, 2018; UNWTO, 2018; World development indicators, 2018; WTO, 2018) which are publicly lauded, not all the effects of this socio-economic boon have been positive (Cho, 2017; Fedorenko, 2017; Kim & Bae, 2017; S. H. Lee, 2016; Oh & Lee, 2013b). This paper will attempt to provide a balanced perspective on the* social implications of the current K-Pop scene within the context of K-Pop as a part of Hallyu that cannot be entirely separated from the larger cultural phenomenon. Positive and negative implications of economic nature inevitably manifest at the societal and individual levels of being so it would be improper to consider the social implications without having first acknowledged the relationship between said implications and their economic correlates. The existing academic literature on the negative implications is sparse at best (Cho, 2017) which has resulted in these implications being brought to light either by mainstream media investigative journalism or by fans online in the form of blogs or YouTube videos. Some of these non-academic sources will be used to bring the serious issues they raise into the academic domain for further study. Ultimately, this paper does not set out to prove anything so much as to add to the academic corpus of data on Hallyu generally and more specifically on K-Pop.
Background
Hallyu is the name given to the rapid spread of Korean culture beyond the borders of Korea; the term was coined in 1999 by Beijing journalists who noticed a surge of interest in Korean entertainment and culture (Chang & Lee, 2017; S. J. Lee, 2011; Lie, 2015). Before Hallyu, Korea’s culture was largely unknown, even to its regional neighbours. The nation was predominantly known for the Korean War and the socio-political volatility that followed (Oh & Lee, 2013a) until Korean TV dramas spearheaded the diaspora of Korean culture into China, Taiwan, and Japan (S. J. Lee, 2011; Park, 2013a). From K-Dramas, the interest of its regional neighbours increased to include the first generation of K-Pop idols (J.S. Kim, LTCS2023 lecture, February 28, 2018) which paved the way for the idols that followed in their wake, and the rest, as it is said, is history. This is not just a throw-away turn-of-phrase when discussing Korea, rebuilding an entire nation’s buildings, infrastructure, and developing a burgeoning economy in less than 70 years is a historic achievement when considering Korea’s unique geopolitical situation.
Economic considerations
Before considering K-Pop’s social implications, it’s important to understand K-Pop’s (and Hallyu’s) place in the Korean economy. Korea’s foresight to heavily invest in digital infrastructure (Oh & Lee, 2013b) during the South-East Asian economic crisis of the late 1990’s placed the Hallyu industry in excellent stead to capitalise and expand their reach to international destinations (Growth driver: Developing digital services, 2016). During the middle part of K-Pop’s journey from domestic darling to international cultural force, K-pop exports surged from US$22 million to US$335 million in under a decade (Chang & Lee, 2017). The advent of social media services (SMS), music streaming services (MSS), and video sharing websites combined with conservative Korean censorship standards during this prosperous growth period eased access to new online international markets. Although these services negatively affected traditional revenue sources initially (CD and DVD sales), after a period of adjustment revenue exponentially recovered as advertising and monetisation strategies were implemented between 2006 and 2010 (“History of monetization at YouTube,” 2010; Park, 2013a). More recently Korea’s conservative censorship laws have bulwarked the Hallyu industries revenue stream from the YouTube demonetisation controversy (Shaw, 2017). In 2012, the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism produced estimates which estimated Hallyu’s economic asset value at US$83.2 billion. At the time, K-Pop was estimated to account for US$5.26 billion of the total US$83.2 billion (Oh & Lee, 2013a).
K-Pop as an industry represents much more than music and music videos. Through the advertising influence of the immensely popular K-Pop idols (Chang & Lee, 2017), who under the yoke of “slave contracts” (Kong, 2016) have been left with almost no option but to diversify their sources of income, the industry has been boosting proximal ancillary industries such as the domestic plastic surgery industry, international medical tourism (Al-Jazeera, 2014), fan-tourism, cosmetics, fashion, technological goods and services, film and television (K-dramas, live K-Pop audition shows), foods and beverages, and other semi-durable and non-durable consumption goods both domestically and internationally (as shown in Appendices A, B, C, and D**) (Chang & Lee, 2017; Cho, 2017; Fedorenko, 2017; Howard, 2015; Jin & Yoon, 2017; Kong, 2016; Oh & Lee, 2013a; Park, 2013a; UNWTO, 2018; WTO, 2018).
Societal implications
Hallyu’s economic effects on society vary depending on who in society is being considered. At the societal level, Hallyu and K-Pop’s contributions to the Korean economy (UNWTO, 2018; World development indicators, 2018; WTO, 2018) have contributed to improved living standards (World development indicators, 2018) and high employment rates (OECD, 2018) (as shown in the Appendices A, B, C, D, E, F, and G), especially since the mid-2000’s when SMS, MSS, and free video-sharing websites such as Facebook, Twitter, iTunes, Spotify, (Lie, 2015) and YouTube were launched and provided low-cost access to the global market (Park, 2013a, 2013b).
Idols are caught between the wants and expectations of both the entertainment management companies (EMC’s) and the legions of sometimes adoring, and other times scorning fans (Fedorenko, 2017; TheTalko, 2017b). EMC’s set inordinately high physical beauty standards for idols to generate commercial appeal. These standards are maintained by strictly controlling the diets and exercise habits of idols as well as encouraging idols to undergo multiple cosmetic surgery procedures (Cho, 2017; Fedorenko, 2017; Francis, 2013; TheTalko, 2017b). Idols’ lives are micro-managed by using restrictive “slave contracts” that can last up to and over ten years (Kim & Bae, 2017; TheTalko, 2017a, 2017b, 2017c) with no guarantee of any significant remuneration for the excessive sacrifices expected of adolescents (Kong, 2016; Oh & Lee, 2013b). Aspiring idols willingly surrender what many in the developed world now consider basic human rights for a chance to be famous. EMC’s are primarily operating a business, which reduces their perception of idols to not much beyond that of an abundant commodity (Fedorenko, 2017). As such, contracts for trainee idols allow the EMC’s to dictate almost literally every aspect of their lives; all their time belongs to the EMC’s, and their schedules are gruelling and perpetual for the duration of the contract (TheTalko, 2017b). Personal time such as leave, holidays and other conventional full-time employment benefits are stripped away, and while the idols are rarely by themselves, they are often alone and isolated (Kim & Bae, 2017; TheTalko, 2017b, 2017c). Idols are often exploited in various ways that range from sexual exploitation, physical punishment (Cho, 2017; TheTalko, 2017b), to being the lowest paid of all participants in the K-Pop production value chain (Oh & Lee, 2013b), their contracts also prevent the stars from earning income from other sources such as commercial films (CF or otherwise known as TV-advertising) that interfere with their contractual obligations to the EMC’s and any business affiliates the EMC’s might have (Fedorenko, 2017).
Also, at the societal level, large numbers of highly motivated and organised fans (Park, 2013a) congregate in online spaces where they can gossip and express their opinions without thought for the psychological impacts on those they idolise. From these online spaces, fans exert their influence over idol’s private lives by stirring up other fans to support or denounce idols that do not meet their expectations (Park, 2013a; TheTalko, 2017b). Idols’ roles become more difficult to embody when they are stretched between trying to maintain support from domestic and international fans alike (Cho, 2017; Fedorenko, 2017; TheTalko, 2017a) without making any innocuous faux pas in a public space that might alienate either fan group and cause the EMC to lose revenue (Fedorenko, 2017). Instances like this are not uncommon and tend to form along geopolitical lines as was the case for Twice member, Tzu-yu Chou, who waved the flag of her birth country (Taiwan) during a TV appearance (Oi, 2016; TheTalko, 2017a). The influence that fans exert is of such a magnitude that it has resulted in EMC’s prohibiting idols from pursuing romantic relationships (TheTalko, 2017a, 2017b, 2017c) so as not to estrange their fans and cause revenue to decrease. Idols that lose the support of fans lose their commercial appeal and soon find the EMC’s bearing down upon them to protect their financial investment (Kong, 2016).
Constantly being under pressure as aforementioned, it comes as no surprise that some idols and trainees break under said pressure. The strain of not being chosen to be an idol for trainees can be too much, just as the collapse of a career that an idol has sacrificed so much for can overwhelm the idol. Idol suicide is a dark stain on the K-Pop industry that has a deserved reputation for exploiting and discarding aspiring idols and idols alike (Boss, 2018; Howard, 2015). The most recent suicide to highlight the dictatorial working conditions idols are immersed in was that of boy-group Shinee idol, Jong-Hyun Kim, who appears to have suffered from depression and was not offered support or counselling by the EMC responsible for the group (Boss, 2018).
Conclusion
Having performed a cursory investigation of some of the major social implications of the K-Pop industry as part of the larger Hallyu industry, it is clear this is a topic which is more nuanced than the scope of this paper can provide, and further study is needed to expand and clarify many points. However, from such a perfunctory analysis it can be said with certainty that K-Pop and Hallyu have contributed to an overall positive effect for Korean society when considering empirical datasets that pertain to living standards, life expectancy, employment, and economic trade (OECD, 2018; UNWTO, 2018; World development indicators, 2018; WTO, 2018). This observation holds true regardless of whether the whole society follows or supports the industry or not. For those directly involved in the K-Pop industry however, (trainee idols, idols, fans, EMC’s and affiliated support industries) the aggregate picture is not so clear, but what is evident is that the implications are not clearly positive overall (Cho, 2017; Fedorenko, 2017; Kim & Bae, 2017; S. H. Lee, 2016; Oh & Lee, 2013b). This paper has attempted to administer a balanced and impartial review of the limited academic literature and to highlight issues that are not as prominent in the academic corpus. Further study is required not only to understand the complex, dynamic interactions between those directly involved in Hallyu but to refine and improve the cultural industries so that they remain beneficial to society but mitigate the documented negative implications as much as possible.
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Appendices
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E
Appendix F
Appendix G
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* A much larger paper would need to be written to cover all the social implications of a cultural phenomenon of this magnitude, as a result, many implications may be only referred to without much elaboration. If interested, readers are encouraged to refer to the references for further reading.
** Appendices A and B show the money spent by international visitors to Korea during their stays. Appendices C and D do not show domestic trade data, only export trade data.