Among developed countries, South Korea has the highest number of suicides among young people. The hard pressures of focusing on work and appearance often influence the background of actions.
25-year-old K-pop artist Moonbin was found dead on Thursday in South Korea. Moonbin was a former child star, actor and model, and a member of the popular boy band Astro.
The news of the young artist’s death has shocked fans and is at the same time a sad continuation of the suicides committed by young public figures, which have become more common in the country.
South Korea’s suicide rates are among the highest in the world, and suicide is one of the most common causes of death among people under the age of 40.
The K-pop music industry alone has in recent years five suicides committed (you move to another service)says the British broadcasting company BBC.
Competition and intense pressure in the background
In South Korea, artists are products of media companies. Their personalities are part of the business, and their behavior in public is carefully shaped and guarded.
K-pop culture is known for its fierce competition. Bullying and public pressure on social media increases the need for performers to maintain a flawless image at any cost.
In addition, the appearance pressure of young people is at its peak in South Korea. Cosmetic surgery is commonplace in the country, even among people in their twenties.
Host of a podcast about the K-pop world Blue “Papananaama” Laitinen has been familiar with the Korean music phenomenon since the end of the 2000s. He does his own K-pop show at Areena.
According to Laitinen, the focus on appearance is brutal in South Korea. Only thinness is considered beautiful.
– South Korea is the world’s capital of cosmetic surgery. The awareness of one’s own appearance and the mold one should fit into is much narrower than elsewhere, Laitinen says.
Artists don’t have their own lives
In Korea, there are many who dream of pop stardom, and the sky is the limit for the most successful artists.
The boy band BTS became the first Korean group to top the US Billboard album chart in its first week of release in 2018.
For fans around the world, K-pop is not just music, but is perceived to be a wider way of life.
Even fanatical features can be seen in K-pop fan culture, where idols are directly persecuted. On the other hand, the collectivity of fan culture and the support given to idols can also act as a counter force for media companies.
In South Korea, artists have practically no privacy.
According to Laitinen, they are prohibited from, among other things, public dating and forming relationships.
– The fans wouldn’t like that.
The use of social media is also limited and publications must be approved by record companies, or artists will be fined for breaking the rules.
Laitinen believes that the companies’ extreme rules also have another side, and that artists’ lives are not limited by their malice.
– I believe that stars are somehow protected from publicity and public reactions.
Mental health problems have been taboo
Korean society is very competitive, Laitinen points out. According to him, the work-oriented culture is behind the nausea.
– Mental health problems were a taboo in the country for a long time.
There has been little talk about mental health in South Korea, but according to Laitinen, the situation is getting better.
– Mental health is a big problem, as it is in other parts of the world. Today, though, the record companies of K-pop groups openly inform about the depression of their artists.
Laitinen follows K-pop culture closely, so every death of a young person shocks and makes him sad.
He still doesn’t wonder why so many in the country end up at that point.
– I don’t know how long it will take before the culture really changes, Laitinen says.
What thoughts do the pressures of Korean youth evoke? You can discuss the topic until Friday at 11 p.m.