South Korean K-pop management agencies have often been in the limelight because of their controversial treatment of K-pop idols.
In recent years, some former K-pop trainees and idols have told their stories, detailing the often-brutal conditions they had to work under during their training to become idols.
In an interview for Asian Boss, Way, a former K-pop group member, mentioned that she had to go on an extreme, restrictive diet, alongside dance training that lead her to experience injuries and overall exhaustion.
TWICE's Momo also revealed she has lost over 7kg before making her debut, claiming that "The company told her she had to lose weight in order for her to step on the stage for TWICE's showcase." She achieved this by training excessively and eating a very limited number of calories.
Another K-pop trainee, Yanagi Mizuho, expresses the same difficulties Way and Momo did in an interview for CNA Insider, claiming that in order to reach one agency's maximum weight requirement (around 54KG), she had to eat around 300 calories a day for a chance to even being considered to join the agency. She "ate nothing in the morning, took only some salad in the afternoon, and again, ate nothing at night".
Way, Momo and Yanagi are only three examples of a much broader issue in the K-pop industry, as well as in South Korea; The normalization of extreme dieting.
Constricted by Destructive Beauty Standards
Upon entering the trainee programs, both male and female idols are expected to achieve and maintain an unrealistically slim figure in order to adhere to the often unrealistic Korean beauty standards.
K-pop agencies force idols to essentially starve themselves, all while they are performing and training to exhaustion.
You may be wondering, how is this done?
K-pop has almost always been a very controlled, manufactured industry. The idols begin their career by signing what is often referred to as a 'slave contract', in which they essentially put their physical health in the hands of their agencies.
These restrictive contracts dictate that companies are in control of nearly every aspect of the performer's lives. If the idols happen to fail in maintaining a low weight (as any person could), they would get punished, or even kicked out of the agency all-together.
The Unbearable Cost
These conditions have often led idols to experience mental and physical health issues, including developing long-term eating disorders. Many were documented fainting on stage during performances due to malnutrition and exhaustion, and many have also reported to develop long-term eating disorders.
Unfortunately, these idols and aspiring trainees, as well as their large fanbases, have more often than not fallen as victims to the unrealistic and destructive beauty standards, which are deeply rooted in Korean society.
Due to this, the K-pop industry has increasingly developed to be yet another driving force of South Korea's never-ending pursuit of unattainable perfection, with almost no regard to its mental and physical cost - which is quickly becoming unbearable.
