K-pop in 2019: Scandals taint YG, trot is revived
Jung Joon-young steps into the Seoul District Police Agency, March 14./ Hankook Ilbo photo by Ko Young-kwon
By Jung Hae-myoung
In music, 2019 is no different from any other year. There is both good and bad news. What makes this year unique is the gap between the two extremes is wider and starker than other recent years.
Among others, Korea's superstar boy band BTS continued to post exciting news which made Koreans feel proud of the musicians. BTS' concert in Saudi Arabia was sensational.
On the flip side is the Burning Sun scandal that rocked the nation and tainted the image of K-pop over shocking revelations of scandalous celebrity crimes. This “bad guys' club” also took a huge toll on YG Entertainment, one of Korea's big four talent agencies.
A music competition show vote-rigging scandal cast a shadow on the local music industry, but a surprising trot revival, created by a TV Chosun program, showed Korean music fans are open-minded to various music genres and defied the notion that Korean music is all about K-pop.
#1 Burning Sun rocks YG
The dominating issue of 2019 has been the Burning Sun scandal, which broke in November 2018 and has had a lingering effect on the entertainment industry all throughout 2019. YG Entertainment was hit hard by the scandal.
Burning Sun turned out to have its own dark secrets. The scandal was triggered by a case of sexual violence in the southern Seoul night club. Burning Sun reportedly became a location related to various crimes: illegal drug trade, sexual assault and voyeur videos.
There were several participants accused of having shared illicitly made sex videos in a smartphone group chat. The members were Seungri, Choi Jong-hoon from K-pop boy band FT ISLAND, a manager of Burning Sun, a former YG staff member, and a man surnamed Kwon who is also the brother of Girl's Generation member Yuri.
The court sentenced Jung to seven years in prison and Choi to five years. The club was also under fire for alleged drug use. A member of K-pop boy group iKon, B.I (real name Kim Han-bin) was accused of smoking marijuana three years ago.
He was brought to court as a person of reference and cross-examined for 15 hours. Wonho (real name Lee Ho-seok), a member of K-pop boy group MonstaX, was also summoned for allegedly smoking marijuana and was questioned by police in September.
Official poster of BTS' "Map of the Soul: Persona," which was also certified gold in France. / Korea times file
#2 BTS dominates again
It is hard to discuss 2019 without mentioning BTS, which swept up music awards and grew in popularity all over the world. The group released its new album “Map of the Soul: Persona” on April 21.
Among the tracks was “Boy With Luv” where BTS collaborated with pop singer Halsey.
They successfully wrapped up their world tour which started in Los Angeles and saw them perform in iconic venues such as Wembley Stadium in the U.K., making them the first Korean entertainers to perform there.
BTS became a sensation in Saudi Arabia, where they were the first foreign group to hold a “solo stadium show.” The group also won three prizes in the 2019 American Music Awards.
#3 Vote-rigging scandal
Mnet's “Produce 101” series is a music audition program that purported to operate on the concept of “viewers as producers” as viewers were encouraged to vote for their favorite contestants from various management agencies.
Main producer Ahn Joon-young and chief producer Kim Yong-beom were arrested for manipulating the votes of the final stage, which overturned the fates of 11 winning contestants.
Ahn admitted to vote-rigging, saying he manipulated the votes in seasons 3 and 4, and the votes of one member from season 2. He was also bribed by three management agencies in return for manipulating vote results.
The vote-rigging outraged groups who formed through relations built over the course of the show's filming. Iz*One and X1, groups from season three and four, canceled their schedules after the scandal broke.
Offical photo of Super M/ Courtesy of SM Entertainment
#4 K-pop singers high in demand in US shows
The world popularity of BTS has led to love calls for other K-pop idol groups as well. Compared to the past where it was rare for K-pop groups to have a chance to appear on American television, more groups are choosing the U.S. as the main stage to begin their music career.
Super M is a group that launched this year, consisting of the seven most popular members from SM Entertainment groups ―including SHINee, EXO and NCT 127. Super M made it into the Billboard 200 list for five consecutive weeks.
They also appeared on NBC's “The Ellen Show.” K-pop girl group BlackPink also appeared on “The Late Late Show with James Corden.” NCT 127 also appeared on ABC's “Good Morning America” in April.
Big Hit's K-pop group TomorrowXTogether also signed a contract with Republic Records.
#5 Trot music boom
Trot is an old-fashioned music genre which originated from Japanese enka and found its way to Korea during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation. For a long time, trot has been a genre neglected by young people.
With the rise of K-pop, trot had an increasingly weaker foothold in the local music market. Trot musicians in the shadow of K-pop, however, came to be highlighted after TV Chosun's music competition show “Miss Trot.”
Winner Song Ga-in became one of the highest in-demand singers on TV and several other contestants also saw their careers take off, thanks to the popularity of the program.
The success of “Miss Trot” inspired other cable networks to emulate the program. MBN's “Voice Queen” has gained popularity since its first episode aired in November.
Sulli who was a member of K-pop girl group f(x) and an actress, was found dead in her home, Oct. 14./ Korea Times file
#6 Suicide contagion
This year has been no exception with a string of celebrity suicides.
Singer Woo Hye-mi, who appeared on season 2 of music audition program “Voice Korea,” was found dead in her home by her manager on Sept. 21. Sulli, a 25-year-old K-pop star who was formerly a member of K-pop idol group f(x), was also found dead in her home on Oct. 14.
It was known that she was suffering from depression for a long time due to hate comments and public disapproval. Within two months of one another, Sulli's closest friend Goo Ha-ra, a member of idol group KARA, was found dead in her home on Nov. 24.
#7 Yoo Seung-jun gets closer to coming home
Korean American singer Yoo Seung-jun got a green light to visit Korea again. The Supreme Court ruled on Nov. 15 that “it is against the law to decline issuing a visa for Yoo.”
Yoo debuted in 1997 and became one of the most popular dance singers of his time. But his career hit a long slump after he renounced his Korean nationality in favor of U.S. citizenship and he flip-flopped on his position about mandatory military service.
Initially he said he would join the army in 2002 but with the cancellation of his Korean citizenship, he was no longer under obligation to do so. This came with an enormous backlash from the Korean public resulting in him being banned from entering Korea.
In 2015, Yoo filed a suit against the Korean government after the Korean consulate general in the U.S. rejected his request for an F-4 visa which is given to ethnic Koreans with foreign citizenship.
The ruling comes four months after the Supreme Court sent the case back to the High Court overturning previous rulings that approved the immigration authority's refusal to issue Yoo a visa.
#8 Musical diversity
The strangely named “ballad” genre has a stronger presence on music charts than in previous years.
According to Gaon Music Chart, 47 out of 100 top songs list this year were ballads, which is rare as music charts used to be dominated by pop music. But this doesn't mean a decline for pop music. British singer-songwriter Anne-Marie's “2002” topped the digital music chart on Gaon.
The second place went to Lim Jae-hyun's “If There Was Practice in Love,” third to Kassy's “The Day Was Beautiful,” followed by Paul Kim's “Every Day, Every Moment,” and M.C. the Max's “After You've Gone.”
However, some ballad singers are accused of illegally manipulated streaming charts with the aid of brokers. This led to questions regarding the credibility of online music charts.
#9 Career revival for Kim Gun-mo cut short
Running toward the end of the year broke Kim Kun-mo's assault scandal including rape. Kim was one of the most popular dance singers in Korea during the 1990s.
He rose to stardom in 1995 when he released his third album “Wrongful Fate,” which sold 286 million copies. He again came before the public with a television reality show on SBS, and he recently was engaged to pianist Jang Ji-yeon.
However, a woman accused Kim of raping her three years ago. The accusation was made via the YouTube channel, “Garo Sero Institute.” Another accusation arose that Kim assaulted a manger. Kim denied the scandal and said he filed a countersuit against his accuser.
Indie group Jannabi pose after winning "Top 10" Melon Music Award 2019, Nov. 30. / Courtesy of Kakao
#10 Indie musicians show strength in K-pop mainstream
Compared to previous years, more indie musicians appeared in the mainstream. The main runners are Jannabi, Car, the Garden and Jung Jae-won, also known as Juck Jae.
Especially Jannabi's “For Lovers Who Hesitate” has become one of the most loved songs this year, still appearing in the music streaming chart, eight months after it was first released.
Singer-songwriter Car, the Garden earned popularity through television program “The Fan” and “Hidden Singer” on MBC, and released its second album on Oct. 23. Jung also showed up on “Hidden Singer,” “Immortal Songs” and JTBC's “Begin Again” season three.
Although Jannabi lost a member, the group showed clear success this year with their sold-out Seoul concert held in a medium-sized concert hall on two consecutive days. The group also won a “Top 10” award at the Melon Music Award 2019.