'Transitional' woes hit foreign hallyu idols
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Candidates for the audition program “Sixteen” pose at the 63 Square in Seoul, Wednesday. / Courtesy of CJ E&M
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Park Jin-young
By Kim Jae-heun
Park Jin-young, a singer and the founder of JYP Entertainment, has called the ongoing troubles between foreign idol members in K-pop groups and their agencies “trial and error.”
“I think hallyu (Korean wave) is undergoing trial and error in a transition period,” said Park during a press conference held at 63 Square in Seoul, Wednesday.
“S.M. Entertainment and JYP, with several other agencies, will eventually set a fair contract system to prevent such an issue.
“Sharing common value among the group members and their agencies is mandatory to handle the trouble. If they have the same goals to achieve by singing and dancing, the relationship will grow stronger. The entertainment field is all about people, after all.”
S.M. Entertainment, one of the major entertainment companies in Korea, has been in lawsuits with Chinese idol members since December 2009. Han Geng, the former leader of Super Junior-M, filed a suit against S.M. Entertainment over his 13-year contract that he argued was too long and unfair. The Chinese singer alleged that he was forced to run extra schedules in overly restrictive conditions.
Kris Wu and Luhan of S.M. Entertainment’s boy band, Exo, which debuted in December 2011, sued their company in May and October 2014, respectively, for personal issues and alleged that the agency treated them differently from the Korean members. The two left the group but the lawsuits are still under way.
In preparation for the next hallyu, Korean entertainment companies have been casting for idol trainees abroad for a decade. They realized that the one-way promotion of Korean content in other countries would bring an end to the ever-popular Korean wave.
“The word wave from Korean, hallyu, literally is not eternal as it will flow,” Park said. “Like the popularity of American music has weakened in Korea, our music can lose power any time. The only way to prolong hallyu is to share each other’s culture.
“Korea can foster talented star wannabes from overseas with our know-how and share the cultural contents that these musicians will create later when they debut.”
Park is planning a new K-pop girl band called “Twice.” The members will be selected from 16 candidates, with four different nationalities, on an audition program, “Sixteen,” hosted by cable music channel Mnet.
“The purpose of the program is to screen out the candidates,” Park said. “I actually have no idea who will become the final members of the girl band. I am focusing on how each trainee will deal with the situations while competing in singing and dancing.”