CULTURE AND IDEAS

K-POP DOUBLE SUICIDE

the tragic lives of Sulli and Hara and the industry that destroyed them

By Jiyeon Park

A picture of two deaths foretold 

Commercialization of celebrity in the K-pop industryIn 2019, two huge K-Pop stars committed suicide within a month of each other. Sulli was 25, and Hara was 28. They had a lot in common. Both girls began training for their careers around the age of 11 and they made their official debut as K-pop stars around the age of 16. Sulli and Hara were both talented and beautiful which made them receive a great deal of media attention and acclaim from fans. Probably because they had so much in common, the girls became close. This should have been a happy story, the story of two talented girls who trained hard, became friends and grew into superstar performers. For obvious reasons, the opposite is true.

Sulli began her official career at 15 with f(x) at SM Entertainment, which is the biggest entertainment company in Korea. As f(x) became more famous, the attention around Sulli grew as well. When she left f(x) in 2015, there were articles critical of her departure and detailing her relationship with Choiza, a rapper 15 years older than her. f(x) fans subjected her to a barrage of malicious comments that were often of a highly sexual nature. Sulli decided to take a break from the industry but even during this time, there were articles about her Instagram posts with provocative titles and content, such as, ‘Sulli has accidentally exposed her breast during her Instagram Live’, and ‘Underwear controversy during Sulli's trip to Cuba’.

She is pretty, but her brain is empty which limits her attraction
#HER: Sulli's Instagram post about how the public views her

Sulli's Instagram posts on supporting feminism and her daily life

In response to this public harassment, Sulli bravely revealed more of her daily life and beliefs in her Instagram posts. It was as if the attacks freed her to speak her mind: she openly supported culturally sensitive subjects such as feminism and abortion rights. As she became more of an individual, the more people accused her of being an attention seeker. Needless to say, the abuse continued. Hara also made her debut at the young age of 15 with Kara. Kara was not a well-known group before Hara’s entrance, but as soon as she joined the group, Kara emerged as one of the most popular girl groups in Korea. Over the past five years, they’ve had about 30 hit songs -- that’s a large number. By the time Kara’s popularity began to wane, they moved to Japan and hit it big there.

After Kara disbanded, Hara continued her career as a solo artist in Japan and Korea. In September of 2018, an article in the Chosun Ilbo claimed that Hara was physically abusing her boyfriend. It was a media firestorm. A few days later, the truth was revealed. Hara hadn’t abused her boyfriend; rather, she had been assaulted by him. Her boyfriend threatened to release a sex video of her. Hara was attacked in many different forums such as internet articles, mainstream papers, television broadcasts, and even on her Instagram comments. Nonetheless, nobody seemed to care whether the allegations were true or not, which by the way they were not. Even though Hara was a victim, people blamed her for being promiscuous and her public image was tarnished. In an interview with a media outlet after the incident, Hara said, "People often say, 'If you’re too tired, you can quit, you can stop, stop it.' But I can't help it. It's my job."

"Good Night"
Hara's last Instagram post, 2 days before she committed suicide

It’s important to know that these two deaths are not random, but are the product of the K-Pop industry. The industry forces K-pop stars into images created by the media and served to a demanding public. Of course, thanks to those companies and fans, K-pop stars earn money and tremendous popularity. But since many K-pop stars are trained to obey from a very early age, they end up losing themselves. They can't say what they want to say, they can't act the way they want to act, they can’t think the way they think, and they can't do what they want to do. But people don't sympathize with K-pop stars because they see them as products rather than human beings. People believe these celebrities' lives are only about money-making and provocative articles.

K-pop entertainments select young and pretty children and weed them out to get the best-selling product they can. About 100 K-pop groups get showcased every year and less than three groups move on. However, once a group gains popularity, the company is set to make money. This leads the company to promote prettier, skinnier, and younger children while ignoring the fact that children grow up into adults with feelings. They care little about the pain, criticism, and malicious comments the K-pop stars suffer through because to them, they are no different than money-making products. Even after Sulli’s and Hara’s deaths, they continued to be K-Pop products, selling articles with more and more provocative titles.

The industry is alive, but its stars...that's another question

Regardless of this double tragedy, the K-pop industry has continued. The public seemed to respond to Sulli and Hara’s suicidal; however, their interest did not last long. People quickly went over to other K-Pop stars. The companies and the public in the industry only see what is in front of them. Things that grab their attention and things that make more profit are their only interest. What they are ignoring is the fact that K-pop stars are just like them. Which is, indeed, sad.

Nobody wants to be hated, nobody wants to be attacked, and nobody wants to act if they are someone else. K-Pop stars need attention from the public in order to continue with their careers. However, like anybody else, Sulli and Hara just wanted to be loved. The flip side of fame is that people lose themselves. Once a person jumps into the K-pop field, they are forced to act like someone else in order to fulfill the public’s expectations. Even though they would achieve their dream as K-pop stars and become famous, I wonder if it was worth their lives. I don’t think so.

©Jiyeon Park and the CCA Arts Review