The suicide of Moon Bin, a member of the popular K-pop boy band Astro, came as a shock to many of his fans and the general public in mid-April. Known for his bright and energetic character, the fact that Moon Bin might have covertly struggled with mental health issues has stirred many people and once again shed light on the chronic issues of the K-pop industry.

“Celebrity suicide” is a recurrent keyword in South Korean news headlines; just by tracing back a few years, we can easily name several famous figures like JONGHYUN and Sulli who have committed suicide. Considering how many people synonymize celebrities’ lives with splendor, this is rather ironic.

Out of countless intertwined origins of these complications, two stand out the most. The first is the trainee system. Many aspiring celebrities start training as early as their elementary school years, and sometimes debut even before they graduate. From a young age, they are exposed to an environment where they are forced to prove their worth in order to continue training, or “survive”, as they reckon. In this process, teenagers train under intense schedules and endure harsh feedback, while watching their colleagues being forced out one by one. Added on is the anxiety that if they fail to debut, they might not have any other career paths. Most trainees give up schooling as they need to devote time to practicing in order to stand out from their competitors, which takes away their opportunity to live a life like most teenagers even once they give up training. With the consequent physical and psychological stress coinciding with the pressure to successfully debut, there is unfortunately no space for them to take a break and look after their mental health. Some established entertainment companies are taking steps to provide psychological care by arranging consultation sessions and relieving training schedules, but these efforts have yet been extended to the majority of youths preparing to enter the entertainment industry.

Another is the toxicity of the industry per se. After debuting, celebrities face public assessment. At times, comments come in the form of constructive criticism, but in most cases, they are unfiltered, degrading attacks on body images, capabilities, and personal character. Even if some of the malicious commenters end up being punished, the mental stress that the celebrities go through cannot be reversed. And no matter how much they were traumatized, celebrities are forced to move on. They have schedules to fulfill, popularity to acquire, and an audience to satisfy. 

In spite of these concerning shadows of the lives of celebrities, their ostensible wealth and fame become a reason for many people to overlook the gravity of the situation. However, celebrities are not free from mental or financial pressure. Many companies require trainees to reimburse the training costs upon debut, which necessitates them to continue working until they start making a profit. Most celebrities, except for the highly reputed few, also do not have a stable source of income.

For the industry to advance in a positive direction, tangible changes to the status quo are more than crucial. Firstly, trainees must be protected legally. Although South Korean law currently requires all companies to sign contracts with the trainees, these are often not adhered to as companies have an upper hand over the trainees who are desperate to get selected. Even when contracts are signed, the terms are often flawed. With a stricter implementation of the current laws, the full rights of trainees will be ensured, allowing them to receive education or sufficient mental health support without feeling burdened or guilty. Moreover, harsher punishments for perpetrators of crimes in online spaces is necessary. Currently, there are no proactive efforts to identify and punish criminals that leave malicious comments online, leaving the job to many fans and companies. The light punishment also encourages some criminals to continue committing the same crime under the protection of brittle legal measures. Without these strengthened and enforced systematically, the entertainment industry will have to bear more losses of talented, innocent individuals. 

For us, celebrities might be no more than rich and popular people we do not know personally. This often ends up in the attention towards them being vain and superficial, unlike the warm attention we would give to those we sincerely care for. This careless attention should no longer be translated to a glamorous popularity, but something that can accumulate to burden and fester celebrities’ mentality. Let us pay a little more consideration, little more care  — save passionate individuals needlessly disheartened.