Note: This article was originally posted on the first page of news portal sites. However, it suspiciously disappeared from the front page quickly after it was posted.
An Automatic Pardon for Lee Soo Man, the Originator of the European Korean Wave ‘Slave Contract’ [Fiasco]?
2011-06-21
[金土日의 리트윗] And if they buy it just because we export it?…the things that get buried under the hype about European expansion
The Korean Wave is tumultuous. Korean pop culture, which started rapidly spreading abroad in the late 1990s through TV dramas, to this day doesn’t show signs of slowing down. And now, through the Internet, Korean idol singers are even widening their stage all the way to Western Europe. This story was already reported by numerous media outlets, but the fine details were omitted. In any case, in summary, it was reported that even average European consumers were starting to respond to the musical products of the pop music business pioneered and executively directed by Lee Soo Man.
European Hallyu, a different and disorienting reality
The Korean Wave in Europe, for all the spotlight put on it in the 9 o’ clock news, is seen as a special case. ‘Ah, we [Koreans] have really become this admirable’, and this new impression seemed to not only be limited to SM Town but was spreading throughout Korea and even to far corners of the world. The most fitting phrase to describe this situation would be ‘a different and disorienting reality (격세지감(隔世之感)’.
In a way, the response came late. In the sports world, there have always been world-class stars. Kim Yuna, Park Taehwan, obviously Park Jisung, Park Chanho, Nam Hyunhee, Park Seri and others have shone on the world stage one after the other in a way similar to stars. And although the context is somewhat different this can also be said of our film directors like Park Chanwook, Bong Junho, Lee Changdong and Kim Kiduk who are acknowledged as world-class in their profession, renowned and have been central in raising awareness of Korean film, and consequently the pride of all involved in the film industry rose with them. And hey! Even the UN Secretary General is a Korean.
Popular Music that has fallen behind, the stigma of a copycat
Compared [to these other industries] the fuss that is the Korean Wave, in spite of the economic benefits it has brought our country, Korea’s popular music has not been able to give the sincere impression that its value has reached world-class levels up ‘til now. This is because its sphere of influence had not been able to extend beyond Asia, which always felt like an inadequate border. Perhaps this evaluation was coloured by prejudice centred on money, but if one considers the fact that there are countries that are much poorer both economically and culturally than Korea but whose music is known throughout the world it could be said with certainty that our country’s music in comparison to other areas had fallen behind in comparison.
On top of that, for a long time Korean pop music was branded with the stigma of being a ‘copycat’. This reputation came from the fact that almost all our musical genres from trot to rock and hip hop were all musical styles copied from elsewhere, and our history is full of such examples. In any case, wasn’t this a time when everyone was wearing jeans and suits? Instead of re-inventing foreign music in our way to fit with our pop music context we were quickly eager to copy continuously left and right, which consequently made it difficult to avoid plagiarism scandals and shake off the stigma associated with that. A lot of people held idols, dancers, lipsyncers responsible for the proliferation of this kind of knock-off music since they were the representatives and ambassadors for it. In particular, in the heyday of the illegal MP3 downloading controversy, a lot of netizens accused idol music of being, simply put, “rubbish” and, going further, “only the title track is worth paying for and the rest is rubbish”.
Enthusiasm on the mainland, an excessively strange spectacle
In these circumstances, where the very Western societies that had solidified the notion that Kpop was nothing more than a product of plagiarism and knockoffs was all of a sudden enthusiastically forming crowds to listen to Korean pop music…this image was indeed powerful and effective. This was on the scale of a dramatic human documentary story of an elite restaurant owner who had started out as a poor delivery boy. On top of that, the central figure that had brought this about was not a top-quality rocker or true musician but the knockoff-stigma-ridden idol, dancer, lipsyncer. There couldn’t have been a bigger irony.
In addition to the 9 o’ clock news, the majority of the media were singing with one voice in praise and admiration for the Korean Wave in Europe. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t voices both without and outside of Korea raised in criticism, but there voices were made feeble and difficult to hear. In the midst of these developments and in conformity with them, people began to suddenly re-evaluate the idols, dancers, lipsyncers at the centre of the Korean Wave in Europe and change their position with regards to Lee Soo Man, praising him. It appears there are even calls from sincere people to re-evaluate [Lee] as an innovative entrepreneur.
Lee Soo Man in the limelight, a futile generation
However, not everyone deserves a “re-evaluation”. It would be applied to people who, due to the limits of their time, had to make difficult decisions in order to reverse the polluted reputation of their line of work, but after a long time passes it becomes clear that their actions brought about a positive future in the end. In the case of Lee Soo Man, it’s obvious that he was able to reverse the polluted name of Korea’s music industry, but there’s still a long way to go before one can say that what he did was to overcome some dark aspect or that he assumed the role of the bad guy in order to bring about a brighter future. He only assumed the role of the bad guy for his own monetary ambitions and reputation, and the result of that is precisely the 21st century Korean pop music industry structure proliferated through TV and variety programmes and centred around idols, dancers, lipsyncers.
Lee Soo Man is the representative figure of this industry that has solidified the presence of the “slave contract” by taking advantage of adolescents chasing their dreams. Dong Bang Shin Ki, H.O.T and other star-quality groups that he shared joys and sorrows with, he has put through legal conflicts and dirty and painful separation sagas. Even where the law has taken care of the separation, to him there is no such thing as coolly letting go. Mobilising every means that he could mobilize, he has chased them down to annihilate them with methods so low that they are like those of alleyway thugs.
People all over the world are sure to remember his deeds from the past. Such deeds, he perpetrated not once or twice and given their scale in severity they have been special features in the media; people are bound to remember. And so, what is with this sudden forgiving public mood toward him just because he claims to be an important exporting mainstay? This too is an incredible case of “different and disorienting reality.
金土日 동네뮤지션(449PROJECT) media@mediatoday.co.kr
<저작권자(c)미디어오늘(www.mediatoday.co.kr)>
Source: Media Today
Translated by: Jimmie of TheJYJFiles
Shared by: TheJYJFiles + JYJ3
Wow.
No comment.
I guess money does really talk and in this case it’s just said….
I CAN ENSLAVE YOUR CHILDREN S.KOREA BUT AS LONG AS I’M MAKING MONEY PROMOTING CHILD ENSLAVEMENT AND CORRUPT ENT.INDUSTRY TO THE WORLD….
I’M UNTOUCHABLE LIKE A GOD!!!!!
Interesting read, to be sure. So…. it “suspiciously disappeared” from national newsfeeds almost immediately, I hear? Gee…. why doesn’t that surprise me?
hmm.. kind of too complicated.
But I’m happy because our boys finally can get their self out of that horrible SME. Now they can catch their own dreams
Kpop will grow and spread but at the end its a wave. For it to be sustainable there’s needs to be innovation, freedom of creativity, nurturing of talents but right now the whole system is so adamant on being stagnant. Instead of progressing they’re regressing; instead of dealing with the core issues that plague the industry they’re basically making the whole industry rely on unreliable foreign market. To foreigners Kpop is a wave- a phase and as long as its stagnant, people will eventually lose interest and leave. So it makes me wonder, what will happen to the industry when the wave dies down. Do the higher ups ever think about that when they’re so hell bent on not progressing from such an outdated system.
The higher ups over there are fed with bias media play. They don’t know what’s the views are like in international medias.
They need to be real and the media needs to show unbiased news to the general public. Whether the higher ups like it or not reality is eventually going to creep in. But then I guess the higher don’t really care about the sustainability of Kpop but rather the quick cash they generate before it stabilizes or regresses.
I really hope to see artist come out of Korea over Idols.
That wold be the only way I can see this wave surviving.
There are so many talented Idols but they have very little freedom in their music and are continuously produced til they all sound the same.
Hopefully ore idols can get out and once they establish the Korean wave they can make use of their popularity with something with substance.
“Lee Soo Man is the representative figure of this industry that has solidified the presence of the “slave contract” by taking advantage of adolescents chasing their dreams. Dong Bang Shin Ki, H.O.T and other star-quality groups that he shared joys and sorrows with, he has put through legal conflicts and dirty and painful separation sagas. Even where the law has taken care of the separation, to him there is no such thing as coolly letting go. Mobilising every means that he could mobilize, he has chased them down to annihilate them with methods so low that they are like those of alleyway thugs.”
At this precise moment, I’m a speechless witness of the outrageous behaviour of this so called “Father of the Hallyu Wave”.
No wonder this was taken down, sharp words directed to the core, Lee Soo Man without mercy. Well…
in other words…. this kpop wave “takeover” in europe is a damn smokescreen.. probably to take focus away from the slave contract issues. i mean, no doubt kpop has gone a long way since the 90’s… but c’mon, everybody knows what’s going on.
i used to look up to LSM… but when H.O.T. started having these legal issues, all that went out the window. i actually told myself “no way am gonna let myself like any sm artist AGAIN.” actually, i stopped listening to kpop altogether.
but yeah, dbsk sorta happened…. and lo and behold, my heart gets shattered into a million pieces again. it’s worse actually, coz jaechunsu are mad talented. dare i say more than their predecessors. sooo.. it’s more…. painful. sighs.
if we allow such a bully to bring down this trio, it’s like giving the current bigwigs of the kpop industry to act like a cartel and treat singers like…. slaves. and treat us consumers/fans (korean and int’l ones alike) like fools – who’d blindly buy their sh*t just because of slick marketing. do we really want that?
so yeah, jyj…. fighting!!!
edit: “it’s like giving the current bigwigs of the kpop industry [permission] to act like a cartel and treat singers like…. slaves”
@tonidiaz
“oooh sister? lilibaiyu? sorry.. kinda new here. at least in commenting and stuff haha. ^^”
Yep. True sisters under the skin, as well as being Venerable Elders together. Actually, I think I’m BAFfie’s elder too so that makes me a VEE Sister. 🙂
p.s. – I’m glad you’re here. So post! And please feel free to throw in some completely off-the-wall crazy sh*t from time to time. Otherwise, pretty much all you’re gonna get here is me writing to Butterfliesarefree saying “Oh, you’re so right! I completely agree!” And her writing back to me, “OMG! You’re a genius! That is SO true!”
🙂
Venerable Elders. i like the sound of that haha 😀 lol VEE~~
happy to be here… will post comments more frequently. off-the-wall crazy you say? i’m sure i’ll end up posting some soon! well, reading your replies to each other probably won’t be so bad either hahaha~ 😀
@tonidiaz
“if we allow such a bully to bring down this trio, it’s like giving the current bigwigs of the kpop industry to act like a cartel and treat singers like…. slaves.”
Great comment. I agree 100%.
🙂
this.. all in the name of jyj love. hehe. 🙂
@tonidiaz
“if we allow such a bully to bring down this trio, it’s like giving the current bigwigs of the kpop industry to act like a cartel and treat singers like…. slaves. and treat us consumers/fans (korean and int’l ones alike) like fools –”
Ah, but herein lies the reality….WE – THE JYJ FAMILY – WILL NOT LET THIS HAPPEN. This time around, we have what H.O.T. fans pretty much didn’t have, the enormous weapon of social media. Yes, there was the Internet, but there was no Facebok, Twitter, etc.
I can’t speak for EVERY member of this family, but I know myself and a few others will never be inclined to be taken as fools. My momma didn’t raise one. 😉
I see my sister beat me to it. 🙂
oooh sister? lilibaiyu? 😛
sorry.. kinda new here. at least in commenting and stuff haha. ^^
hi!
indeed. the internet today is more powerful that it was years ago. am glad the jyj family is around 🙂
and good to hear that haha!
supporting jyj all the waaaaaaaaaaaay [oh gosh did that just rhyme? LOL]
*than it was
@tonidiaz
I absolutely agree with you~~ It definitely is a huge, pathetic but somehow painfully effective smokescreen for all the skeletons that are inside LSM’s closet~~
“if we allow such a bully to bring down this trio, it’s like giving the current bigwigs of the kpop industry to act like a cartel and treat singers like…. slaves. and treat us consumers/fans (korean and int’l ones alike) like fools – who’d blindly buy their sh*t just because of slick marketing. do we really want that?”
I believe we are not fools to buy their sh*t just because of slick marketing, but how many innocent and ignorant others do??? Sometimes I feel so despair that there are in reality, much much much larger number of naive fools than those who are cool-headed enough to see the truth~
@htwong
sighs… *nods* pathetic, isn’t it?
we probably here won’t fall for such things… yeah, part of me is guessing that it’s quite a significant number. i feel a bit helpless sometimes… offer the ‘naive’ ones some eye-candy and well-executed propaganda and the kpop business malpractices get conveniently swept under the rug.
sdfj;alskjdf;lsakjdflksjdf;ljks;lkfja;lskjdflaskjfda slkfjd…. it can get a bit frustrating. it’s this ignorance that perpetuates the implementation of unjust contracts.
but i can feel it… huge change is coming (albeit slow). we gotta think positive and support the boys. gotta spread the truth about the current situation of kpop~~
I want to send to the writer flowers!!
This Kpop wave, being led by SM entertainment, can’t be expected to continue if they sweep all their dirty laundry under the carpet. Them saying, ‘Oh, we can forgive this company; who has exploited their employees, been called out for it on several occasions, and has flagrant disregard for following the law that demand that they change their ways… ” will not fly internationally. They will be roasted alive. In this day and age, access to info is so easy and anyone can look up and find out about the continuing issues that they are having with their employees. This is not the ‘face’ that Korea wants to put on their precious Hallyu Wave, especially when the ‘face’ isn’t pristine and has multiple fingers pointing at its back.
@cheeto_pin
“…..They will be roasted alive. In this day and age, access to info is so easy and anyone can look up and find out about the continuing issues that they are having with their employees.”
Anyone but those intrepid fact-manglers over at SYC and AllK-Pop, it would seem. lol
Once people get wind of how LSM’s ability as an “innovative entrepreneur” is comprised of press-ganging people into slave contracts and then if they don’t comply to “mobilize every means” possible “to annihilate them with methods so low that they are like those of alleyway thugs.”, they will re-evaluate their stance. My hope is people new to the wave will become informed and won’t fall into blind ignorance about what’s going on behind the scenes.
A+ on the author’s comments, there is NO way this man deserves a re-evaluation. It makes no sense to praise this man when any success he’s gained is at the expense of so many people.
It’s really a shame that this article was suddenly removed, but we all know why. JYJ fighting, justice fighting.
Argh!!! I’m frustrated this article disappered!! Damn all the dark powers working behind LSM!!!
This is how it is in asian entertainment…. sad but true…. or most other entertainment entities.
If you are a bigwig and you are able to push your culture to other places and make it famous, no matter how dirty or rotten you are you will be pardoned on the grounds that you are bringing fame and money to the country…..
Even though in this day and age where the internet is more powerful than ever you will still have the occasional ‘under the rock’ syndrome people. Lemmings who only follow the leader blindly.
Only time and drastic changes will lift the veil of deceit from people’s eyes.
Slowly but surely all the dirty laundry will be aired and this so called ‘Hallyu wave’ will return back into low tide. Unless certain changes are made the impact of Kpop will not last.
A sustainable wave for example is like the Japanese wave. It has innovation and creativity and the artists are usually free to express themselves.
I hope that the K wave will oneday be the same.
@kementari18
“If you are a bigwig and you are able to push your culture to other places and make it famous, no matter how dirty or rotten you are you will be pardoned on the grounds that you are bringing fame and money to the country…..”
Holy crap! Well, not in the U.S.A.! What a horrible thought. I really really hope SK can overcome this stigma, because if true, that’s what it is. A terrible black mark on their prestige and for being taken seriously as an emerging, powerful nation, which by all rights, IT SHOULD BE.
@lilibaiyu
Sad to say, it is true that most asian entertainment entities it is very black.
Almost all higher ups in the company has dealings with the so called undesirables…..
Some owners are even the ‘undesirables’ themselves and the entertainment company is the so called ‘legit’ front that covers their under the table dealings.
This I know because I have family working in the entertainment industry in Hong Kong and China. Things are tightly controlled. And I would be very surprised that South Korea and even Japan does not do this.
I am asian myself and asians are very cunning and ruthless when it comes to cutthroat business.
This I know.
I am very relieved that the boys are away form that company but also I am afraid for them.
This being said, because they are very well known, nothing physically bad will happen to them because they are constantly being watched by fans, so in some degree they are safe. They will have other external pressures that will hinder them and try to make them ‘disappear’ or to make them go over the edge. But with the fans and other people support I don’t see that happening.
Sometimes it isn’t surprising if an employee of a company is a thorn to the company they will suddenly convieniently disappear.
I am glad the dirtiness is being aired and that more and more people are being informed about it. This will make it even harder for the companies to ‘do’ certain things.
@kementari8
I agree with all the things u said…. And that is why I despair~~~ Haiz……..
gosh, this business is a scary business, isn’t it?
well, glad that jyj is constantly on the spotlight and fans are always tracking them.. so no physical harm can be inflicted. BUT it has crossed my mind a couple of times already if JYJ has received any kind of threat from these wretched people. well, maybe they have already… i don’t usually say express this freely, but i do fear for their safety 😦
sighs. these 3 have risked a lot by doing this. i admire them more.
@kementari8
Sad but true…
@kementari18
“I am very relieved that the boys are away form that company but also I am afraid for them.
This being said, because they are very well known, nothing physically bad will happen to them because they are constantly being watched by fans, so in some degree they are safe.”
I think I need to clarify what I said yesterday a bit… I think I said it badly. When I said “not in the U.S.A.” I didn’t mean that there are no crooks in the entertainment business here! Wow! Would THAT ever be wrong. What I meant was that if they are exposed as crooks, our legal system cannot be bought off or bribed as the one in SK seems in danger of appearing to be. But we have a bunch of criminals in the music biz here and we always have.
My family too has spent its life in music in various capacities, so I’ve seen behind the scenes a lot here too. I’ve been sued and I’ve experienced being kept from entering into any new contracts by a record company who came right out and said, “You’ll never work again. We will bury you.” This is why I’m so fascinated with JYJ’s situation. I can relate! I’ve been through something similar myself. And I’ll say this about it–it wasn’t fun.
Nicely phrased!!! A+ and 5 stars!!! Of cuz this article will be taken down if not LSM will sue the company or author for defamation …
I suggest JYJ3 admins to keep the screen cap of that article from the website if not LSM will come and bite your leg…
So, if this man is so bad, and everyone is forgiving him is as if they are saying to him:
here you go, have my child, my sister, my brother and make use of him/her to your heart content. he/she is young and has an ardent dream, and you can mold him/her in anything you want.
I am sad for the idols as much as people say that they are just idols, dancers, lypsingers, no matter what, these young boys and girls work their asses off.
Wow, so this article disappeared already ! O.o Did anyone screened cap it beforehand ? *fingers crossed*
Anyways, we all know how shady Lee Soo Man is, the man even was on the Interpol Wanted List for heck’s sake ! He was investigated for corruption and bribery and was charged for withholding Company funds, stock price manipulation, embezzlement and tax fraud (alonside his fellow Kim Kyeongwook). It is also a well known fact that Lee Soo Man is linked to Chaebol social circle, thanks to the connections he made when he was a student since he graduated from Kyung Bok high school and Seoul National University, from where many graduates are now occupying top-ranking positions in the judicial/legal/political circles etc.
I can’t understand people wo are still trying to defend LSM by saying that all the bad things that happened in SM are Kim Kyeongwook’s fault since LSM isn’t the CEO anymore and blah blah blah. What they forget is that LSM was the one who created the type of unfair contracts SM’s idols are tied to (we all remember the H.O.T., SES and Shinhwa’s controversies as well as the FTTS’s fiasco), and that he still is the main shareholder and the chairman ! If he was really such a “good and caring father” then he would have done something to change the way the company he created himself treat its idols. He has the power and the influence to do so, if he doesn’t, it’s because he doesn’t give a fuck about SM’s idols as long as they earn money for him.
And let’s not forget that JYJ and Hangeng weren’t the first idols from SM to sue the company because of their unfair contracts [remember Yoo Minho (model), Kim Ji Hoon (actor), No Min Woo (a former TRAX member) … ]
So yeah, I can’t understand how people can still root for such a company *SMH* I wish they would open their eyes and realize that the entertainment industry isn’t all rainbows and unicorns and that fame isn’t always enough when you have a family to support and a future to ensure.
And damn, so many years have passed and nothing has changed ! It’s truly discouraging *sighs*