I was going to prepare a piece on Lee JIeun's 29th/1,343rd birthday, but I decided it is more beneficial to write a piece about KPop's final divergence from Korea to the world.
Last week's Music Bank blatantly shunning Lim Youngwoong in favor of LeSserafim is a big move in my opinion, since it shows the Korean music shows will give up on trottists and other only-for-Korea people who are unlikely to generate too much interest outside of Korea, and only concentrate on acts which are popular.
In 2020 and 2021, because of the worldwide lockdowns, all the KPop acts were stuck in Korea and the domesticists like Lee Jieun and even Lim Youngwoong enjoyed a heyday.
However , given the circus concerning BTS' military service and the unwillingness of the K-O-R-E-A-N domestic population, it seems the companies, after 10 plus years of futility, realized K-O-R-E-A is not a good country to do KPop.
No KPop arenas had been built in the last 30 years and acts are still dependent upon the KSPO, better known as the Gymnastics arena, built in 1986. They wasted all the time renovating the Chamshil Olympic Stadium which will be renovated and out of reach for at least 2 yrs and half, just in time for concerts to resume. The Gochuck and the Sangam Soccer field are not often used as venues because of the local (K-O-R-E-A-N - no foreigners come to Korea to watch Korean baseball or soccer) fans complain.
It is almost undeniable that the Koreans do not deserve Kpop.
I have said repeatedly that Pop in Korea will be like some kind of a minor league. Nobody outside of Brazil watches the Brazilian soccer league, and the Dominican , Mexican and other smaller leagues in Central America are run like something like a minor league for the Major League.
Figures are available for Lee Jieun, who is probably at the pinnacle for what a domesticist can do in K-O-R-E-A. Companies need to grow and even Kakao is trying to develop a major figure not named Lee Jieun to earn money outside of K-O-R-E-A.
KPop is big, DESPITE of what the Koreans think, act and behave to KPop, and the owners probably finally realized the future of KPop is not in Korea but outside so from now on it will be less likely for the company owners to care too much about domestic figures like Melon or in-Korea-album sales. The acts' Korean activities would be mostly for foreign fans, and the ever dwindling domestic fans will probably ask for more K-O-R-E-A-N activities but companies will probably consider it a waste of time.
In short, the divergence of Korea and KPop, something I have advocated for all these years, is finally taking place and the strange situation of considering domesticists in the same leage with internationally big celebrities, like the domesticist Lee JIeun being ranked in the same league with BTS and above BlackPink, aespa, etc will end.
