Is Korea relevant to KPop ? No more.

BTS' forced military service will probably make a lot of companies change their focuses.

I have advocated KPop saying goodbye to K-O-R-E-A for quite a while, and it is likely that companies will develop more local acts in other countries in KPop style, never letting them set foot in Korea again and if they see any trainees like GDragon who might have talents, they will move such talents away from Korea before debut, get a citizenship or so from another country, and will operate them as someone belonging to another country.

With Korea's declining populatRhion, it is no longer viable to use Korea as a base. These acts might visit Korea to get training and so but they can choose to debut in some other country and keep out of Korea's hand.

The K-O-R-E-A-N men brought this to themselves. There will be KPop idols in the future, but they won't be 'Korean' anymore. (Female idols are another issue, but most of the bigger girl groups depend on foreign members anyways. Gidle already has a foreign majority. That will be the trend.)

If Korea treats KPop acts like shit, companies will vote with their feet. In time there will be 'KPop' idols who never really saw K-O-R-E-A but that has to be accepted.

Quote from emanresu

Kpop cannot exist without Korea.

It's become much more international focused, and specifically expanded outside Asia.

But it can never be unmoored from Korea.

It is part and parcel with the entire thrust of Hallyu.

Korea is intrinsic to its being.

The zeitgeist and its focal point on Korea Proper may wax and wane. (We're perhaps in a waning at the moment.)

But the untethering of that link would be definition be it's destruction.

It would be kpop no more. An empty ship at sea.

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Or, transforming into something else. Someone will name it, like Meta-KPop.

Very few Korean composers are used and the Korean lyricists just add some icing on the cake in songs mostly sung in English. Otherwise, the best lyricist of Korean Pop, whose face graces the left of this post, will have more demand just on lyrics but except for a few vocalists few KPop company asked her to give lyrics since her lyrics, mostly conveying Korean ethos, are largely useless in the world setting.

Quote from Zicofan000

Lol what are you talking about, each and every idol will kill to be relevant in Korea regardless of their international popularity. Korea is imp for kpop.

Not any more with declining population and older people leaning toward trot. There will be fewer and fewer younger pop in Korea to support Kpop for too long

Quote from Ves

So the K is silent now like in "KNOPE"

Why not? It can be silent, like the "Knock" in "Whyknock", which is pronounced as "Why-nock".

Quote from DMV2DMZ

I think it is, but savvy agencies don't have to depend as much on a SK-audience for profit.

Yes the game has changed.

Boy groups have a lot lower digital points in Korea. In other words they have mostly given up Korean audience and rely on foreign fans.

Girl Groups have some way to go, but the transformation has already occurred

Quote from 134340Moonchild

Kpop is most relevant to SK. That doesn’t mean that a Global act can’t come from SK. A global act doesn’t need SK. If they dominate in most of the top ten music markets in the world then SK becomes irrelevant. BTS is the only Korean act in history that has a chance at this. SK seems determined to sabotage that though so we will see what happens after enlistment.

For all the SK Incels: Let me put it this way. SK has a chance to have their own Cristiano Reynaldo but it’s more important to send him into the military just as he was peaking.

That's why Korea will be largely abandoned by the henceforth KPop companies, who will use their formula to develop other stars like JYP in Japan developing NiziU.

Quote from selfmate

I will never say korea is irrelevant to kpop it will always be relevant even as acts veer more and more international since that's where the money lies...

As K-O-R-E-A's younger pop declines, it will become less relevant every year

Quote from BubblePug-Pop

You realize this is the doing of your lord and savior IU, right? You've long prophesied that she would destroy Korea and now the day is upon us! Melon charts will be useless. Naver will sink to the bottomless pits of the darkweb. Kakao will be bought out by Weibo. Offer IU a tribute of many more allkills and perhaps some of us will be saved!

She gave some people of Korea the false impression that Korea does not need KPop.

Melon Charts are now the hunting grounds of girl groups, the boy groups given up on it

Which means allkills will become meaningless as well.