6 parts and a 20-30 minutes read. A lot of exclusive interviews and behind the scenes information, footage, and pictures of idols.
Part 1: https://original.donga.com/2021/kpop1/en
(All parts are accessible at the bottom of this page)
Part 1 - Children who dream about K-pop
Focuses on young trainees and one male trainee named Jimin at SL Studio, one of many k-pop academies in Korea
Some comments from Tony An (H.O.T.)
Part 2 - Road to the Stage
About Songsun of Tri.be's journey to becoming a K-pop idol.
Some additional comments from Shinsadong Tiger (one of Tri.be's main producers) and the mother of Dongwoon (Highlight)
In summary: She was a trainee for about 9 years since 2012, her last year of middle school. She experienced numerous delays or cancellations in her debut, and in September 2020 she had been selected for the debut group, but the debut date was delayed again. Based on that uncertainty and other reasons such as the lack of freedom, she decided to quit the company and give up on debuting as an idol. A month later, she decided to return, and in Feb 2021 she made her debut as Tri.be's main vocalist.
Part 3- Fandom, the engine of K-pop
Analysis of the business and industry
Some comments from Tony An and Mire (Tri.be)
Part 4- Idol in my pocket
Talks about idols' use of social media and fan relationships with idols
Features TFN, follows them during the day of a video call fansign.
Some comments from MLD CEO Lee Hyungjin, MLD Vice President Park Heeyoung, On (TFN), Leo (TFN), TFN fansite and fans
Part 5 - Idol's time table
Follows Tri.be during Rub-A-Dum MV shooting and comeback preparations
Part 6- Learning to fly with broken wings
Focuses on the career and life journey of Jin Taehwa (Battle) (Basically a guy who debuted in the 2nd generation and the group was thought it would be successful but quickly disbanded)
Some comments from Lee Solim (Executive of SL Studio) and Jin Taehwa's mother
Other things I learned from this are that:
Tri.be is a collaboration between UMG (U.S.) and TR Entertainment, UMG helped to invest in them (I don't fully get what this means but basically they have much more backing than I realized)
Likewise, TFN is a "joint collabaration" between MLD and Sony Music
