The 2023 rise of girl groups has made all other genres mostly irrelevant.
All digimons were slaughtered by New Jeans, Gidle, aespa and IVE.
I believe Jungkook is the only male singer who reached #1 in Hot 100 of Melon, and only the aforementioned four acts had Daily #1s this year.
So, all these vocalists have requested the Singer of Last Resort, the one singer who has never failed to reach #1 in Melon in all of her comebacks, for one last gasp.
The soju brand Chamiseul (true dew) , the largest in Korea, sponsors an event called Isul (dew) Live, which were held in 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023.
Lee Jieun was the top billed act in 2018 because she was the model for that brand back then.
In 2019 Lee Jieun was replaced by Bae Juhyun of Red Velvet, which appeared on the 2019 show.
Fast forward to 2023, There is now a new show in September , featuring such people
Just Jerk (a dance crew), Lee Youngji, Lee Mujin, Melromance,
Younha, Hyorin, Dynamic Duo and Kim Taewoo.
Some of them were hot as recently as last year, but the 4th Gen Revolution simply consumed everyone else, and all of them have been largely swept under the rung now.
And , so, to make the event relevant, they are going to feature the once and present model for the soju brand, the singer lee jieun who was 25 when she first appeared there and is now 1,344 years old (her true age was not revealed until 2019).
It would have been unimaginable for the people named above to appear in a show which has Lee Jieun as a headliner,
In the 2018 show, people like Baek Jiyoung, B1A4, EXID, Haha, Urban Zakapa, Buzz, Kwan Jineon and John Park appeared . All of them were now over the hill by that point of time, and the organizer needed someone with the stature of lee Jieun to make the show relevant.
But in the 2023 lineup, people who would have been headliners in 2021 (which had no shows for obvious reasons) and even 2022 are now guest-starring for the 1,344 years old singer.
Like 2010, when she was the last hope for all music genres in Korea not named KPop, she now stands alone, but this time significantly older than 2010 and facing newer, younger and more energetic opponents.
KPop lived with the Strange Creature for 13 long years. It is a long saga; the Kpop acts had the burden of dealing a singer who was hell bent on destroying them, and they also had the obligation to pay Filial Duty to the Singer who still wants to destroy Kpop because MAMA gave her the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014, making her a Senior Singer, above everyone else who debuted in the 21st century. It doesn't matter whether BoA and BTS got the honorific later ; the first to become the Senior Singer retains the Seniority for life, so IU is Senior to BoA and BTS and virtually everyone else who debuted after 2000.
Why she chose to fight KPop again is not known. Perhaps she realized that the world wanted one more fight from her.
Also I can see the desperation of all these singers, especially Younha and Hyorin who have huge warehouses of beef against the Singer who had traveled to Japan with Lee Jongsuk, having to attend an event where more than half of them would have to come to see the former Owner of Edam Entertainment.
I think this is the beginning of end of all genres not named Kpop in Korea. the nonKpoppers were too strong and stubborn, but the new game which emphasizes Spotify over Melon has made the non Kpoppers untenable.
The nonKpoppers only lasted this long because of one person, who still acts like it is the 20th century. Her encounter with NewJeans should have made her to come to senses that she could not defeat the 4th generation, but it seems she has chosen to go down in flames instead of quietly riding into the sunset.
