where should the line be drawn between good old fashioned hard work and sweatshop business practices? do you think trainees would be better off if their expectations were set from the start that they're basically about to undertake an athletic endeavor wh

Line should be drawn right there in the middle

I think every idol needs to train hard for the job, I mean it's always going to be a physically and mentally demanding job, and if your company doesn't train you good enough and they don't tell you before hand how HARD it is, and then you debut, it's going to be rough for you!

just like professional sports, idol life is not for everyone. Requires hard work and dedication. If you can't handle it, seek employment elsewhere.

Careers constantly in the spotlight and public eye are naturally not for everyone, which is why it's such a demanding career. When you're an idol, you constantly have to stay out of scandals, you can't openly voice opinions often, and so much hard work and dedication go into actually becoming a K-pop idol. There might be certain standards that idols have to meet. I'm against idols getting harmed or neglected by their companies, but their training for the basic idol skills is necessary so they can debut and pay off their hard work.

This aside, K-pop is still quite a messed-up industry; it's gotten a bit better, but there are still some standards placed on idols that are truly disgusting. If you're referring to those standards, then yeah, it's messed up and draining to a whole new extent.

hard work means jack all - lots of people work hard and get nowhere...

sometimes it's luck - other times it's connections or a mirad of other factors...

but maybe some of them really really wanna be singers/artists/dancers etc etc - ie. their dreams

and sometimes it is better to have tried and flopped than to have never tried at all

It's basically what JYPark has been saying and he still follows it...

He's maintained that an Idol should have the diet, exercise and training habits of an Athlete and he does so religiously. He micro-manages his day even to the point of what time he has to take a dump, if I recall it was 10PM

At least on Master of House where he was the main guest :P

If you put in the work to build and polish your skills early, life will be easier later.

imho coercion gets in the way of that.