Companies aren't the #1 guilty of abuse of underage idols.....

  • AllKill VIP

    i'm not saying companies are completely innocent cuz they could modify their way of working to make it more friendly for underage idols


    but i think we too often forget that there's some people who interact in this contractual relationship before the companies

    and that i never see people ask them to take responsability for their ineffeciency to protect underage people and i'm talking about ...


    UNDERAGE IDOLS PARENTS

    too often people are out here saying " look this company is taking advantage of an underage kid"

    but CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE PARENTS ???????

    I made some research before making this thread and that's what i found about the legal capacity of minors in south korea (based on chatgpt)


    Quote
    Article 5 (Legal Capacity of Minors): A minor shall obtain the consent of his/her legal representative to perform any juristic act. A juristic act performed by a minor without such consent may be annulled by the minor or his/her legal representative

    So basically an underage kid can't become an idol without the consent of their parents and their parents signing the contract for them cuz they are their legal representative


    So why people never ask parents to take responsability for the mistreatment that their kids are suffering


    Maybe in the 2000's the excuse of " their parents probably signed the contract without having an idea of what was happening behind the scene"

    And i get it, it was a valid argument around 2000-2010 but now it's not a valid argument anymore


    We have social media that expose the idol industry

    tons of documentaries all around the world talking about the dark side of Kpop

    We had very mediatic legal between between idols and companies, where idols exposed the mistreatment they suffer (ex : SM vs JYJ)

    we had ex idols talking about the way they were treated by their ex companies ( ex : sera from 9muses, Stellar...)

    We had very mediatic controversy about bullying between group members ( ex : T-ara, April, AOA..)


    So parents can no longer say that they had no idea about what was happening behind the scene with all the info and news we have about this subject


    and yet these parents keep signing these contract and i never see any kpop fans blame these idols parents for their ineffeciency to protect their kids, which is the #1 duty of a parent


    if i had to make a comparison if companies are lucifer

    and the kids are the sacrifice

    then these kids parents, are cult worshipper who offer these kids as an offering to get sacrifice


    We all keep complaning about how companies mistreat underage idols, how companies are debuting younger and younger idols and stripping them away from having a normal childhood and a normal educational background

    but if you think carefully none of these things would be able to happen if their parents weren't bounding these kids life to a company


    if these parents weren't making careless decision of signing a lifelong contract for their kids, without thinking about the repercussion of this contract on their kids life


    Underage idols would completely disappear from the landscape of Kpop if these parents were taking their job seriously and yet i never see people blame them for what's happening to all these kids, and never ask them to take responsability


    IT'S TIME TO HOLD THEIR PARENTS ACCOUNTABLE !!!!!!

  • AllKill VIP
  • AllKill VIP
  • AllKill VIP
    Quote from DaisyTheGenuine

    Trusting someone to care for your child does not give you the right to misuse and abuse them.

    i agree

    but if you are "trusting" a company to care for your child with how much these industry is know to treat idols in general and underage idols


    then in my opinion you clearly not deserve the title of parent


    you know how these companies work

    you are turning a blind eye about it, and decide to legally bound your kids to them


    it's in my opinion child abuse

  • AllKill VIP
    Quote from SooYoung

    i agree

    but if you are "trusting" a company to care for your child with how much these industry is know to treat idols in general and underage idols


    then in my opinion you clearly not deserve the title of parent

    Added this

    Quote from DaisyTheGenuine

    Most "exposing the dark side of kpop" comes from nugu idols in no-name companies, it's normal to expect a bigger company to be better

  • AllKill VIP
    Quote from bartkun

    parents + companies + Korean law


    that's it.

    THIS

    but we always complain about companies and law being fked up

    while always ignoring the fact that behind this there are Adults offering their kids consciously to be "abuse" by these companies


    and honestly i thought about this with the NJ case


    and seeing so many tokkies hyping their parents for the work they are doing to help their kids

    while completely ignoring that the main reason why these kids are legally bound to this company is because of their own fault

  • AllKill VIP
    Quote from DaisyTheGenuine

    Most "exposing the dark side of kpop" comes from nugu idols in no-name companies, it's normal to expect a bigger company to be better

    I disagree

    the JYJ vs SM legal battle was on everybody mouth, and parents of underage idols were their age when these things happen so they know how big it was


    we saw the Exo vs SM


    the AOA or even Tara bullying made a lot of noises

    the Burning sun scandal


    saying it's from "nugu companies" is wrong, big companies have also had their fair share of big controversy exposing how dark it was behind the scene

    I totally agree that families should also be held responsible, not just the companies. Honestly, I don’t think any company even the big ones is completely free of problems like bullying and mistreatment. Like you said, it’s hard to believe that families don’t know how these companies treat idols. Still, I feel like the reason why so many idols start so young has a lot to do with Korean society itself, which is already super tough and competitive, both at work and in daily life.Of course, it’s never okay to exploit kids in the entertainment industry but I also think the society they live in plays a big part in why this keeps happening.

  • AllKill VIP
    Quote from SooYoung

    the JYJ vs SM legal battle was on everybody mouth, and parents of underage idols were their age when these things happen so they know how big it was

    1. JYJ was reflective of an industry wide lack of standards that lead to contract reforms across the board. That actually makes the industry seem more reliable


    Quote from SooYoung

    the AOA or even Tara bullying made a lot of noises

    Has nothing to do with kpop companies, South Korea seems to be bully central, students, teachers, office workers, actors, hell even weather people get bullied


    Quote from SooYoung

    the Burning sun scandal

    Involves a kpop idol and CEO, not exactly a kpop issue.

    Quote from SooYoung

    saying it's from "nugu companies" is wrong, big companies have also had their fair share of big controversy exposing how dark it was behind the scene

    Idols from larger companies are pretty mild when opening up about how difficult things were as a trainee and isolation does seem to be the method they go with for kids. I think the only truly negative account we've gotten from Big4 idols were Amber (irrelevant in Korea and speaking to foreign media) and somewhat NewJeans.


    The only company that I'd really side eye parents for sending their kids to rn is YG, because they have proven misconduct towards trainees.


    The main problem is always going to be companies that take advantage of the system

    I think there should be better laws to protect underage idols. For example, there shouldn't be a 7 year contract for underage idol. I would prefer no 7 year contract for any idol, but in no world should an underage be bound to that contract. There should be something called a youth contract with a lower maximum year. Then give the idol the option to renegotiate contract when they're classified as an adult.


    They also need to make sure idols are getting proper education. There's too many stories about idols dropping out of school and that shouldn't be a thing. Most trainees don't make it and they should at least have a high school education in case things go south.

  • AllKill VIP

    sometimes parents work other way around tho

    just sayin in that case where each kid got near 4M USD for a year of work yet parents didn't took into consideration different actions but went straight away against company

    Spill


    If parents didn't allow their child to sign in the first place we wouldn't have underage idols even if the companies wanted them


    It's not about abuse because abuse happens in Kpop companies and it happens to us as well as regular workers.


    We are often at the abuse of our own companies that provide salaries to the regular folk


    But if kids aren't given the permission to work and expecially in exploitative environments in the first place we wouldn't have this issue

    I don’t think normal people can become idols nor make their children idols. There is zero ethical ways to have children in show business as a whole.


    Everyone including the fans merely participate in this very obvious abuse of power because it’s normalized. That’s all there is to it.

    Quote from DaisyTheGenuine

    Most "exposing the dark side of kpop" comes from nugu idols in no-name companies, it's normal to expect a bigger company to be better

    No the bigger companies can just hide it better.


    That said the parents are definitely the first ones at fault.


    PS: Anyone expecting a company to operate on some standard of morals not guaranteed by the law needs to go outside more. Idols are products first people second.

  • AllKill VIP

    What’s the point of talking about the parents? People bash the agency because fans’ complaints affect the agency’s brand which forces them to treat the artists better even if the effect is so little.

    What does Kpop fans complaining about the parents going to do?

    Essentially what you said still means the companies are at fault (even if the parents are wrong too). We know that if any kid dreams to be an artist, they have to sign to an agency. You could say ideally the parents could persuade their kids to wait until they’re old enough but again most agencies want them young and dismiss older artists. So it’s again, the companies’ fault.

    I've said it before and I'll say it again


    we know what the companies are like and what the law says therefore anybody who wishes to enter kpop as a trainee, debutee, idol show understand the industry that they are getting themselves in...


    I have two young sons and I'll be damned if I let any of them get into kpop - I would move heaven and earth to prevent them from joining a kpop company however that doesn't mean everyone is like me - maybe other kids really really like kpop and want to get into it and in which case it's up to the parents to protect their kids with thorough analysis of the contract (with LAWYERS/accountants/etc etc) and keeping a constant tab on them

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