I'm realizing now I'm probably wrong about Kpop being a representation of asians.

    In Korea, which is where the Kpop industry is located, it’s just koreans. That’s it. Of course, they have foreigners in their country, but there’s not a sense of Asian unity that you see in, for example, Asian-American communities (diaspora)or in other western countries where asians live.


    The reason that companies scout idols who aren’t koreans is because some asians can fit into the Korean beauty standard just as well as Koreans.


    They don’t care about Asian representation. If they did care, they would be scouting Vietnamese, Khmers, Lao, or Malaysian idols, but they don’t because it’s not their intention to represent Asians.


    It's just a pipe dream I have that companies should suddenly scout asians outside of East Asia. We will see nationalities outside the ''Kpop norm'' like we already have with Fatou in BlackSwan, Dita in Secret Number, upcoming Hanbin in Yuehua's Tempest, but not scouting where they come from.

    Honestly OP, I dont know what do you expect?

    Kpop is not some ideology to save the world, They just wanna make money


    They choose Japanese and Chinese trainees bc they bring in MORE MONEY


    If you wanna see Vietnamese or Thai artists, then tone in to their pop scene? They have tons of great artists. Why do you only care about them if they debut in kpop? Just support them in their own native country?

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    Why do they have to represent Asians?

    Representation is something that only minorities who live in diversified societies and countries care about and need to help preserve their identity and culture and lend it visibility and awareness. Representation is meaningless in homogenous societies.

    I do follow Tpop and Vpop, so that's not a issue here for me. It's just that I wished to see some other asian representation in Kpop outside the East-asian sphere. But there are thai Kpop idols at least.

    When people talk about seeing Asian representation in kpop... they are talking about in through the lens of their respective country, not in Korea. South Korea really doesn't seem to care about non-Korean representation in entertainment. But for people who are of Korean descent (or even Chinese/Japanese) living in other countries (like the US)... kpop getting coverage and not being treated as a joke is huge.

    Quote from quark12395

    When people talk about seeing Asian representation in kpop... they are talking about in through the lens of their respective country, not in Korea. South Korea really doesn't seem to care about non-Korean representation in entertainment. But for people who are of Korean descent (or even Chinese/Japanese) living in other countries (like the US)... kpop getting coverage and not being treated as a joke is huge.

    Yeah like do Vietnamese and Thai etc people even WANT representation in korea? And WHY WOULD THEY? why would anyone want representation in a whole different country that has nothing to do with them aside from being part of the same continent?

    This is such a western concept that makes 0 sense in homogenous societies.

    Quote from Uni909

    I do follow Tpop and Vpop, so that's not a issue here for me. It's just that I wished to see some other asian representation in Kpop outside the East-asian sphere. But there are thai Kpop idols at least.

    But that counter productive

    Koreans dont want to be Asian representations

    They want to stand out


    Most asians actually dont want to be lump together

    They want people to recognize their difference

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    Quote from chounim

    Yeah like do Vietnamese and Thai etc people even WANT representation in korea? And WHY WOULD THEY? why would anyone want representation in a whole different country that has nothing to do with them aside from being part of the same continent?

    This is such a western concept that makes 0 sense in homogenous societies.

    It’s another day of kpop forums thinking that Asia is one monolith country instead of a continent of vastly diverse countries (how many times I’ve written that sentence on this forum? I lost count now)


    Why should one country represent a whole continent? Do these other countries even WANT to be represented by Korea ( I don’t think so)


    For pedagogical comparison

    - Thailand is about equally far from Korea, that Sweden is from Iran, do these countries have to represent each other? There is a way larger proportion of Iran immigrants in Sweden than Thai people in Korea, so maybe Sweden should be better at representing Iran?

    - Or countries belonging to the same continent - Does Portugal have to represent Russia since it belong to the same continent?


    Just some thoughts...

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    I think it's more of western fans looking at everything (kpop in this case) through western lenses where representation is a big part of minorities every day life. Sometimes I get the impression some people still think of "Asians" as a minority in kpop's context and that's why they even THINK about representation to begin with and then put pressure on kpop as a supposedly dominant force to achieve that representation. It's kinda hilarious when you think about it, but it's also infinitely sad.

    Quote from chounim

    I think it's more of western fans looking at everything (kpop in this case) through western lenses where representation is a big part of minorities every day life. Sometimes I get the impression some people still think of "Asians" as a minority in kpop's context and that's why they even THINK about representation to begin with and then put pressure on kpop as a supposedly dominant force to achieve that representation. It's kinda hilarious when you think about it, but it's also infinitely sad.

    I think the way most western fans look at kpop and “Asia” is mostly shallow and even prejudice. Which becomes very contradictive when simultaneously getting upset when THEIR faves face racism, while at the same time engaging in the same behavior regarding other East Asian aspects.

    It’s a mix of hillarious, mind-boggling and sad. It’s also a major reason why I’m fading out from this forum expect for some random freaky comments ;-)

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    Quote from chounim

    Yeah like do Vietnamese and Thai etc people even WANT representation in korea? And WHY WOULD THEY? why would anyone want representation in a whole different country that has nothing to do with them aside from being part of the same continent?

    This is such a western concept that makes 0 sense in homogenous societies.

    I don’t see it as representation but like people want to go to successful entertainment industries and bring in more money. Like how Asian comes to America. Those Indians from India or Chinese from China aren’t looking for rep nor do the ppl from those countries but just prolly some pride of making it in a successful industry and ofc money for the artists.


    However it will ofc have the consequence of being rep for the diaspora in a multi cultural country. Which isn’t really relevant for Korea.


    If you want specific Asian rep there are huge ent industries in those respective countries to consume.


    I have a feeling Americans or westerners see kpop as an extension of their own industries and apply those ideals. Which I suppose is the consequence of easy access to entertainment making everything feel much closer.

    Quote from Demon_owl

    I think the way most western fans look at kpop and “Asia” is mostly shallow and even prejudice. Which becomes very contradictive when simultaneously getting upset when THEIR faves face racism, while at the same time engaging in the same behavior regarding other East Asian aspects.

    It’s a mix of hillarious, mind-boggling and sad. It’s also a major reason why I’m fading out from this forum expect for some random freaky comments ;-)


    My eyes have rolled to the back of my head so many times after reading locals on TW lecturing Koreans on how to think and act. The neocolonial entitlement is mindboggling, the way these folks think the rest of the world must revolve around their own sensibilities and ideas of what is right and wrong.


    And with TW Kpop stans specifically, i totally agree. How many times have fans trashed the entire Kpop industry, or called other idols "robots" and "manufactured clones" and all that other racialized language, meanwhile their own faves are LITERAL FREAKING KOREANS AND KPOP IDOLS THEMSELVES ffs.

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    Uni909


    You're getting clowned for this, but I think I get where you're coming from. Your situation is a bit more nuanced since you're an Asian growing up in the West, if I remember correctly. Obviously, you know different Asian cultures vary from each other. You're not some white person who thinks all Asian ethnic groups are one and the same.


    Honestly, it's just unrealistic to expect the K-pop industry to bring in a ton of Southeast Asians unless there's a beneficial reason to. It's also unrealistic to expect them to care much about representation.


    Pan-Asian unity is really just a pipe dream; Asian countries are competing with each other instead of uniting to make some sort of pro-Asian statement. Until things change politically, I don't think we'll see the entertainment industry caring much about that.


    If you want to see great representation of different Asian ethnic groups and cultures, especially Asians who know what it's like to be a minority in the western world, I recommend 88rising. They have their fair share of K-pop crossovers. Jackson Wang, Jae of DAY6, and Chungha, for instance, are some of the associated acts. More recently, they had a phenomenal contribution to the Shang-Chi soundtrack. Loved how they included Asian artists from all over the world, including biracial Asians.

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