"Kpop agencies sometimes invite journalists to their artists' special events(concert, music video recording, etc) held in foreign countries. For example, I've been to 2PM and SHINee's Tokyo Dome concerts, TVXQ's concert in Yokohama, JYJ Junsu's concert in Bangkok, Thailand, and more. Whenever I visited foreign countries to cover kpop stars' events, all the costs for it including airfare and hotel bill were covered by their agencies. In this way, the agencies maintain a close relationship with journalists.(Of course, those agencies which are financially incompetent can't do this thing)"
This time, Kim Kwang Soo, the chief executive of MBK entertainment(Core Contents Media), invited journalists to Hong Kong. By doing this, he wanted to become close with the journalists. Well, he is at a very important juncture now because T-ara will release its new album on August 4, while his new girl group DIA will make a debut soon. In Hong Kong, DIA filmed its music video.
Anyway, Kim Kwang Soo had a talk with journalists about T-ara and DIA. Let's see what he talked about.
Q. Tell me about your new girl group DIA.
KKS: Each member of DIA was trained in different kpop agencies, but I could see they had potential. They was like a ugly duckling, but I'm sure they'll face a different future. Those who have stories can achieve success.
Q. What advice did you give to the DIA members?
KKS: I tell them to differentiate themselves from T-ara. It's heart-breaking, but that is the brutal reality. I think DIA will be able to overcome difficulties.
Q. Did the T-ara members give advice to DIA too?
KKS: Yeah, about 3 weeks ago, T-ara performed its new song in front of DIA and had a talk with them for about 3 hours. The T-ara members said "We had many hit songs and were loved by so many people. But you know what? People who loved us just walked away from us all of a sudden." And added, "We could endure the hard times because we didn't do anything wrong."
Q. Many people are still talking about T-ara's bullying incident.
KKS: There are many things that have been distorted. As all the things about the incident are not true, the T-ara members could have been active as entertainers even after the incident. I hope the world will know it someday. I think T-ara is doing good and I don't want to hurt them.
Q. There is a concern that DIA will suffer from malicious comments because it is younger sister girl group of T-ara.
KKS: Yeah, the T-ara members are worried about it too. So T-ara told 3 things to DIA. 1. Do not use SNS. 2. Do not become friend with other idol group's member rashly. 3. Bow to anybody very politely. I hope people will not look at DIA's background.
Q. What do you want to achieve through DIA's debut?
KKS: It's true that I have had a hard time of it due to T-ara's incident. However, I want to prove that my decision wasn't wrong. I a manager-turned-producer. I don't want to be defeated by Yang Hyun Suk and Park Jin Young who are singer-turned-producers. Some might say I've had my day but I hope to make another strong comeback.
