Kpop Behind | All the Stories Behind Kpop Stars

T-ara is coming back. The girl group will release its new song "What's My Name" on June 14. By the way, you know, a lot of things happened to T-ara during its hiatus. On March 16, 2017, MBK Entertainment, home to T-ara announced that the girl group members' contract with the agency will expire in May and their new album to be released in the month will be T-ara's last album as a 6-member group. But, things didn't go as planned, and Boram and Soyeon left the team even before the album is released. Qri, Eunjung, Hyomin and Jiyeon had to prepare for their comeback as a 4-member group, and their album to be released soon will be their first ever album since Boram and Soyeon left them. And before Boram and Soyeon left T-ara, there was another incident. On February 9, 2017, a controversy over T-ara's bullying problem has been re-ignited due to ex-staff member's disclosure. The staff member posted a long piece of writing on the Internet, stating, ...

On March 16, 2017, MBK Entertainment, home to T-ara announced that the girl group members' contract with the agency will expire in May and their new album to be released in the month will be T-ara's last album as a 6-member group. The 6 members will be still active as members of T-ara till the end of June, but according to MBK, they'll discuss about their future after then. Some of people in the k-pop world are insisting that Kim Kwang Soo is now playing the media, saying "There is no problem between T-ara and MBK, and what Kim Kwang Soo wants is to receive much attention from the public before T-ara's comeback." According to them, MBK will do a flip-flop on the issue and the T-ara members will be active as a team as if nothing ever happened. But, let's accept MBK's announcement as true, anyway. Actually, it is uncommon for k-pop idol group and its agency to announce that they'll release their last album just before their comeback, which mea...

On February 9, 2017, a controversy over T-ara's bullying problem has been re-ignited due to ex-staff member's disclosure. The staff member posted a long piece of writing on the Internet, stating, "I watched Hwayoung and Hyoyoung crying on tvN's Taxi. Hwayoung said she didn't know about social life and the bullying incident was no big deal. Well, I can understand she acts like a victim. However, I can't stand her pretending to be so generous." Well, the posting is very long, so let's summarize it. 1. In 2012, Hwayoung didn't come on the stage of T-ara's concert held in Tokyo due to her wounded leg. However, the doctor said she's fine and she pretended to be sick. That's why the other members got angry at her. 2. After the T-ara members blamed Hwayoung on their SNS, Hyoyoung, sister of Hwayoung, threatened former T-ara member Areum, saying "You need to get hit. See you at Music Bank. I'll scratch your face so that you ca...

1. Financial Difficulty of Their Companies It costs a fabulous sum of money for k-pop agencies to produce idol groups. The agencies usually invest hundreds of millions of won into training idols and have to retrieve the investment after their idols' debut. However, only a few of the idols win success and make actual profits. Many of idols suffer from the hardships of life because they do not have steady income. If an idol group can't make profits for years and its agency can't retrieve its investment, the group has to be disbanded, of course. So, before their groups are disbanded, some of the idols make their minds to leave the groups. 2. Over-Bearing Intervention of Their Parents Most of k-pop idols are in their late teens or early 20s, which means they're not old enough and still need to be looked after by their parents. However, some of idols' parents are too enthusiastic about their sons and daughters' careers. And their over-bearing intervention ...

"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 ...

Consistent Public Criticism Toward T-ara T-ara's bullying problem has surfaced in 2012. The girl group's former member Hwayoung didn't come on the stage of T-ara's concert in Tokyo due to her wounded leg, while the other members began to blame her through their SNS accounts. Eventually, as you know, Hwayoung was kicked out of T-ara and made a contract with her new agency. After the incident, T-ara became the focus of public censure because it seemed that the members bullied Hwayoung. There was nobody who would take T-ara's side, while more than 300,000 people joined the website 'Ti Jin Yo'.(Short for T-ara aege Jinsileul Yoguhamnida, which means "We ask T-ara for the truth of the incident") It has been years since the incident occurred, but there still is a fierce public criticism toward T-ara. On April 28 2015, T-ara's Eunjung appeared on Mnet's '4Show' and stated, crying, "Things have been misunderstood by the pub...

On February 3, Miss A's Jia had her birthday party with friends. Of course, Miss A's Min and Fei attended the party too, but Suzy was not there. Well, because of this, doubts have been raised concerning relationships among the Miss A members. Some netizens insist that the three members are leaving Suzy out in the cold. They look so happy. But, as you can see, Suzy didn't attend Jia's birthday party. Some insist that the Miss A members treat Suzy as an outcast. The photo was taken at the shooting of 2015 Idol Athletic Championship. Plus, the members did not follow Suzy's instagram account. So, what do you think? Do you think Suzy is being bullied now? "As you know, Suzy is the most popular Miss A member. As an actress and CF model, she has been hogging the limelight, which can rouse the other members' jealousy. Actually, in 2012, when Suzy came into the spotlight as a promising young actress, she wanted to release her solo album.(It doesn...

The Kpop girl group members show perfect harmony on the stage. However, behind the scenes, they also are oridinary girls, and there sometimes is a conflict among them. In the meantime, certain girl group member can be treated as an outcast. Actually, I've heard that a famous Kpop girl group has been devided into several teams because of their internal conflicts. As T-ara's teamwork was embroiled in controversy, Kpop girl group's bullying problem has surfaced. Member Hwayoung eventually has been kicked out of the team. As T-ara's teamwork was embroiled in controversy in 2012, Kpop girl group's bullying problem has surfaced. The incident began in July 2012. T-ara's Hwayoung couldn't come on the T-ara's concert stage in Dokyo because of her wounded leg. Right after that, the other members blamed her through their SNS accounts. Eunjung said "It is pitiful. You should think about people around you. That is the 'difference of will'. ...