Kpop Behind | All the Stories Behind Kpop Stars

BTS has renewed their contract with Big Hit Entertainment. It is a 7-year contract, and the 7 handsome members will be with the k-pop agency for 7 more years. You might think it is a matter of course because BTS is doing so great now, and the team has a special bond with Bang Si Hyuk, the CEO of Big Hit Entertainment, who has been giving full support to the no.1 boy group for a long time. However, it's not that simple. Many of k-pop idol groups break up 7 years after their debut, and it is because of their contract issues. Let's see. Years ago, the Fair Trade Commission made it mandatory for k-pop agencies to use the standard form of contract. According to the standard form of contract, the contract year should be less than 7 years, while k-pop idols and agencies should conduct talks about their profit sharing. They share their profits by the ratio of 5 to 5, 4 to 6, 3 to 7, or 2 to 8. It differs from idol to idol and agency to agency. By the way, there are prob...

Sad news for Inspirit. Hoya decided to leave Infinite. On August 30, Woollim Entertainment officially announced that the idol star didn't renew his contract with the agency. You know, INFINITE was signed by Woollim Entertainment in 2010, and its 7-year contract with the agency has been terminated in June. 6 out of 7 INFINITE members have renewed their contracts right after the expiration of the contracts, but, yeah, Hoya decided not to renew his contract after much consideration. Then, what do you think is the reason why Hoya decided to leave Infinite? You know, there seems to be no reason why he should leave the team because Infinite has been enjoying great popularity as one of the most famous k-pop idol groups, and the members and Woollim have been maintaining good relations. Every idol singer feels anxiety about the future because they can't be active as idol singers for all of their lives. They have to retire someday. So, some of idols who are unsure about the...

Girls' Generation's contract with SM Entertainment has recently expired. However, it doesn't mean that the girl group will be disbanded or the members will leave SM. Many of them already renewed their contracts, and the rest of members are discussing with SM about the renewal of their contracts. They've been doing well with SM for the last 10 years, and there is a good chance that they will renew their contracts.

Suzy's contract with JYP Entertainment has expired on March 31, 2017, and the interest of her fans has been collecting around whether or not the top k-pop star will renew her contract. You know, Suzy didn't say a word about the renewal of her contract even though it has been months since her contract ran out, and that's why there have been so many rumors about her decision. But, on August 2, yeah, JYP officially announced that Suzy renewed her contract with the k-pop agency. After Suzy's contract with JYP has expired, some agencies contacted her to sign an exclusive contract with her because, yeah, she is a super star. And Suzy thought seriously of making a contract with one of the agencies, but she refused the proposal eventually. The agency is not big, but Suzy thought the agency can give full support to her and help her grow as a competent solo musician. Suzy also thought about establishing her own agency. According to people close to her, she asked the...

AOA's Choa is leaving the team. On June 30, FNC Entertainment, home to AOA confirmed that the female idol will leave her team, stating "We respect Choa's opinion, and we decided to exclude her from AOA. The AOA members will be busy doing their individual and group activities, so please support them". You know, on June 22, Choa declared she will leave the team by posting a long piece of writing on her SNS. She said "Since debut, I have been feeling like crying but I had to pretend that I'm happy. Such a thing happened again and again, and I found myself becoming ill. Under the agreement with FNC, I decided to leave AOA". <K-pop Secret Vol.4: The Reality of K-pop Idols> K-pop Secret Vol.4 contains stories about the reality of k-pop idols. The author, who has been working as a k-pop journalist since 2010 gives you answers to some questions about the reality of k-pop idols such as “How much do k-pop stars earn?” “Why do k-pop agencies do saja...

AOA's Seolhyun has renewed her contract with FNC Entertainment. According to the officials, the female idol star has recently renewed her contract even though there is still some time left till her contract will expire. Reason why she renewed her contract with FNC so early is because she wanted to protect AOA. You know, AOA has recently encountered crisis situations due to Choa, who declared she will leave the girl group, while it means a lot to FNC that the ace member of the girl group renewed her contract. <K-pop Secret Vol.4: The Reality of K-pop Idols> K-pop Secret Vol.4 contains stories about the reality of k-pop idols. The author, who has been working as a k-pop journalist since 2010 gives you answers to some questions about the reality of k-pop idols such as “How much do k-pop stars earn?” “Why do k-pop agencies do sajaegi?” and “Why do k-pop idols leave their groups?” iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1225055082 Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B...

You know, INFINITE was signed by Woollim Entertainment in 2010, and its 7-year contract with the agency has been terminated in June. By the way, according to the officials, 6 out of 7 INFINITE members have renewed their contracts with Woollim. It doesn't mean the rest one member will leave Woollim, though. The renewal of the contract is under discussion, and they're discussing the details of the contract. Basically, there is a good chance that the member will renew his contract with Woollim because they've been maintaining good relations. And there has been no discord or disharmony among the members. <K-pop Secret Vol.4: The Reality of K-pop Idols> K-pop Secret Vol.4 contains stories about the reality of k-pop idols. The author, who has been working as a k-pop journalist since 2010 gives you answers to some questions about the reality of k-pop idols such as “How much do k-pop stars earn?” “Why do k-pop agencies do sajaegi?” and “Why do k-pop idols leave their ...

Park Ji Hoon, who's currently appearing in "Produce 101 Season 2" has already signed an exclusive contract with his agency. According to Maroo Entertainment, home to the young trainee on June 14, Park Ji Hoon signed an exclusive contract with the agency before "Produce 101 Season 2" began to air in April, 2017. It is unusual for a k-pop agency to make an exclusive contract with its trainee before his or her debut, while it seems like it was an excellent choice for Maroo Entertainment to make an exclusive contract with Park Ji Hoon because he's been gaining great popularity. Park Ji Hoon's contract period is 7 years, and it is expected that he will play an important role in helping the agency grow after finishing his 2-year activity as a member of a 11-member boy group of "Produce 101 Season 2". <K-pop Secret Vol.3: How and with whom Idols Date> K-pop Secret Vol.3 contains all the stories about k-pop idols’ date. The author, who ...

On June 13, Hook Entertainment, home to famous Korean stars such as Lee Seung Gi, Lee Seo Jin and Lee Sun Hee announced that the agency made a contract with Bora, the former member of SISTAR. Check out what the CEO of the agency talked about the contract. I wanted to sign with her, and I made a proposal to her first because I think she has a huge potential. She has cheerful and healthy charm, while she's already proved her competitiveness as a singer while she was active as a member of SISTAR. I think she has a potential as an actress and she has a talent as a TV entertainer too. I'll give full support to her, and we're also planning for her solo album. Please support her. Actually, it was the best choice for Bora to sign with the agency for some reasons. First, Bora wants to be active not only as an actress but also as a singer, and Hook Entertainment is the right agency to give full support to her. You know, Lee Seung Gi belongs to the agency and he's been ...

Infinite's contract with Woollim Entertainment will expire soon. The boy group was signed by Woollim in 2010, and its 7-year contract with the agency will be terminated in June. According to the Woollim official, the renewal of the contract is under discussion. Of course, Woollim wants to renew the contract, but the agency and the Infinite members are discussing the details of the contract. That's one reason why Infinite delayed its comeback which was originally scheduled in May. Basically, there is a good chance that the Infinite members will renew their contracts with Woollim because they've been maintaining good relations. And there has been no discord or disharmony among the members. However, nothing is confirmed, and it's true the members are thinking a lot about their future because it already has been 7 years since their debut and they can't be idols for ever. You know, SISTAR decided to take a fresh start even though the team is still one of the mos...

Suzy's contract with JYP Entertainment has expired on March 31, 2017, and the interest of her fans is collecting around whether or not the top k-pop star will renew her contract. You know, Suzy didn't say a word about the renewal of her contract even through it has been one month since her contract ran out, and that's why there have been so many rumors about her decision. Well, here's what's actually going on with her. After Suzy's contract with JYP has expired, of course, some agencies contacted her to sign an exclusive contract with her because, yeah, she is a super star. And Suzy thought seriously of making a contract with one of the agencies, but she refused the proposal eventually. The agency is not big, but Suzy thought the agency can give full support to her and help her grow as a competent solo musician. (Suzy prefers an agency for musicians to an agency for actors because she hopes to keep on being active as a solo singer) Suzy is also thinkin...

On March 21, JYJ's Kim Junsu(XIA) held his exclusive concert in Thunder Dome in Bangkok, Thailand. At the concert, he performed a total of 15 songs and electrified 3,000 fans by showing high quality performance. The concert was good, while Junsu's live performance was really awesome. The singer showed off his powerful voice and outstanding singing ability. Through the concert, he absolutely proved that his is the most competent kpop idol vocalist.(His power of expression and attractive vibration are overwhelming) Right before holding the concert, he attended a press conference and talked about his new album and career as a singer. Q. Tell me about your new album 'Flower' that was released on March 3. Junsu: It was my first album in a year and 8 months, so I think it has been quite a long time since I released my solo album. I made a determined resolution before releasing it, and I tried to add some new genres to my new album. For example, I referred to mus...

All the k-pop idols should make a contract with k-pop agencies before making a debut. And of course, the idols have to share their profits with the agencies under the terms of contracts. However, the idols and agencies sometimes have dispute over money, and some of them face a messy public legal war too. K-pop idols have to go through rigorous training programs before debut, while it usually takes more than 2 years for the idols to be fully ready for debut. During the training period, k-pop agencies feed them, house them and educate them. The problem is that it’s not free. After debuting, idols should pay it off, and they can have money in their hands only after clearing their debt. By the way, there could be a definite difference of opinion between the idols and agencies in the process. K-pop agencies invest enormous capital in their idols, and what they want is to retrieve their investment as soon as possible. That’s why they sometimes force their idols to work harder. Howe...

In 2014, EXO's Chinese member Kris filed a lawsuit against SM entertainment, insisting that his exclusive contract with the agency should be nullified. And he finally left the agency, while another Chinese EXO member Luhan also filed a lawsuit against SM in the year. And in 2015, Tao decided to leave the agency too. After filing lawsuits, they said “SM didn't respect us at all. SM has treated us like subjects of control and determined our schedules unilaterally. And we had economic difficulties despite much work.” Well, I think many of k-pop fans may consider unfair contract between SM and the Chinese members as the main reason why the idol singers filed lawsuits. You know, it was not the first time that SM’s idol singer filed a lawsuit against the agency. The former TVXQ members Kim Junsu, Park Yoochun and Kim Jaejoong had been in a legal battle with SM for about 3 years, while Hangeng of Super Junior has also filed a lawsuit against SM, insisting that his contract wit...