Kpop Behind | All the Stories Behind Kpop Stars

1. Bang Si Hyuk 2. Lee Soo Man 3. Park Jin Young 4. Yang Hyun Suk 5. Teddy

1. BTS 2. Lee Soo Man 3. Bang Si Hyuk 4. Yang Hyun Suk 5. Wanna One

Comments by SM employees "All flash and no substance. The company is only for its artists" "You can win recognition there. But you don't have enough time to learn there. You have to prove your ability right away" "Big company, but insufficient system" "Working for the biggest kpop company certainly is something to be proud of" "SM's company culture is more conservative than expected" Comments by YG employees "It's worth working for YG. I'm stimulated by lots of things there" "People work so much but they get too little pay" "Self-regulating and active. But Freedom carries responsibility" "There are no advantages except for its cafeteria" "It's like dictatorship. Without the CEO, all the projects could be stopped" Comments by JYP employees "JYP respects its artists. But I'm not sure it respects its employees too...

According to the list that was released by Chaebul.com on January 14, SM Entertainment's Lee Soo Man and JYP Entertainment Park Jin Young enjoyed significant rises in their company stock value over the past year. Lee Soo Man took first place on the list, with his stake in SM currently valued at 155.8 billion won (about 147 million USD). His stock value rose 40.2 percent over the past year. Park Jin Young, who was third on the list saw 172.4 percent increase in the value of his company shares, which are currently worth 73 billion won (about 69 million USD). The reason why Lee Soo Man and Park Jin Young could enjoy significant rises in their company stock value over the past year was basically because the tension between Korea and China has eased off. In 2017, the value in stock assets held by Korea’s entertainment industry leaders has plummeted in the wake of the Chinese government’s response to the US anti-missile system deployment. In the early 2017, Lee Soo Man sa...

Are you an Indonesian? And do you want to become a k-pop idol? Well, here's a good news for you. SM Entertainment, the biggest and the most influential k-pop company is now looking for talented Indonesian trainees. On September 4, Lee Soo Man, the chief producer of SM attended the Indonesia-Korea Cultural Content Forum and delivered the keynote address. Through his speech, he said "Together with Indonesia, we will find out Indonesian stars and make them global stars". You know, it's not the first time that Lee Soo Man has revealed his plan to cast talented Indonesian trainees. He attended the Indonesia-Korea Business Summit last March and said he's planning to launch SM's first ever audition in Indonesia. Then, what do you think is the reason why SM is looking for Indonesian trainees? Basically, k-pop agencies look for foreign trainees because they need to extend their business abroad. South Korea has a population of about 50 million, and the c...

Who do you think is the most influential person in the k-pop world? Who do you think is the best kpop idol group? Well, here's an interesting survey about those questions. Sports Seoul has recently conducted its 32nd anniversary special survey of k-pop agency officials. A total of 32 people who are working for famous k-pop agencies such as SM, YG, JYP, FNC and Starship took part in the survey, and they answered to questions such as "Who is the most influential person in the kpop world?", "Who is the best music producer?", "Who is the best k-pop boy group?", "Who is the best k-pop girl group?", "Who is the best male solo singer?", "Who is the best female solo singer? and "Who is the most promising idol group?". Below are the results of the survey. <K-pop Secret Vol.1: 40 Korean Stars’ Real Personality> K-pop Secret Vol.1 contains stories about the real personality of 40 Korean stars....

SM Entertainment is having its workshop in Jeju Island, while about 900 employees of the company attended the workshop. And a variety of famous SM artists including EXO, Girls' Generation and TVXQ's Yunho also went to Jeju Island to take part in the workshop. By the way, it's notable that SM Entertainment is having its workshop in Korea. You know, the biggest k-pop agency held its workshop last year too, but it was held in Hawaii. Well, actually, there's a story behind it. Jeju island is a major tourist destination for local and international visitors. Especially, a lot of Chinese tourists came to the island. However, The number of Chinese tourists visiting the island has dropped sharply due to ongoing diplomatic tension following Korea’s decision to host United States’ Terminal High Altitude Area Defense(THAAD) system. Since last March, the Chinese government has imposed a travel ban on Chinese tour groups going to Korea as part of an economic retaliation aga...

You know, SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment are the top 2 k-pop agencies. They're very influential in the k-pop world, and they have many popular k-pop idol stars. Then, what do you think is the difference between the two k-pop agencies? Yeah, the most notable difference between them is that SM has many dancing idol groups and YG has many hip hop idols. Basically, yeah, it is because Lee Soo Man and Yang Hyun Suk have different tastes of music. However, actually, there's a story behind it. Who do you think was the first ever singer of SM Entertainment? H.O.T? BoA? No, the answer is Hyun Jin Young. He was the singer with whom Lee Soo Man made a contract for the first time. He was a hip hop singer, and he debuted in 1990. Well, he was on the fast track. He became one of the most popular k-pop singers, and it seemed nothing could stop him. However, he went downhill after being charged with smoking marijuana. He faced much public criticism, and people no longer liked hi...

Both SM and YG Entertainment, the biggest kpop agencies, are listed companies, and they are two of the major targets for Korean securities companies to analyze. Actually, securities analysts sometimes offer more specific and objective reports about management companies than entertainment journalists do because their reports can have a big impact on the stock prices of the companies. So, here's Korean securities company's analysis of SM and YG. The reports were written by an analyst of Samsung Securities in August 2016. SM Entertainment - Temporary weakness in 2Q ● SM Entertainment (SME) on Aug 12 reported a 2Q operating loss of KRW2.4b, missing consensus expectations of a KRW6.1b profit, and while most forecasts factored in an absence of concert sales in Japan, the firm’s subsidiaries posted substantial losses. ● The company should see its earnings rebound from this quarter on the recognition of approximate ticket sales of 530,000 in Japan, mostly from dome conce...

As you already know, SM Entertainment's new boy group NCT will debut within this year. Lee Soo Man, the representative producer of the kpop agency, attended a presentation show that was held last January and revealed his plan about NCT's debut. It is very uncommon that Lee Soo Man makes a public appearance to talk about SM's new boy group, and it means that SM and Lee Soo Man are putting a great effort to NCT's debut. By the way, I heard interesting story about NCT. You know, EXO has been on a roll since its debut in 2012, while SM's other boy groups such as SHINee and Super Junior are still showing off their undiminished power in the world of kpop. However, whenever the SM artists achieve big success in kpop world, people in SM told me, "Our real ace even didn't debut yet." They looked really confident about the "real ace." Well, the "real ace" will debut as a member of NCT. The SM people didn't talk about his name, but...

1. Is the most popular kpop idol group EXO held its exclusive concert in Gocheok Sky Dome on October 10. Well, it is  a monumental event because EXO became the first ever idol group who held a concert in the dome. Gocheok Sky Dome, which was opened on September 15, 2015, is the first dome stadium in Korea, while Seoul City, which led the construction of the baseball dome, needed to show that the dome also can be used as a cultural facility.(There has been a public criticism surrounding the construction of the dome for various reasons) Then, what do you think is the reason for Seoul City's choosing EXO as the first ever performer of Gocheok Sky Dome? Yeah, the group is now the most popular kpop idol group and it is one of the few idol groups who can fill the dome which accommodates more than 20,000 people. 2. Is competent to hold an exclusive concert for 2 hours EXO has been on a roll since the group debuted in 2012. However, some raised a question. "Is EXO really a com...

Stephanie made a comeback as a solo singer. The female singer who debuted as a member of four-member group The Grace in 2005, has started her solo career in 2012 by releasing 'Game' and recently joined hand with Mafia Record, home to DJ KOO and Wassup. Stephanie's new single, 'Prisoner' is her first collaborative work with Mafia Record. On August 11, the sexy female singer held a comeback showcase in Seoul and talked about her new song. Q. You released your new song after a three-year hiatus. How have you been? Stephanie: I've been in school. As you know, I released my solo song 3 years ago, but it was a commercial failure. So I had to think a lot about when I should make a comeback. I met the head of my current agency a year ago. I don't know why he sent a love call to me, but I was so grateful to him. Before receiving a love call from him, I almost gave up any chance to release a new album as a solo singer. Q. You are considered as one of the m...

In 2015, a head to head showdown between the most popular k-pop boy groups set the k-pop world on fire. BIGBANG released its new songs “BANG BANG BANG” and “WE LIKE 2 PARTY” on June 2, while EXO released “LOVE ME RIGHT” just 24 hours later. The battle between BIGBANG and EXO was a matter of pride of the two biggest k-pop agencies, YG Entertainment and SM Entertainment, and the two agencies provided full support to the top class boy groups. By the way, their thoughts about the battle were a little bit different. Let's see what YG and SM were thinking about the head to head showdown between BIGBANG and EXO. The release of “BANG BANG BANG” and “WE LIKE 2 PARTY” was a part of BIGBANG's special comeback project. BIGBANG released “LOSER” and “BAE BAE” on May 1, and the group was scheduled to release single albums every month of the year, which means the release of “BANG BANG BANG” and “WE LIKE 2 PARTY” was an already planned event. BIGBANG and YG were dreaming of making 201...