One response from Umi Defoort in The smartest person in the world caused quite a stir on social media. After a question about BTS, the producer gave more explanation about K-pop, but according to the fans of BTS, and K-pop in general, it was incorrect and stereotyped. This is why they are so angry.
Neither Umi Defoort nor the channel VIER expected that one statement about K-pop would cause such controversy. But after he talked about the “ugly K-pop world” in the quiz, he got a lot of criticism from fans of BTS and K-pop. That criticism even caused FOUR to cut the fragment from the episode.
Umi Defoort
The ball started rolling when Umi was asked if he likes K-pop music. “I actually find the idea behind it very ugly,” said Umi Defoort. “The K-pop industry in Korea is run by three major labels, all of which have schools. All those stars are all trained from the age of 9 or 10, all their lives, to become a star. When they turn 17 they go under the knife, all of them, to be completely rebuilt. ”
This to the surprise of presenter Erik Van Looy. “Are you serious?” He asks. “Yes, all those BTS guests have all attended such a school and are therefore artificially put together and their music is not written by them.” The full conversation lasted barely 31 seconds, but it caused a huge storm among fans of BTS and other K-pop groups.
Stereotiepen over K-pop
Umi’s statements are of course not taken out of thin air. For years, stories have been circulating about the rock-hard K-pop world. But the problem with that is that many of those stories are old and predate the Korean government’s intervention in the industry.
New laws
At the moment there are various laws in South Korea that, among other things, prevent child labor and slave contracts. Thus, the maximum duration of a contract now limited to 7 years. Furthermore, it is stated that the basic rights in the field of rest and sleep, where exceptions can be made for certain projects. Working hours should be limited to 35 hours per week for children under 15, young people between 15 and 18 years old may work a maximum of 40 hours per week.
There are even stricter rules for minors. They are not allowed to work between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless their parents give permission. Finally, the regulation also contains a provision stating that it is prohibited to let minors show up on a stage in sexy outfits.
Start exercising as a nine year old
Umi also said that anyone who wants to make it in K-pop should start training in a “K-pop school” at the age of nine. Indeed, there have been cases of K-pop stars who started training before their tenth birthday. These include the well-known K-pop stars G-Dragon and Jihyo van Twice. But the vast majority of K-pop trainees start training when they are teenagers.
Yes, that is still young, but you can make the analogy with top athletes. Many young children, also in our country, want to make it in a certain sports discipline and go to a special top sports school at an early age to make that dream come true. There they follow, just like the K-pop trainees, regular lessons alternated with sports lessons.
The same phenomenon can also be seen in talent shows like The Voice Kids of Eurosong For Kids, where sometimes children younger than 9 years are put on a stage. Children entering the music world at a young age is therefore not something that only occurs in the K-pop world.
Artificially put together
Umi also refers to the fact that K-pop groups are “artificially put together”. That’s right, but that’s not necessarily a negative aspect. The various agencies have dozens of trainees, looking for the best staffing for a new group. If, after years of training, they find a combination of trainees where they notice that there is a good click and that together they form a strong whole, then that group is put together and they continue training as the group with which they will make their debut later.
This too is something that also occurs in the west. You can compare it to the composition of One Direction that happened in the British version of The X-Factor. Or closer to home, the search for the new girls of K3 through the talent show K3 Searches K3.
Plastic surgery
Another topic Umi referred to was plastic surgery. That is indeed something that happens within K-pop, but certainly not with everyone. It is also important to keep an eye on the context.
Plastic surgery is very common in South Korea. “If you are not satisfied with the way you look, then you just have something done about it,” is the mentality that many people in South Korea have. That’s why South Korea has it highest number of plastic procedures per capita in the world. Furthermore, research shows that of all South Korean women between 19 and 29 more than half have had a cosmetic procedure. But these procedures are also popular with men.
From research by the ministry of science and technology from Taiwan also shows that the South Korean capital, Seoul, has more than 600 plastic surgery clinics. The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery also know that there were more than 650,000 cosmetic procedures in South Korea in 2011, a number that is probably even higher today.
BTS
It was mainly the fans of BTS, the so-called ARMY, which reacted strongly to Umi’s statements. Those fans are always very protective of BTS and they are not just like that. This is because BTS has been the victim of xenophobia several times. This is done on a small scale by, for example, racist remarks, but also on a large scale by excluding them from major award shows.
The fans therefore quickly noticed that Umi’s statements do not apply to BTS. Because the situation of the most popular Korean boy band is very different from the image that Umi created The smartest person in the world.
“Three major labels”
Umi, for example, immediately referred to “the three major labels in K-pop” when hearing BTS. He refers to the three agencies SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment. They were the largest K-pop companies for years and are still known today as’The Big Three‘. BTS is under BigHit Entertainment. An agency that, when BTS started training, was still very small, but through the success of BTS managed to grow into the largest entertainment company in South Korea and now even has a larger turnover than ‘The Big Three‘added together.
This also puts BTS in a privileged position with regard to their contract. It is known that every member of BTS earns a significant portion of the profits from albums, concerts and merchandise. BTS still accounts for 90 percent of Big Hit Entertainment’s profits, making them indispensable to the company, and management knows that too. The most recent example is that each member of BTS received 68,385 shares of their management Big Hit Entertainment as a gift. A gift that made each of them 13 million euros richer. With that $ 13 million gift, the net worth of each member of BTS is now estimated at $ 20 million, or $ 17 million. They have all already invested several million in real estate.
“Training from 9 years”
None of the members of BTS started training when they were 9 years old. The youngest member of BTS, Jung Kook, started training when he was 13. At the time, his dream was to make it in the K-pop world, so he auditioned at various agencies. So it was a well-considered and conscious choice.
The rest of BTS were 15 to 18 years old when they started their training at BigHit.
“Plastic surgery”
Although plastic surgery is very common in South Korea, only one procedure is known for BTS. This concerns leader RM (Kim Nam-joon). He operated in 2018 to his nose through a deviated septum.
At the time he was 24 years old and the procedure was done because he was experiencing breathing problems from the abnormality. At that time RM had also been on stage with BTS for 5 years, so this was not about an intervention to make him more “attractive”.
“Don’t write own songs”
BTS does contribute to the music they release. It is no secret that BTS sometimes enlists the help of Western producers and songwriters, but there is hardly a single song from the group that did not include at least one of the members.
RM, rapper and leader of BTS, has (co) written to more than 160 songs. It is not only about songs from BTS or his own solo songs, but also about the songs of other K-pop groups. Also rapper SUGA has already written (co-written) more than 100 songs. He recently had collaborations with Halsey and MAX himself, where he co-wrote the lyrics twice and was also responsible for the composition. And the third rapper from BTS, j-hope, has already more than 100 writing credits stand on his name.
The rappers of BTS have by far the most influence in making the songs. But the group’s singers, Jin, Jimin, V and Jung Kook, have also contributed to the writing and production of BTS songs.
‘BE’
For BTS ‘album’ BE ‘, which will be released on Friday November 20, 2020, BTS was responsible for more than just writing the songs. They made decisions about the album art, the video clip that came with the title song Life Goes On will hear and shoot the album.
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