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Pros & Cons of Youth in K-Pop

Young idols can connect easily with and relate to a younger audience, but does this interfere with their connection with an older audience? Do international and Korean perspectives differ?

Pros

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  • The youth of K-pop idols can give younger fans a role model to look up to and someone they relate to more, compared to older idols in the industry

    • If young people witness idols closer to their age being confident and living out their dreams, they may be more likely to be more motivated/confident and believe they are capable of achieving their own dream​s

  • While not necessarily directly related to their youth, NewJeans's fame and refreshing youthful concept has reached even those who do not already listen to K-pop

    • This has likely reached young fans at a wide reach, broadening their ability to act as role models and inspirations for youth across the globe

Cons

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  • Problems of young celebrities are not novel or uncommon to the Western entertainment industry

  • In the K-pop industry specifically, young idols are put through strenuous schedules, extreme criticism and attention from the general public, and many restrictions (appearance, diets, dating, maintaining a positive public image)

  • Furthermore, young idols are subjected to the parasocial relationships created in fandom culture

    • These parasocial relationships can come from fans much older than them and, depending on the context, can involve inappropriate context

Korean Perspective

  • In the first photo, there are the top 10 forum comments (translated from Korean to English) on a post about the controversy regarding the lyrics to NewJeans's song "Cookie"

    • The controversy concerned how the lyrics sounded in English to international listeners, believed to be incorporating inappropriate innuendos​

    • Korean netizens seemed to agree that the lyrics, especially in English and in a Western context, were strange for such young idols

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  • In the second photo, there are the top 10 forum comments (translated from Korean to English) on a post of ADOR's response to the "Cookie" lyric controversy

    • ​ADOR explained how the song had no intentions of having innuendos, and the company ensured that the minors of NewJeans are protected and are not being sexualized by the company​
      • ADOR also pointed out how NewJeans is not the only group with quite young members
    • The forum comments show another side of the Korean perspective, claiming that Koreans would not have known the Western context/slang and the song was made without bad intentions so it should not be considered problematic​
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