I really don’t want to see that show ever again, and I hope they cancel it forever. People like Sulli and I include myself, no matter how much they may praise us, we only remember the bad things they said about us, and we just ‘‘dwell’’ on the pain of that comment.
If you analyze this well, 7 or less minutes of praise after 50 something minutes of criticism and even other ppl. reading hate comments also, would never make up for the damage it was doing to her already broken soul.
Exactly! Sulli, for instance, started out as a child actress at the of 11. She didn’t know anything else. This was her entire Universe. Sadly, it was also a cold and uncaring Universe that ultimately led to her own demise.
You’re probably right that this show was the last drop to tragedy.
When I saw the show’s banner at first on VIKI I thought it’s a satiric parody but then I read it is about real people and incidents so I never watched it.
Did she die at home by strangulation? It then depends how she did it if it is fake or not.
I know some people in real life who have family/friends that died by that too.
There was once a case with a judge who died by that (it was so odd the judge wanted to do something against foreign youth gang criminals and suddenly she commited suicide in the woods and it was said she was depressive, she also had 2 young kids…)
The question is why should someone kill a K-idol? And if she was killed it’s a different situation (not wanted by herself).
adrianmorales; go to facebook, I put something there, of what we are discussing, my sister even said something!I would have loved to cut & paste, but with this computer, not able to.
In my country this is called child exploitation and abuse. With or without the parents’ consent.
We do have, but they don’t live like inmates in forced labour camps that supposedly train them on how to become K-idols.
Child labour is heavily regulated and even if the parents consent, the law forbits them from passing their parental/guardian rights to agencies or companies, as it is allowed to happen in S.Korea.
The minimum years of obligatory education are 12 and so even the most well known of the child actors or musicians are obliged to attend their school every day and work only if their parents’ consent and only if their parents’ are present, for maximum 4 hours only during their free time, usually on weekends.
Something that is not, as it seems, the case in SK .
I’m not impressed at all that young artists like Sulli and other like her are somehow trapped by their agencies without having alternatives to get employed somewhere else. Neither that they feel isolated by the time that are not allowed to be in contact with their parents and friends, date and even go out without the consent of their agent.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39 NIV)
BEAUTIFUL! just like you are, Adrian Morales. A beautiful soul with a good heart, that I know will help others with their pain through your beautiful short stories and poems. You will be that
beacon of light in their darkness. I will miss you the most from here. Thanks for sharing your work with me. I loved these so much;
By simply gazing at this colourful square, I feel as though I have already been there. On those cobbled stairs, I noticed a cute pair. The lovers were sharing sweet nothings without a single care. The young boy picked up a flower and put it in the girl’s hair. I tried not to stare. Oh, I remember the large fair. Many people had gathered in all the fun to share. The children were running around faster than a mare. I was also among them, enjoying a delicious eclair. The scent of Spring could be felt in the air. At night, the bright lights from the many fireworks filled up the square. I wish you could have been there. But do not despair. Just take a quick look at this colourful square, and you’ll soon be there, I do declare.
ADRIAN YOUR KIND SOUL WRITE BEAUTIFUL THINGS LIKE THIS ONE, TOO. LOVE IT!
On a bright sunny day, during the warm month of May, I decided to leave the house and not be such an indoor mouse. “Everything is so pretty,” I would often remark, while I strolled through the flowery park. I sat on a bench and opened the book that I took to improve my French. Delicately, a little bird alighted on the dew-soaked grass. I made no sudden moves, so it could freely pass. It jumped from blade to blade, looking for food, I naturally assumed. I turned to my book and my reading I resumed. The little bird unexpectedly looked at me. I pretended I did not see. I had no food, no water to give. The little bird would just have to leave. “Well met!” said the little bird in a manner so concise. I simply stood there, frozen like a block of ice. Was I imagining this? Was there something amiss? I could see the little bird, but how could I hear its each and every word? Then it continued: “For you, I have a story.” I gathered there was nothing to worry. “Please go ahead,” I told the little bird. “But only for a piece of bread.” Where would I even get some food? Around me, there was nothing but hardwood. I quickly sprinted to a local shop, returning with delicious treats faster than a bellhop.
The little bird began: “During our flight, my friends and I saw a golden field. Lots of yummy things we knew it would yield.” The little bird then looked down, as if to frown. “We made quite the fuss, so we did not notice black shadows had surrounded us. Thundering noises followed, and my friends fell to the ground. None would give out a single sound. I flew away so that I would not end up as prey.”
I wept at the story told by the little bird. It was the saddest thing I had ever heard. I wiped my tears and made a promise: “Each day I will come and feed you, so you will never feel blue.” “Thank you, but feed my brothers and sisters too.” 
Thanks for the explanation. Hanging is such a cruel death that was used as death penalty so it is as if they execute themselves.
Do you plan to leave VIKI?
I read a biography of Elizabeth Taylor and the kind of life she had as a child actress in the early 1940s seemed very similar to what happens in South Korea today, 80 years later! Seven-year contracts, teachers in the studio, tiger mom.
From Wikipedia
Taylor later stated that her childhood ended when she became a star, as MGM started to control every aspect of her life. She described the studio as a “big extended factory” where she was required to adhere to a strict daily schedule. Days were spent attending school and filming at the studio lot, and evenings in dancing and singing classes and in practising the following day’s scenes.
From her interview:
Someone once said that the old Hollywood studio was a kind of extended family.
It was like a big extended factory , I’m sorry to say. But if you like being smothered, I guess it was a very productive family. I was nine when I made my first films in Hollywood. I was used from the day I was a child, and utilized by the studio. I was promoted for their pockets. I never felt that they were a haven.
Not to mention sexual harrassment by executives (now Shirley Temple comes to mind, to whom an MGM executive showed his private parts when she was 11)
USA has still abusive entertainment productions with kids, best example is Dance Mom’s. Several years ago Youtube put such a video in the auto-playlist because it fits to the music genre I was listening to at that time (Kpop…) and then this US show had 4-5 year old girls, dressed, make up, moves like prostitutes/strip dancers…
Neither the show nor the videos are banned yet (in this one video the girl kid ‘danced’ with a boy kid, both around age 4-5 in a completely sexualized way and the Korean audience in that studio went crazy because they liked it so much… Most viewers in that studio seemed to be females…).
The origin Kpop song (including the live performances) by the adult Korean singers used to be quite hot but that song with kids is just perv.
Ah, you should see Russian and Chinese little girls in bellydance competitions. Sometimes the costumes and makeup are very inappropriate (with bras etc.) and sometimes the movements are suggestive. It’s okay and fun for children to learn and perform oriental dance as a hobby, but it’s the teacher’s job to keep everything appropriate to their age.
More shocking still are the US glitz child beauty pageants (there are thousands of them apparently every year). And when I say “child”, we’re talking of age 3,4, 5. Heavy make-up, adult hairdos, elaborate gestures and poufy, rhinestone-studded dresses and often-times provocative poses.
Paedophile heaven!
And to think that it’s the parents who encourage this.
In Europe, this type of child beauty pageant is not common. I read somewhere that in France they are forbidden for children under 16.
And of course there is more. Dance Moms, the talent shows etc…
Adreian, hate the thought of you leaving here, light in the darkness.
one little girl came to mind.she didn’t kill herself, she was murdered, but wonder if down the line she would have been one of these statistics? really heartbreaking that these young kids have to go through that!
Your stories and the poems are beautiful. really hope to hear more from you. hope we can keep in touch.
There’s the Convention on the Rights of the Child from 1990 signed by South Korea, USA, France and other countries (https://indicators.ohchr.org/)
Article 32 https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx
States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.
States Parties shall take legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to ensure the implementation of the present article. To this end, and having regard to the relevant provisions of other international instruments, States Parties shall in particular:
(a) Provide for a minimum age or minimum ages for admission to employment;
(b) Provide for appropriate regulation of the hours and conditions of employment;
© Provide for appropriate penalties or other sanctions to ensure the effective enforcement of the present article.
In France, we have artist children playing in movies, theaters and babies in advertisements (Evian water). You can work from 14 or 16 in some sectors. Under this age, in some sectors too.
But it’s restricted by labour laws and authorization comes from a commission (a children judge, a doctor, etc.) that will study many factors (will it goes against the child’s future, his health state, his school life / ethics and difficulty of the job).
[If you want to read in Fr:
–http://www.leparisien.fr/culture-loisirs/que-dit-la-loi-sur-le-travail-des-enfants-artistes-09-03-2017-6746223.php
–https://www.journaldunet.com/ebusiness/expert/70429/les-enfants-influenceurs---quand-l-enfant-devient-une-marque--quelles-limites.shtml
–https://sfa-cgt.fr/sites/default/files/artistes%20interprètes%20de%20moins%20de%2016%20ans.pdf]
For ex
Min age for artists: + 3 months
Working time: depending on the age and during holidays/school: from 30 min - 4h30 a day
Theater: + 9 yo, 1 play a day, max 3 a week
Cinema, TV: must have a referee adult, can’t work from 0-6 a.m.
Min: 300 euros
Salaries blocked in a state bank that keeps it for them until they’re 18 years old, age of legal majority in France. Parents can’t touch it.
You have trials with parents and their children who are now adults because of the money partition from the child’s work.
Unboxing, Sharenting: Problems with YouTube and children advertising toys or parents life in a regular basis and parents getting the money from it, it’s still new in regards of laws and… it’s parents decision, children telling they’re doing it for fun…
How can some children react when reading hateful comments?
Botox for kids…in your video…the kids should sue their parents later for abuse.
I think the laws in Germany are similar to France (what is allowed for which age and in which way).
We have some TV talent shows with kids but it is mostly something like singing or playing an instrument that does not harm the kids and they are dressed like kids and don’t do adult moves/poses.
I didn’t heard about the kids bellydancers yet, just about some very young pole dancers in East European TV shows.
You could say hello in the forums though from time to time since it’s not only about Korean and the community members are not involved with its industry.
Anyway I wish you all the best, especially for your health!
I think we are talking about two different girls because the girl I mean has an African American father and a multiethnical mother (African American/Mexican/Filipino) and she’s still living in the USA together with her family. Both of her parents were former bodybuilders.
Russians are very competitive and very desperate because many (most?) of them come from a poor background and excellence in something like sport or the arts has been the only way for someone to escape a dreary life and get money, fame, the “good life”. That’s why even in the field of sports there has been abuse.
When my son was little he had taken up ice skating. Well, there was a little girl of about 7, the daughter of the teacher there, a Russian lady who had been a champion of ice figure skating in her youth. I was appalled to witness how harsh and demanding she was with her daughter, pushing her to practice and practice until she was exhausted. Once we talked briefly about this and she told me that in the world of competitive sports it’s either this or you remain a nobody. If you are to do it, you have to do it like that to even have a chance. I understood her point of view, but still the teary face of that gaunt little girl has stayed with me till today.
Same can happen in the world of classical music.
There was a very beautiful Chinese film, Together, about a child violin prodigy. If you can find it, do watch it.
Leaving Viki to watch other things, but not Discussions, I hope. Firstly, I wouldn’t be motivated to post again. Secondly, I genuinely think it’s important to talk about this stuff, praising the industry when it does good and criticising it when it does bad. Dramas prosper according to their audience, after all.
PS: Thank you so much for sharing my stories 
