Foreign media continue to blame "the dark side of K-Pop" on idol suicides

Article: Foreign media spotlights the dark side of K-Pop over Moonbin's death "Strict management by companies, intense dance and music training"

Source: Chosun Biz via Naver

[+2,448, -56] Why do they talk as if American singers don't commit suicide or do drugs... There's no career in this world without its own stresses... Why is it considered 'passion' on one side of the world and 'abuse' on the other? Why does their media talk as if they know anything about why he died or what was weighing on him to cause him to make such a decision? How can they be so sure that his cause of death was because "dancing" under K-Pop's pressure was too difficult?

[+894, -9] Our industry has its problems, but I really don't like how the foreign media bites onto this issue whenever a Korean singer dies. Do they seriously believe that all the singers in their own countries live happy lives?

[+503, -25] If strict management and intense training were enough of a reason for committing suicide, then all of the soldiers training in our military would be dead by now

[+427, -12] The dark side of K-Pop is no longer a "dark side." Everyone knows what the industry is like by now and they go into it fully knowing what they'll have to endure. Instead of continuing to put down the idol training process, we should be investing more resources into helping artists with their mental health.

[+147, -9] It's an industry where you can work yourself to death but only 0.1% of you will survive... 99.9% of the rest will work themselves to death just to disappear.

[+54, -2] They talk as if America doesn't have its own list of rock singers who've committed suicide or died off of drug abuse

[+53, -2] This is the typical kind of headline that the West puts out to rag on K-Pop. People of all careers need to put in excessive work to become the best in their fields. Foreign countries put their own artists through intense training just like anyone else.

[+41, -0] Reading articles like this makes me realize how urgent it is for our society to embrace mental health. Whenever you tell anyone that you went to therapy, people are still biased and treat you like there's something wrong with you. Anyone with a history of depression or depression medication are met with bias on their insurance reports. We really need to change our attitudes. 

[+44, -4] It's not just the dark side of K-Pop anymore, it's just the dark side of our country... We've become so accustomed to this lifestyle of infinite competition and societal stress. Our first reaction to news like this is to say that we all feel stressed, you knew the risks going into it... instead of recognizing that you're sick, I'm sick, we're all sick

[+38, -1] The cause of his suicide hasn't even been investigated yet, it feels wrong for the foreign media to make assumptions like this. They should worry about themselves... They talk as if the US isn't tainted with mass shootings and its own problems with suicide, with gangs, drug abuse. Is this really a time for you to be judging others? Worry about yourselves.

[+21, -0] Let's look at the numbers. Which country has the most celebrity deaths caused by suicide or drugs? South Korea or the US?

[+19, -2] Even Koreans aren't blaming anything or anyone yet. We're all just quietly mourning his death. How dare these foreign media run their mouths as if they know anything at all?

[+14, -0] Why are they using someone's death as an opportunity to paint K-Pop as if we're caging children and enslaving them? 

[+11, -0] A nonsense article filled with nothing but assumptions. Celebrity suicides have been a problem long before the K-Pop system came into place. And of course, the issue is also something both the US and Europe are dealing with with their own celebrities. Please take a look at your own issues before judging ours.

[+9, -1] Oh, so it's okay for Spain to take all those young kids and train them since they're babies to churn out soccer players but it's suddenly a problem when K-Pop does it?

[+8, -0] Do these media think other countries don't have celebrity suicides or something? Korea itself has a high suicide rate on its own, it has nothing to do with the "dark side" of K-Pop or whatever. It's ridiculous how they're trying to paint K-Pop to be something it's not.

[+9, -4] As if American celebrities don't have their own issues with child stars growing up into drug addicts and going in and out of rehab all the time. Don't generalize us.

-