Music / Idols
20120213_seoulbeats_top_leemisook

Are Idols Now Playing the Couple Game?

32
Written by On February 15, 2012

“Love is in the air, everywhere I look around.” — John Paul Young

Love is in the air, or perhaps it’s just the musty smell of carefully orchestrated public machinations developed to gain fan interest and popularity?

Is it just me, but ever since Sunye bravely the broke the hearts of K-pop fan boys (by declaring she has a life no less) she also broke down a barrier, one that has made idols seem just a bit more human?

Not that sneaking around and posting blown-up pictures of so-called couple rings and bracelets on the internet never stopped anyone before. However, when you think about it, Sunye’s unplanned announcement was a thing of public relations beauty. She is the perfect mouthpiece for “free love, can you dig it?” — how can you hate on someone who dates a missionary?

I’m not questioning in any way the genuineness of Sunye’s relationship (she and her boyfriend seem actually quite happy and content together). However, the positive reaction from the public  makes me a little leery of subsequent “paparazzi shots” and grand announcements of PDs graciously allowing their idols to date. Can we trust K-pop to not sensationalize a good thing?

Even 2NE1, a group with two members nearing the age of 30, had a “no dating” ban. Not long after JYP broke the ball and chain on the Wonder Girls, YG quickly followed with poor Bom and Dara.

Sociologically, this isn’t a bad thing; Korean singers are human and deserve to live their lives like everyone else. But they are in the entertainment industry, and if there is one universal truth about people  in entertainment, they will make a quick buck off of anything.

Especially the privacy and intimacy of famous people – I believe the Western world has shown us that much. There has been a shocking amount of documentation for “who and who?” couple, Beast’s Junhyung and KARA’s Goo Hara. They were first announced as a couple to mild surprise; then came the unusually clear shots of the couple bracelets; now the “quiet” breakup rumors. It’s all so…well documented, I’m sure they teach these PR strategies at TMZ. It’s a shame that no one still gives a damn.

Are K-pop celebrities becoming more savvy about netizens and paparazzi shots? I don’t mean just secretive — we’ve all heard the tales of woe from older singers who were forced to meet up with their significant others in the dead of night, only to be broken up by their managers, Romeo and Juliet style.

There is a different tone now. Some of that can be attributed to the fans.When there is less fear of a scary retribution we see more gutsy displays of recklessness.

Taecyeon and Jessica are out on the town everywhere together. Are they together? Are they not? Who knows, but the pictures keep coming. Lee Min-ho and Park Min-young were fairly lax about their off-screen romance and public break-up. Se7en’s long-time girlfriend Park Han-byul, is finally able to walk unharmed, into the glorious sunlight.

Then, we have the latest, most perplexing of the bunch: 2AM’s Seulong and Sohee. Reports have them as long-time friends working together at JYP, yet when pictures of them walking and eating at a restaurant together were released to the media, it was if a bomb had dropped. To be honest it was a bit random, and JYP representatives were being very wishy-washy with their responses. Sohee (and the Wonder Girls in general) are pretty careful about releasing candid photos, so it appears odd that the most introverted member would get caught like that.

It is almost the chic thing to do now, which I think would be an awesome change for the industry if I didn’t have the nagging feeling PDs and executives would muck it up somehow. Instead of forcing people apart, we could end up with the exact opposite — media companies playing matchmaker and having celebrities date explicitly for publicity. “We Got Married” was only the first step folks.

Realistically, I don’t believe that if idols start publicly dating like rabbits it will be for a long time, or ever. Guy groups would have to catch a break, and…well there are some things the world’s just not ready for yet.

(Soompi)

Related Posts

TAGS: , , , , , ,
  • Rin

    I think YG made a agreement with Bom and Dara to not date for four to five years, so he wasn’t exactly following JYP. It’s just that the time of their ban was finally up this year.

    • Anonymous

      I heard from some saesang Bom was already dating though before the ban was over. :3

      • jhg

        There was an episode of 2ne1tv where it was implied that she was having some problems with a boyfriend.

      • Rin

        That wouldnt suprise me haha

  • GSun

    With the current K-Pop fans being more accepting of idol relationships I could definitely see the PD’s and companies being involved in this and turning it into a marketing thing. With a relationship in between two idols it is a possibility that they will share 50-50 of their fan base when the relationship is announced. Think about it. You want to be happy that your idol is in a healthy and happy relationship so you end up supporting their significant other. I that way, two fan bases are shared. But it is a double-edged sword, meaning that I can see this going both ways. If the couple were to break up, certain fans would be bitter if not handled properly. 

    However, I don’t think that the number of idol relationships have gone up. It’s just that idols are more open with them now, without fear of retaliation. It used to be in the old days that if you were an idol in a relationship fans would feel betrayed and turn their backs against you. A prime example would be Se7en and Park Han Byul. Se7en lost a significant amount of his fan base when the relationship was announced. You can also hear the older idols on variety shows sharing their stories of much they had to sneak around to be together. But that’s not really the case now so idols feel slightly more comfortable coming out.

    The Junhyung and Hara relationship was strange to say the least. Just the brevity of it. It didn’t seem as though they were actually dating. I’m not suspecting PD’s were involved (because it’s far too early for that) but still… something bugs me about it.

  • http://www.twitter.com/hipployta Hipployta

    Eh…the YG dating ban had a specific time frame. Originally a verbal contract of 5 years it was reduced to 3 years last year so 2012 was when they were free to date. This has been known since they debuted so it doesn’t really fit the framing of the article. 

    • Guest

      That’s actually really interesting, I didn’t know about Bom and Dara dating post-debut. Just curious since I’m a new fan and am not really hip to that insider stuff, how did they date (with the fans knowing obviously since you and others here apparently are aware of it) without it blowing up in the press? Aren’t netizens very aggressive with this kind of news/gossip? And I guess YG was okay with it too, but just said they had a “dating ban” for the sake of the K-fans?

      • http://www.twitter.com/hipployta Hipployta

        Sasaeng fans…those stalkers keep everything a secret but post info on boards.

        Aside from all that how unrealistic would it be for them to not date. We know Dara hangs out with her ex in the Philippines right LOL.

  • Boo

    I think that the general law of Date as much as you want but don’t get caught is still well, the law in idoldom because single idols are still more profitable than taken ones.

  • Noway

    Well everyone wants to know, even if they don’t like it. For me im really, really, interested if min from missA has someone. Can’t take too long after her new pictures beeing so gorgeous, who can resist her lol… she gets hotter every year :X

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Anngelica-Aguilar/100000185514336 Anngelica Aguilar

      I remember my sister telling me that when Min was still a trainee, she was dating some dude and JYP basically told her to stop fooling around. idk how true that is thought…

  • Guest

    the yg dating ban was exaggerated for variety show laughs. both dara and bom have had bfs post-debut. the fans keep it quiet and yg obviously won’t say a word.

    • http://twitter.com/Laava90 Lava

      They did?? How did people know they were dating?? Lol Blackjacks are loyal, I would have expected something to come out

      • jhg

        I just hope it’s not one of those delusional Daragon fans…

        • http://twitter.com/Laava90 Lava

          I just ignore these weirdo shippers tbh lol
          But I really do wanna know how everybody is so sure that Bom and Dara dated? Dara has wayyyy too many ‘I’m so lonely’ posts so it’s a bit hard to believe

          • lilyalana

            didn’t dra dated her co-star hero angeles bfore debut?

          • lilyalana

            *dara

          • http://twitter.com/Laava90 Lava

            I heard that’s just a thing they do in the Philippines where they couple up stars or something, but I’m not so sure

      • Guest

        most kfans are loyal and they do their best to keep their idols private life private. kvips have been protecting bb’s relationships for years and it’s the same with most groups. only when fans get pissed off do all the skeletons come tumbling out of the closet. like with 2pm after jay left.

        and they know they’re dating because stuff still leaks. some bj can’t keep their mouth shut and puts it up on cyworld. or a private discussion on the bj boards gets screencapped and made public. or a pic somehow finds it’s way on to dcinside.

        there’s a 1000 things out there that ifans will never know or see but that kfans know and do their best not to tell. 

        and no, it’s not gd and dara. they have zero romantic interest in each other, regardless of what applers believe.

        • http://twitter.com/Laava90 Lava

          Wow kpop fans really are loyal that’s really cute lol. 
          I don’t believe in this Dara/GD thing people have concocted lol.

          • lolo

             me too..i find Daragon fans annoying…!

          • http://twitter.com/Laava90 Lava

            tbh I just find shippers annoying full stop, at least the ones that are so obsessive and loud about their shipping, like Daragon shippers 

          • lolo

            yeah….a lot of TOP and Bom shipper out there too…Tbh i wanna keep GD to myself…LMAO

          • http://twitter.com/Laava90 Lava

            I don’t even get where the top/bom or dara/gd thing came from!! and I watched all of 2ne1tv, but I still don’t see it, bom and gd’s friendship seems sweet though, but more in the way that I wish GD/TOP/Bom would form a permanent group together because that would be really amazing stuff.

  • Guest

    the yg dating ban was exaggerated for variety show laughs. both dara and bom have had bfs post-debut. the fans keep it quiet and yg obviously won’t say a word.

  • http://twitter.com/lily_of_west CLover/Infiknight

    yg had a verbal agreement with the girls for 5 year no dating rule  but he cut it down to 3 years in 2009..but despite that i’m sure bom dara and maybe even chaerin are dating…they just keep it on the low as every idol out there…i mean bom and dara are almost 30 no one believes they didn’t date since debut…and i kinda never bought junhara couple srsly they announce they’re 2gether but then they say that they barely see and talk to each other dunno..i wish they were and that they were happy but it seems more like a publicity stunt to me…honestly…and i also don’t believe papa yg’s no in house dating rule…coz he dated eun ju for 10 years..wheesung (while he was still in yg) and gummy dated…rumors abt teddy and lexy though never confirmed…sean and hye young…park han byul and se7en dated while she was in yg and for 9 years before they came out publicly….so i don’t believe it one bit…i’m not say that 2ne1 girls or big bang boys are dating someone in yg i’m just saying i don’t buy it….

  • http://twitter.com/Laava90 Lava

    Hmm latest couple news: Rainbow’s Jisook dated a boy group member before her debut.
    Can’t figure out if that ones a lie or not, especially as half of the stories told on variety shows are made up, or just hyped up a bit.

  • maldita

    Junhyung and Hara may be the first ever idol couple to be outed, but Jonghyun and Shin Sekyung had so much more fanfare and crazy reactions to their outing. Lead singer of popular boyband plus one of the hottest, most popular young actresses in the industry. Jonghyun had all the idol fame, while Sekyung had the more universal fame that actresses have. Fangirls cried, screamed, spazzed, and whatever else, while fanboys seethed with anger, confusion, and disbelief. Good times.

  • Marcus

    I think missA’s min is probably dating that guy called Andrew Cohen in twitter, since they don’t try to hide I guess its okay to talk about it?

    1 of his tweets on Valentine were “Wish my Valentine wasn’t 2700 miles away today :(.” referring to min 100%. He also revealed that they talk to each other all day, and that she calls him back after shes done with work etc.

    Sure he said they beeing just friends, but their actions/tweets to each other and obviously the last tweet at Valentines Day should proove otherwise. I mean are u the Valentine or just a friend now seriously! So the male idols which like min can be very sad now.

    • Marcus

      I mean if I go eat MEAT publicly, and than tell people im a vegetarian doesn’t make me a vegetarian now does it.

      So if I refer to min as my Valentine, flirt with min, talk to min all day, Skype/Webcam with min all day and than say im just a friend. THATS REALLY FISHY, sorry…That Andrew literally let no doubt about the fact that there is more going on between him and missA min.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mashitah-Zainal-Abidin/100000267765237 Mashitah Zainal Abidin

    I’ll be sad if any of my biases grow old without being with somebody they love. But that doesn’t mean I like staged-relationship among artists themselves. That just, pity.

  • Guest

    It’s about time idols stopped giving a shit about Netizens and just fuck whoever they want. They should start a civil rights movement.