South Korean singer Sulli Photo: VCG

World Weekly, a China Central Television (CCTV) program, focused on the K-pop industry on Sunday, looking into the deaths of three young South Korean celebrities recently.

Sulli, Goo Hara and Cha Inha, three South Korean pop stars all under 30 years old, were found dead in their apartments in the space of 50 days. Sulli and Goo's handwritten notes had been discovered and they were reported to have committed suicide. The police in charge of Cha's case said on December 4 that there were no signs of homicide.

Shui Junyi, the host of the program, described it as the "suicide curse of the K-pop industry" and asked what had happened to K-pop in the program.

Six K-pop problems

The program listed six reasons that might have lead to the deaths of the young stars, including heavy workloads and cyberbullying. 

The first reason is the contracts that are drawn up. "These contracts seem to be prepared for slaves, overly exploiting these pop stars," the program said. A former member of a South Korean boy band said on social media that the management firms get 80 percent or even 90 percent of the stars' earnings, and the unfair contracts can last for seven to 15 years.

Heavy workloads are common among K-pop stars. The former boy band member said that he felt so tired every day as he had to get up at 6:00 am and after working the whole day, he also had to dance until 1:00 am. "Even if they are ill or have injuries, they still have to work and perform," the program said.

K-pop stars, especially female celebrities, are also forced to have diets to stay slim. The long-term diets and irregular eating habits have led to some stars developing illnesses such as anorexia and bulimia.

Cyberbullying was also mentioned in the program and is considered to be the main cause of Sulli's death. Sulli had suffered from severe depression, allegedly as a result of malicious comments and rumors spread about her online.

Reform difficult

"The industry is something of a wealth-generating machine. K-pop stars grappling with tremendous pressure from exploitative management firms are merely tiny parts of this highly developed machine," Shi Wenxue, a teacher at the Beijing Film Academy, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Shi said that the reasons mentioned in CCTV's program can directly lead to depressive disorders and suicide. 

However, Shi and an insider with China's film and television industry surnamed Feng both said that it will be difficult to reform the K-pop industry now as the industry is controlled by chaebols and reform would challenge their interests. "Change is difficult and maybe impossible," Feng told the Global Times.

The program called for netizens to pay more attention to the difficulties of these K-pop stars, who might shine in front of the camera but have many problems in private.