Trigger Warning: Alluding to SA, Burning Sun Case, Nth Room, Su*c*de.

I think I am someone who has their eyes wide open. I have liked kpop for a long time and having liked it for as long as I have it is impossible to not know the dark side of kpop.

I am also someone who is not afraid to talk about the dark side because if we don’t talk about it and point it out, how will things change?

Having said that, I was still shocked by the Taeil news. I mean, after Burning Sun, I realised that some kpop idols, a lot probably, are just men (derogatory). After that I started paying attention to the little things people would say here and there because I am a firm believer in what happens in the dark will come to light, especially with big things. Kpop is such a small industry, people talk. And people love to throw hints around.

Side bar: When you’ve been in kpop a while, you get bored of the acting, at least I do. Even in groups I like. When they go into their ments and talk about how the only women they’ll love are their fans, I tune out. They all literally say mostly the same thing. I am generalising of course, so grain of salt. As a multi fan, it gets old. I know why they do it, I saw what happened to Chen (Kim Jongdae). But the older I get the more I wish they’d rip the band aid off. I wish companies would stop feeding the fantasy knowing they attract young impressionable fans. But they won’t because money. *soul deep sigh*.

So, there were people who I was wary of. However, Taeil was never on my radar in that way. It just goes to show, with crimes like that, it can be anyone! Anyone at all. My mind had fallen into a trap that Burning Sun type men had a look or a personality but sometimes it do be the unassuming quiet ones.

He never had a scandal, he was the chill member and everyone liked him. There would be members talking about how comfortable he made them feel. How he made them feel unjudged. Then there’s the fact that he had an amazing voice but appeared to be stifled by SM. People were rooting for him. Yet, he turned out to be that kind of person.

There have been a lot of rumours since the news broke. SM was the one to break it, shocker. They actually removed him from NCT 127 quick time which does not bode well for him… I just have a bad feeling.

Side bar: he has not been removed from SM as of now (06/09/24).

But yeah the rumours, guys always verify your sources before running with it. With Taeil we got the news from SM and then the police came out to clarify some things that the victim was not a boy and was no underage (rumours that had circulated). So for the news that Taeil is being investigated for sexual crimes and has been removed from NCT 127 we know the source and it’s a credible source, SM and the police. For the list of 200 kpop idols in those nth rooms, there is no credible source and has been proven to be fake. In fact, an account on tik tok released a list but one look at their profile shows they’re a Taeil fan trying to take the heat off of him.

So yes, check your sources, and make sure they’re credible.

The Taeil news happened at the same time as the new nth scandal breaking waves. The new nth room scandal horrifies me. I keep thinking I’ve seen or heard the worst of men but then it gets worser.

How can people, men, do that to their own family members? I just can’t fathom it! It’s not just one individual either, it’s so many of them! How are there over 200,000 in a room!

And they don’t care!

They probably don’t care because they won’t be punished! Only the ring leader will be punished and those in the rooms will go free.

Minors don’t get prosecuted for crimes in South Korea.

It’s so bad!

Korean women have been putting up the good fight and have been tirelessly working to bring light to the situation. They want the news to spread globally so that the government will be forced to do something.

People have been saying how the 4B Movement is not even a thing in Korea. However, if you live in a country where feminists are jumped or driven to su*c*de when exposed… would you really openly admit to following the 4B Movement? Women were getting jumped just for having short hair (free the corset movement). They can even lose their job if they are found to be a feminist. Feminism is the equivalent of a slur (to men). They, men, say that feminism is anti-men and a danger to men.

What a joke, the only danger is men.

Sulli was barraged with horrible hate just because she stood up for women, a true feminist, a girl’s girl. She was such a light and they did their best to snuff her light out. In the end she left us and I will forever be angry about what they did to her. She was my age! She didn’t even get to reach 30!

Goo Hara worked with the police when the Burning Sun case was going on because of her ex-boyfriend (not Hyuna’s man, another guy). She’s also gone.

They tried to bully Irene (Red Velvet) because she dared to read a feminist book. Thankfully, she is still with us.

Those examples are just from Korean celebrities, imagine what it must be like for the ordinary citizen.

The government keeps trying to raise the birth rate with money and exercises instead of curing the root cause … the violent misogyny (also the cost of living but that’s a separate issue).

I don’t know why misogyny has risen to such dangerous levels these past few years. You would think things would be getting better and the misogyny would die out with the old, but no most of the misogynists are young men. It’s sad. The freer we get the angrier they get. It’s exhausting. Then they wonder why we choose the bear. Yes, the bear will kill me but that is all it will do. And if it does, it’s because it’s a wild animal trying to survive. There is no hatred in it for me as a woman. It’s just a bear. Men however…

I just hope we are able to overcome this and that the misogynists will never win. I also hope that we keep our foot on their necks and the Korean government will prosecute all those involved in the nth rooms. That app, Telegram, should be shut down.