K-media hopes YG’s acknowledgment of Jisoo’s romance will change the K-pop industry’s perspective on idol dating

YG Entertainment and Jisoo’s brave move of admitting to dating rumors is gaining huge support.

YG Entertainment surprised everyone as they recently acknowledged BLACKPINK Jisoo and Ahn Bo Hyun’s romantic relationship. It is because YG previously remained silent on dating rumors of other BLACKPINK members and other artists to respect their privacy. Amid various speculations, some people said that this move seems to be changing the public’s negative perception of famous K-pop idols revealing their romantic relationships.

Jisoo and Ahn Bo Hyun admitted to dating after Dispatch disclosed photos of Jisoo and Ahn Bo Hyun’s date in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Both agencies confirmed the relationship, stating “They are getting to know each other little by little with good feelings.”

In fact, it is not easy for YG or any other entertainment agency to confirm their idols’ romantic relationships. Since the popularity of an idol relies strongly on fandom, dating is considered one of the factors that affect profits directly. Fans tend to create ‘imaginary relationships’ with their favorite idols, so dating issues often cause idols to lose fans. In particular, as idols often work in teams, if one admits to dating, other members and the whole group with suffer great damage. This is also the reason why many entertainment agencies banned dating when signing contracts with idols in order to prevent financial losses from such scandals.

Of course, there are more and more mature fans who have begun to accept and support idols’ romance but the majority of K-pop fandoms are still against such an issue. Dating could lead to members getting expelled from their groups in extreme cases, for example, 4Minute Hyuna & Pentagon Dawn. When the dating rumor arose, 4Minute and Pentagon’s agency CUBE Entertainment denied it, saying “It’s groundless”. However, when Hyuna and Dawn publicized their romantic relationship, CUBE kicked them out of their groups and also the company due to a breach of trust. That dating scandal once turned the whole K-pop industry upside down as an example of how dating issues could cause conflict could between agencies and idols.

Although K-pop has expanded globally, it still relies heavily on idols. The “commercialization” of idols, including agencies’ excessive control of idols’ private life, has been pointed out as a problem in the K-pop system. From the agency’s perspective, it is reasonable for them to be sensitive to damage because they plan to invest a lot in idols for a long time until the idols become famous stars. However, idols are not just a product to generate profits. They also have the basic rights that must be guaranteed by the company. Although the voices of idols nowadays when facing their agencies compared are stronger compared to the past, dating-related issues are still under the major control of agencies to protect idols’ images. Some idols may not want to disclose their romantic relationships, however, the opposite could also happen.

Images and concepts of idols have been criticized as the negative aspect underlying the fancy K-pop world. In the case of YG’s recent announcement regarding Jisoo’s relationship, it is not known to which extent Jisoo’s viewpoint was reflected in YG’s stance. However, this new move is raising the hope that the K-pop industry’s perspective on idol dating will have a positive change.

Source: Daum