Simon: For this week's 'Music Monday' we're a bit too saddened by the car accident that has just happened:
the terrible tradgedy in kpop industry,
so we're not gonna be joking around this week.
Martina: So for those of you who don't know what happened:
on September 3rd, the kpop group Ladies' Code was driving back from another city,
it was from Daegu, from a concert, around 1:20 or 1:30 in the morning,
the van they were driving in crashed into the expressway wall,
which resulted in severe injuries for the band,
and two members, RiSe and EunB, actually passed away from this accident.
So currently, it's actually Chuseok in Korea, it's a family holiday,
and I just feel really torn up inside thinking about these families
that are supposed to be celebrating with their daughters, that are... completely gone now.
And so I just don't think this is a kinda thing we can talk about for 'Music Monday' in a joking way.
S: So what we wanna talk about today is a bit more about the entertainment industry in Korea,
some of our anecdotal experiences with it and how we think a change might possibly come from this.
So Ladies' Code car accident:
even though it IS the most tragic incident in kpop history, it is not the only one.
M: I'm gonna read to you some of the car accidents that occured in Korea:
Soh Jae Ho from the kpop band WANTED actually died in a car accident,
and on that same day TVXQ got into a car accident and didn't actually die from it.
Girls' Generation were in a car accident, Super Junior, Shinhwa's Dong-wan, T-ara's Soyeon, miss A,
INFINITE's Woohyun, F.CUZ's Kan, Dal Shabet's Subin,
BESTie, all of Secret, and Zinger actually fractured ribs and bruised her lungs,
and recently G-Dragon and Taeyeon were in a minor car accident on the way to Busan,
and there were a lot of accidents in the Korean drama community as well.
S: Why do so many Korean entertainers get into car accidents?
Bad driving is part of the reason but it's not the only reason.
For Ladies' Code, the driver was driving really late at night in a terrible rain storm.
And this isn't he only time that we've seen this happen.
M: Actually a lot of the car accidents that occured with the kpop stars that I listed
happened at like wee hours of the morning,
driving conditions were terrible. And why are they all driving at this time of the morning?
S: Just last month when we were driving to the airport to our event in Sweden for NärCon,
It was a-- it was probably the worst rainstorm that I've ever been in in my life,
and we were driving in the highway, maybe like 60 or 70 km/h,
M: with our hazards! S: with our hazards on,
S: in the right lane, trying to go as slow as possible, lot of other cars were doing that, too,
but to the left of us, there were TONS of cars that were zipping by, like, 100 and 120 km/h.
M: The road is totally flooded over to the point where it doesn't matter how good your car is,
the water is like a little lake.
S: And sure enough, the cars that we saw zip pass us,
we saw some of them spun out on the side of the road as well,
simply because they were driving terribly in the rain.
M: When you read about discussions about Ladies' Code on the Internet,
you'll see all of these different mixed reports. Some people were things saying like,
the members weren't wearing seatbelts, S: Right.
M: they were ejected from the car, S: Yep.
M: which was later told that they were not ejected from the car, - S: Right.
M: Some people said the wheel came off the back of the car, which then was said it didn't come off the car,
and then someone else said that the manager was dodging another car in which it spun out in the rain,
some people said he was speeding, some people said it wasn't the manager, it was a different driver,
there were just all these mixed reports about what is going on in this actual car accident.
S: So this is very similar to the video we did about the Sewol Ferry Tradgedy,
in which we took a while to make the video because the news in Korea is highly unreliable,
and we don't know the actual facts about what happened in the car.
So for us to focus just on Ladies' Code not wearing seatbelts isn't necessarily honest.
What we Can say though, is from our six and a half years of living here in Korea:
the seatbelt laws Are very lax.
M: If you plan on taking a taxi in Korea: just this year I think,
there was a law change saying that legally taxis aren't allowed to cover their seatbelts? - S: Right.
M: That's because when you get in the back seat, some of them physically cut their seatbelts out,
or they cover the seatbelts in like a beading, like a bamboo beading,
so you actually can't pull your seatbelts out to use it.
And there have been times that Simon and I have spend a good five minutes digging out our seatbelts? - S: Right.
M: And the taxi driver's yelling at us saying, you know,--
M: "Oh, don't do that!" S: "Oh no, you don't need it, I'm a good driver!"
S: "You don't have to put on the seatbelt!"
I actually remembered trying to put the seatbelt in once,
and the taxi driver complained that I'm scuffing up his back seat.
I'd rather scuff up your back seat with a seatbelt than with my body if we get into a car accident!!
M: The frustrating part as well is that when I talked to my friends about it,
they say that people in the front seat should wear their seatbelt,
M: but people in the back seat don't need to. S: "Oh, it's fine. It's safe for them!"
M: Which completely blows my mind. Because it's not like the driving in Korea is super safe,
we've done a lot of TL;DR's of how crazy people are with driving,
why do you think that the back seat is a safe zone for a car accident?
S: In fact, we actually looked up reports online,
and the World Health Organization did report about traffic safety for Korea in 2013.
S: Supposedly 78% of passengers wear seatbelts in the front seat,
while only 6, ONLY 6% wear them in the back seat.
S: 6%! And that includes children by the way because when we drive in Korea, when you are at a red light,
and you look around, kids will freely walk around the car. It's like, they'll lean over and like, pull their dad,
and their dad's like, [indifferent voice] "Oh, I'm driving". Or the little kids that are like, leaning out the window,
the concept of not wearing a seatbelt in the back seat is just... extremely frustrating to me.
S: We've seen plenty of times mothers walk in the front seat, holding their babies,
and just put a seat belt around themselves but not their babies.
S: Now while we do appreciate the 'buckle up' campaign
in which if you see one of your kpop stars on social media with a picture of themselves in the car,
and they're not wearing a seat belt, tell them "OPPA! BUCKLE UP!"
M: "Unnie, please be safe, please wear your seat belt. Have a safe trip!" We really appreciate that happening.
S: However, we still think there is a bigger issue at hand.
M: So here's the bigger question: why were Ladies' Code out SO LATE, driving back from another city,
in the middle of a rainstorm?
S: And another question is: Why are the managers of the groups,
who are probably equally as tired as the groups themselves, why they the ones driving the cars?
M: And the answer is actually really upsetting.
S: It's a result of the demands of the entertainment industry in Korea...
M: ...and the lack of people opposing unfair working conditions.
The nature of the beast of the entertainment industry in Korea is that, there is no nine-to-five.
You have to perform a Lot and All the time. And it's not just performing at a show by dancing and singing,
you have to be on a talkshow, you might be on a radio show, you're driving All over the city,
remember when we interviewed Crayon Pop?
We had to get up early to the interview because they were driving out of Seoul
to another city to perform in an event, they performed in Another event back in Seoul,
like, these schedules are completely hectic.
S: Kpop artist are Constantly on the road, trying to get their name out there as much as possible,
so they are attending every. single. festival or event that is open to them.
M: And it's really only gotten worse since there's, like, an oversaturation of kpop bands,
because there's always someone to replace you.
You know, if You're too tired and you say, "You know what, we're not going to this festival!",
the festival is gonna say, "Okay, so what?"
S: There are ten other artists waiting to take your place.
M: Yeah. It's basically, do you wanna make it big? Okay, then shut up and drive out to these crazy events,
and work your butt off until you're collapsing and falling asleep in bathtubs.
S: There's no such thing as regular working hours, there is no off-time, there is work and there is only work.
M: You're in the car more often than most people are, the managers are exhausted,
driving way more than most people are, they're going ALL over the country,
and then they're supposed to be smiling and happy on stage as well.
And on top of that, what Really makes me upset,
is how the entertainment industry deals with these kinds of accidents that occur.
It really bothers me when someone gets into an accident,
and then is continuing to go to their event and perform on stage.
Or actors and actresses that get into car accidents on their way to filming,
and then they're back on set the next day after a "minor" car accident.
Some of my favourite dramas actually had actresses that were in major car accidents,
like Ku Hye-sun that played Geum Jan-di in Boys Over Flowers was actually in a big car accident as well,
and I Really remember this one because in the actual TV drama,
she ended up having these kinds of bruises and stuff on her face.
They actually had to incorporate her bruises into the actual acting scene because of her facial injuries.
I don't know! Call me crazy, how about just cancelling filming for a next couple of weeks,
and letting the poor girl recover?! And one of the worst cases I've heard is from Park Shin-hye,
she was actually the lead actress in You're Beautiful, Flower Boy Ramen Shop and Heartstrings,
she was reportedly to be in a minor car accident in which she spent one day in the hospital,
and then got back to filming the next day right away.
And then she recently did an interview, where she talked about how it was reported as a small car accident,
but it was actually a huge car accident and that she had a breakdown on set.
And she felt embarrassed because she was ruining the filming,
she even took off her bandages that the hospitals told her to have on, so they can put make-up on her face.
She even said that some of the other crew members that were in the car with her,
had to spend four months in the hospital.
S: Whenever you hear the companies talk about the car accidents,
you never hear them say something along the lines of, "Oh, they're gonna take a few weeks to recover",
what you wind up hearing them say is, "Oh, they're gonna be back to their regular schedules". - M: Right.
S: It's more talk about how they're gonna get back to making the product,
rather than how they're gonna get back to health.
M: Yeah, "They're gonna be back to filming by next week", or "They should be back to schedule in ONE day!"
How about: the trauma that comes with a car accident? That's another thing that nobody ever mentions?
It's that all these kpop stars that were in car accidents; they have body injuries that will last with them forever.
And this is coming from someone who's been in a very serious car accident.
I'm VERY uncomfortable in cars, I can't even go around corners or...
there's a whole list of things that just make me, like, you know, crumple up on the inside,
and these people have to be now in cars ALL the time.
They just have to get back on it as if nothing happened to them.
S: So we've done a bit of Korean television before and we've done some commercials as well,
and we often have people ask us, "Oh, why don't you do more TV?",
or "Oh, one of these days you're gonna get popular enough to do Korean television!"
Let me tell you: I don't wanna work in the industry before
because from the few experienced that we've Had with Korean television and Korean commercials,
it was terrible!
M: Whenever we had to do a travelling TV show,
I remember having to get up at crazy hours, like, 3 or 4 am?
We weren't fed, if we were fed we were fed like hotdogs and like, canned coffee from like the local stop station?
S: And Choco Pies. - M: Yeah, Choco Pies, they didn't even bother with like, an actual meal?
M: Which, you know, we didn't say anything 'cause you're like, "Oh, I'm sure we're gonna get a meal later on!"
They had Crazy driving conditions. - S: Yes! - M: They drove like maniacs.
M: And you're-- you don't know what to say to them!
Like, how do you say this to someone: "Can you please slow down, it's raining!"
Like, I feel really frightened before. I've cried, I've had like, breakdowns crying.
It's really awful! And the EatYourKimchi studio: It's our own environment!
M: We don't-- S: This is exactly it!
S: IF somebody is sick, IF Leigh or Soo Zee ever have the sniffles,
S: we tell them to stay home until they feel better. M: "Go home!"
S: And that's just with the sniffles!! If any of them got into a car accident,
I wouldn't say, "Oh, you have to come back here the NEXT day and get back to working!"
WE care more about people's health than our overall wealth.
And that's what I don't think the Korean entertainment industry has.
They only care about profits; more than people.
So, are there any solutions to this?! Yes, seatbelts Will help prevent many injuries,
but they won't help prevent the crashes that happen to begin with.
The only changes that can be made would have to be enforced across the industry as a whole.
Because if One company decides to take better care of their staff,
then another company might not give a damn,
and just work double time to try to make up for your empty space.
CAN there be some kind of union that enforces workers' rights in the entertainment industry?
M: That would be really great, but I just highly doubt that's gonna happen.
Because the policy of overworking your employees is NOT unique to the entertainment business in Korea.
S: It's pretty much ALL companies in Korea that overwork their employees to the bone.
M: And students!
S: And students!
M: I mean, students staying up until 12 or 1am studying, getting up at 6am.
It just seems to be like, woven into the Korean lifestyle and that Really needs to change!
S: If you Have any ideas about what could possibly change, we'd love to hear them.
And it's easy enough to say that everyone Should take care of their health but unfortunately,
money speaks louder than Internet comments,
so what could possibly be done apart from just hoping for the best?
We're gonna talk more about this in our blog post, so make sure you click on the link here,
also we did a TL;DR a while ago about driving conditions in Korea,
so you might wanna check out that video as well.
M: As for Ladies' Code, our sincerest condolences go out to your families and friends.
S: Today is Chuseok and it Should be a celebration to honour your ancestors,
and I feel very terrible that your families had to be thinking about the deaths of their children right now.
Let's hope that something like this never happens again but knowing the industry we won't be surprised if it does.