Celebrities’ drug problems are not new because they have been around for a long time. However, the impact is different from the past. The film ‘Parasite’ won four Academy Awards, raising the status of Korean films. K-pop is the most popular trend in the global music market. There are concerns that the deviation of the character at the center could put a brake on the Korean entertainment industry, which has reached its unprecedented heyday.Lee Sun-kyun, the main actor of “Parasite,” and G-Dragon, a former member of the group Big Bang, were booked one after another on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act. In addition to them, the entertainment industry is on high alert as the police are reportedly conducting an internal investigation into allegations of drug use by broadcaster-turned-composer and others. The content industry is already suffering enormous damage as leading actors are caught up in drug scandals and their activities are disrupted.Korean movies, dramas, and K-pop have gained global influence. The proportion of overseas sales of major domestic agencies is increasing. According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system, Hive earned $600 million from abroad, accounting for 63% of $1.3 billion in sales in the first half of this year. JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment account for half of their total sales coming from overseas. According to the Korea Creative Content Agency, last year’s content exports amounted to about $13.01 billion.In this situation, drug administration cases of actors and singers are not limited to Korea. The drama “My Mister,” starring Lee Sun-kyun, has gained popularity at home and abroad and has been considered a “life drama” by many viewers. Japanese master Hirokazu Koreeda and Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho praised the drama, contributing to the K-content craze, but now it has become a mockery in the global market.Foreign media are paying attention to the situation. Forbes and others said, “Actor Lee Sun-kyun, who won the American Actors Guild Award for his Oscar-winning film ‘Parasite’, was involved in a drug case.” The Hollywood Reporter reported, “Lee Sun-kyun is getting off from the drama ‘No Way Out’, which was preparing to film due to a drug case,” and “The movie ‘Escape’ and ‘The Land of Happiness’ were scheduled to be released.”
Experts pointed out that while K Entertainment is loved worldwide, industry workers were not aware of the seriousness of problems such as drugs. Although this has happened in the past, they did not consider proper precautions or come up with measures to compensate for damage.A pop culture critic said, “K content has a different status than before. “The increased influence should go in a good direction, but it is going the other way,” he said. “It is necessary to think about how much more important the morality of industry workers has become in relation to global sentiment about K content.” It is a situation in which social responsibility is required,” he stressed. He added, “We need to take this opportunity to realize how much impact there is, as the deviation of actors and singers is not just a personal problem, but harm the entire industry and prevent a recurrence. “Korean content has been refreshing in the overseas market, but it has been rumored to have a bad influence on the image,” he said. “As actors receive fees, we need to take this opportunity to make sure that the nominal liability compensation issue has been.
Punitive compensation is needed,” he pointed out.In fact, starting with cannabis in the 70s and 80s, continuous drug cases appeared uninterrupted, but this case was supplied by a doctor and administered and smoked by famous actors and singers even though the club called Burning Sun (a case related to Big Bang’s victory) became a big topic, and a worker was exposed and investigated under the Korean name “10 Pro (room-type karaoke with women’s hospitality department).”Already, Korea has become a country that encompasses all generations who are not free from drugs.
Jennifer KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
