Opinion / K-pop star Sulli’s sad story shows the unrelenting scrutiny Korea’s top music stars are under – and something needs to change
While fans mourn the troubled f(x) singer, many Koreans continue to criticise Sulli’s ‘shameful’ behaviour – it’s time for K-pop’s big agencies to start caring about the mental health of the stars they churn out
The sudden death of Sulli, a former member of girl group f(x), shocked lots of K-pop fans. Now, there are many clips of her past TV appearances popping up on YouTube, stretching from across her days as a child actress, f(x)’s debut performance in 2009, all the way to her latest JTBC TV programme The Night Of Hate Comments, in which she starred as an MC.
Although numerous K-pop fans grieve today, before her death Sulli faced plenty of outspoken opinions about her private life.
Pop culture media sexually consumes female stars and, if the stars refuse to be consumed in that way, they rush to attack the celebrities. To prevent more victims like Sulli, I think female celebrities should be united and take an action as a group
Her downward spiral
Sulli’s life shows how K-pop stars, especially young female idols, are harshly criticised by the public. When she was 20 years old, Sulli (who was born Choi Jin-ri) started a relationship with rapper Choiza of Korean hip-hop group Dynamic Duo – who was then 14 years older than her. According to Busan Daily News (Busan Ilbo), this aroused a big scandal because of the couple’s age gap. She was also harassed by online users because of Choiza’s stage name, a reference to the male genitalia that carried a negative connotation and created further controversy.
In the same year, Sulli paused activities as an f(x) member due to malicious comments, and finally quit the group in 2015. At the time, Korean media Top Star News reported this created further public criticism, blaming her “lack of responsibility for the team”, and for pursuing romance “while other f(x) members trained hard for performances”.
Even after she started focusing on acting, Sulli continued to suffer haters. When Dynamic Duo released a song titled Eat, Sex, Sleep in 2015, which describes a woman’s body, fans guessed the song was drawn from Choiza’s personal experience, and expressed disappointment that Sulli may no longer be a “pure” girl.
Sulli’s most controversial behaviour was posting selfies without wearing a bra, which appear untidy and shameful to many Koreans. Online users and reporters started to mock her as a strange girl desperately seeking public attention.
Then came this year’s notorious wardrobe malfunction, when Sulli accidentally exposed her chest during an Instagram live video on September 28. Two days later The Korea Economic Daily debated if the mishap and her braless fashion should be considered a minor offence or a public obscenity crime. The article included a lawyer’s analysis, which argued that it is difficult to measure how much a certain behaviour actually causes humiliation or excitement to others.
This comment implies that Sulli's behaviour was not a crime, but she still suffered in the court of public opinion, enduring the questions this article raised and the numerous copied images of her exposed body, even though she deleted the original video.