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Can you explain to me about "saejangi" (?) Does this gives any benefits to the anybody? (The company, idols, fans, etc.)

It’s called “sa - jae - gi”, meaning buying out a massive amount of products at once. In this case, we’re talking about hording up CDs, done especially by the agency. (Fans buy many CDs but that usually doesn’t count as “sajaegi”.) There have been many controversies and suspicions, although I myself haven’t really verified any of them. It’s all about records. If you sell more, your name value goes up, probably making you a buzz or making you more valuable in many ways. Sometimes we hear news like “Idol A defeated idol B in this week’s sales charts!” and that can make a buzz on idol A, etc. Of course, idol B’s fans will go mad.

- Mimyo

Did you know about recent incident about 'whitewashing' thing? It's like some fans take fan pics of their idols and supposedly 'put in back the colour in the idols' (most of it makes the idols look yellowish and orange-ish) but the owner of the fantakens pics kept saying do not edit and the ones doing it are saying 'we wont stop unless you stop making idols pale as a ghost'. What's your opinion on this? Do Korean look down on the ones who has tan skin or..?

I’ve heard about it.

A) Photographers in Kpop universe don’t like it and even feel offended when somebody make changes to their pictures.

B) There are some contexts that Koreans prefer whiter skin. OK, maybe a little more than in other countries, but why do I see here in France all kinds of brightening cosmetic products?

C) Some of my photographer friends told me that Korean photographers generally prefer brighter pictures : they use brighter lens (which are generally expensive) in order to make sure they have enough light coming in their cameras.

D) Unlike common myth, people often do have that pale skin in far east Asia. Actually many people have naturally brighter skin even than Caucasians in terms of “brightness” itself. (Like.. a little more yellow and far less red kind of whiteness?)

E) Pale skin makeups (or dyed blond hair) have almost nothing to do with wanting to be Caucasian : we know better than that, colors don’t change race.

So F) I think it’s too much to think that Koreans want to be Caucasian and that they edit their pictures too much trying to look white. And that goes into, ironically, racism. Yes, recoloring is a racism based on ignorance for Korea’s reality.

- Mimyo

So, I read the whole 26 pages lol and I'm very confused on something; is Admin Mimyo a woman or man? XD I'm sorry ;; and are you the only one in charged of answering the asks? Because most of them are answered by you c: Hope you have a great day!

Hi. I’m male. Is it that confusing? ;) Well we kinda planned to be a few people answering to questions, since on our main website http://idology.kr we are numerous. But it seems like everybody else is busy for now and that kinda makes me lonely... no I’m kidding. ;)

- Mimyo

It's a pity cause I'm not in Korea, and I can't see how well Red Velvet is doing right now~~ But the thought of RV being well-established makes me feel happy :))) If you would compare their popularity with an idol group, what group you think would it be? Is CLC their rival?

Well, - apart that I don’t like comparing groups ;) - Red Velvet is generally considered as one of the new generation, including CLC, Lovelyz, GFriend etc. Although it seems to be clear that these groups have made differences to other smaller ones, but they are numerous. That makes it difficult to see things as rivalry. People are expecting to hear JYP’s Twice and YG’s new girl group too. (Plus.. girl groups have lightly less tendency to make rivalries than boy groups.)

My personal thoughts though, are that Red Velvet and Lovelyz have done especially impressive jobs so far among the new generation. But I wouldn’t really say that they are rivals just yet, for the aforementioned reasons. :)

- Mimyo

when do you think YG will debut their new girl group? You think they will debut this year? I'm soooo excited

As you might already know, no one can really tell until something goes official, right? But YG has a long queue of (predicted) releases. Bigbang campaign will last, then there are iKon and Winner although nobody knows which will come first. One thing positive might be that they can maybe let out a boys group and a girls group at the same time. Still, nobody really knows just yet. ;)

- Mimyo

How is women's rights in Korea?

I’m sad to say it’s poor. Just poor. http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2014/economies/#economy=KOR

- Mimyo

Mimyo, I'm sorry for bugging you about Red Velvet. It's just that I have so much interest in them. What do you think of Red Velvet being a sub-unit? I think that the other SMRookies in the Happiness MV were there for a reason hahaha. Like Yeri. ^^ What if the other girls form a sub-unit, and the 2 sub-units make a one big group? :)))) Please tell me your thoughts~~

It’s ok to bug me ;) and sorry for being late by the way. Well, that sounds possible since SM likes to tweak things up and nothing’s very clear yet on this new group. But one thing is that SM fans generally don’t like their favorite groups getting formation changed like additional members or members saying bye bye etc. And they can get quite aggressive on it. A group turning out to be a part of a bigger project seems to be new and it might be worth a try. But if it’s after that Red Velvet getting really established (which is what’s happening now), it might be a tough road ahead.

- Mimyo

Thank you for answering, Mimyo ^________^ But, if that is the case, do you think that a non-Korean (but an Asian) idol could be a lead character in a Korean drama? Are Koreans okay with it? I haven't seen non-Korean idols in a drama before (except the web dramas of idol groups, such as GOT7)

Glad I could be of help. So, non-Korean idols as lead characters, that seems to be pretty possible. Actually I think I’ve seen some of half-Korean actors in important roles. (I’m not so sure because I don’t watch dramas. Sorry.) So, looks and accents can be a problem, but theoretically it can be overcame. And there might be some dramas which needs particularly a look or an accent. Cultural background could be a big factor in doing really good acting. So, occasion + efforts = profit, I guess.

- Mimyo

Hi! these past few days, Sulli's departure in F(x) was an extremely hot topic. is Sulli really quits as a member of F(x)? I'm quite confused. SM's statement was quite different from all the articles that had been made by those different websites. Is there another official statement from SM entertainment about this issue?

This is why we shouldn’t trust in Korean media. I palmface myself reading how they write anything they think, citing anonymous sources which nobody can tell if they ever exist. That was the case for 2NE1 disband news and many other. You see, many people think that Sulli’s quitting, and that makes sense. But if either SM or Sulli doesn’t say it themselves, we just don’t know. Stick with official statements.

- Mimyo

I am actually intrigued about Red Velvet~ They are all pretty, fresh, and talented, but they do not really make an impression that lasts. I don't know if their song/choreography is the culprit here, but I wish they could have a breakthrough in their next comeback. Another thing, do you think they will add more members in the future? Or will SM debut another girl group as the next SNSD? I mean, EXO is like the new SuJu right now... :) Sorry for being wordy hahaha. I hope u respond tho :)

Red Velvet had made quite an impression in Korea. They’re considered as one of the new generation girl groups flagships. The thing is, they’re also considered as the new SM girl group and SM itself is more than present in everything they do. That’s also what’s interesting and maybe one of the ways SM attracts general attention (and already existing SM fans.) And that strong SM finger print might be what they’ll have to deal with from now on, because that attracts SM haters ;) while killing a bit of Red Velvet’s own identity. But I have the feeling that that’s actually what Red Velvet is about too : SM manufactureship, SM legacy or whatever you want to call it.

For the added member part, SM seems to have wanted their artists to be flexible and whenever they tried it it used to fail crucially. So maybe they’re just experimenting things or they’re making some exceptions. SM stated that there’ll be no more members added to Red Velvet, but we just don’t know yet. Red Velvet can be now a little late for another member added, but who knows.

- Mimyo

Hi i really want to ask this.. is sj not that relevant anymore? I mean i'm so sad to read so many knetz ignored them and always have a bad opinion about them... i hope i'm not biased to say this but isn't sj also played a big role of how hallyu wave is spreading? Lol maybe i sound desperate but it's really sad to see how new fan who just got into kpop said that they are old, irrelevant and some said they are nugu group ㅠㅠ

First, I like your saying “nugu group”, it sounds funny.

For your SJ question, I’d like you to read some of previous answers. http://ask.idology.kr/post/114749289035/how-popular-is-super-junior-in-korea | http://ask.idology.kr/post/114623845500/as-a-group-are-super-junior-taken-seriously-or To sum up, they’re not irrelevant. And... boys don’t get older in Korea. (LOL)

- Mimyo

Is that true some of idol group only look close at tv broadcast? And it's all only an acting? What do you think?

Sorry if I break your dreams, but that happens everywhere. All kinds of bonds can be broken, especially if you’re bounded together by somebody. All kinds of bonds can be pretended, especially if bonds sell.

- Mimyo

Hi :) I don't know if you always get this kind of question, but I still want to ask. LOL. What do you think of the possibility of a non-Korean (but an Asian) KPOP idol to become very famous just like Yoona and Suzy...or even becoming more famous than them? I mean, is it possible? Or this kind of fame is still limited to Koreans only?

Well it seems like some foreign members in Sixteen are doing pretty well. Non Korean idols might still have some shots. But being THE idol in Korea as a non-Korean, I should, unfortunately, doubt a little bit for the time being. Yoona and Suzy, hmm, ok, this is my personal thoughts. Of course both are fantastically attractive, but they have also been treated as some girls next to next door. Like, Suzy being the first love of all (Korean) men, and SNSD being the national girl group etc. And Korean society isn’t really used to having a non Korean neighbor. Plus, K-Pop in Korea is also boosted a bit by the idea that Korea is outstanding in the world. So for just now, I think it’s pretty possible that a non-Korean be in a national idol group and be really popular, although he/she being the one as a person himself/herself might sound less probable.

- Mimyo

do you know if a newly debuted idol gets salary from his/her company? :) Or they have to break even before they could receive some cash

That depends and it’s not clear. I’m frustrated to say this but it really depends and nothing’s officially clear. Korea doesn’t like to have much money talk and even for the biggest stars their actual salary is something you would avoid asking. Sometimes you hear of mediocrely successful idols not getting payed just and of other near to nobody idols still getting payed and being happy with it. I don’t think (hopefully) that idols don’t touch a penny before breaking, but sometimes it seems that what they get tends to be something like allowance. But again, nothing’s really clear in this.

- Mimyo

I heard Red Velvet's Wendy has made some racist comments before. Do you know where she said these and why they were considered rude ?

Basically, she once did some mimics of typical African American accents and typical WASP ones. Opinions can differ, but I wouldn’t say it’s automatically rude to do some stereotype mimic shopping. (If she had done typical Asian American accents too, it might have been more ... PC. But at least she did 2 races together.)

- Mimyo

With the large amount of comebacks that are going to occur in the upcoming month or two, is this a common occurrence or is this year an especially bountiful year for kpop?

Well, at least SNSD wouldn’t have made a comeback in summer, for some reasons. But yeah, generally, summer is quite packed with comebacks, especially girl groups. Some say that they’re more crammed together in order to avoid Infinite Challenge music releases in August (I guess), which used to be quite strong in the digital market. So it’s true that it’s especially intense this year, but it’s not like very surprising to have a summer like this.

- Mimyo

Does Nine Muses have a bad reputation in Korea? I have the feeling they are being really criticed. I get the same from Hyuna (4Minute). When I saw fancams from other idols watching their performances it looked like disgust/ shame.

I wouldn’t know what to say because I don’t know which fancam you’re talking about. (But a fancam with other idols on? Hmmm, sounds interesting.) As far as I know both Nine Muses and Hyuna don’t have bad reputations.

Nine Muses might not be the biggest girl band in Korea but they’re doing a great job. Well, I hear some people think they’re (cough) cheap and just trying to be sexy. But critics wise, they’re definitely not the worst. They’re just... not the biggest.

Hyuna by the way, can be controversial. Some people think she’s really something, other think she’s too... (cough) slutty. I’ve even seen a professional music critic saying that she’s obscene, but you can definitely forget about him because he’s too afraid when a girl knows that she’s sexy. Otherwise music critics don’t criticize her for being too sexy anymore.

Both Nine Muses and Hyuna can be hated by some people, because of the strong presence of sex appeal in their performances. You know, people are always different, and Korea isn’t the most sexually opened society. But what I can tell you is, at least critics wise, they’re respected.

- Mimyo

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