A Chain of Crises in the K-Pop Industry... Kwon Min-ah’s Suicide Attempt, Jang Won-young’s Hong Kong Comments, and HYBE Data Leak

The K-Pop industry is facing multiple crises, including mental health issues, political controversies, and data security problems.

Former AOA member Kwon Min-ah attempted suicide at the hands of Shin Jung-il. She posted on social media that “if it had been a little later, I would have kept my promise,” and she begged for help to stop her attempt by saying, “Suddenly I heard noise, and someone shook me violently.” She described her consciousness fluctuating and said she kept shouting “please” before being rescued. She also left a desperate message stating, “I will keep my promise. I will disappear right in front of you.”

Kwon Min-ah’s suicide attempt stemmed from long-standing trauma. She suffered prolonged bullying during her time in AOA and attempted suicide again in 2020. In 2021, she was found unconscious at her home and hospitalized once more.

Although Kwon Min-ah bravely spoke out about past bullying, she admitted that the process destroyed her. Even more tragic is the ongoing legal battle over sexual assault allegations from 2007. She said, “I was on trial for four years due to sexual assault, but no injury was proven,” and added, “In the first trial, the perpetrator was acquitted because of the statute of limitations.” She explained that she had to hide the evidence because she was afraid of retaliation, worried her mother would find out, and lacked money to go to the hospital. She continues to suffer from nightmares and persistent trauma.

AOA gained popularity through hit songs such as “Mini Skirt,” “Heart Attack,” and “Like a Cat,” with Kwon Min-ah being one of the group’s most recognizable members. She also built a successful acting career but left the group in 2019. In 2020, she publicly accused her fellow member Shin Ji-min of bullying. Shin Ji-min denied these claims as “fiction,” but the controversy led to Kwon Min-ah leaving AOA, and she took a two-year break from the entertainment industry.

Meanwhile, Jang Won-young of IVE has sparked controversy in China due to her comments about Hong Kong. In a behind-the-scenes video posted on IVE’s official YouTube channel, Jang Won-young said while visiting Hong Kong, “I need to eat delicious dinner,” and added, “I like Hong Kong. There is good food there. Hong Kong is one of my favorite countries.”

Shortly after the video was released, Chinese social media users protested her use of the term “country” to refer to Hong Kong, as China defines Hong Kong as a special administrative region under the One-China Principle. Jang Won-young’s remarks were interpreted as conflicting with this stance, causing rapid spread of online criticism.

Hashtags such as #JangWon-youngHongKongCountry, #IVEChinaExclusion, and #KoreanIdolHistoryEducation have spread widely on Chinese social media, with some users calling for a boycott of IVE-related content. Xinhua Entertainment described her remarks as “a clear challenge to China’s territorial sovereignty and integrity,” while The Global Times criticized Korean idols for relying on Chinese fans’ spending without respecting sovereignty and failing to understand political sensitivities despite being aware of the importance of the Chinese market. The video was later set to private, but criticism continued.

Another threat to the K-Pop industry is data security. A data leak scandal arose on HYBE’s fan platform, Weverse. The controversy started in November when it was revealed that a Weverse employee attempted to access individual users’ data to manipulate the results of fan signings.

The employee asked whether they could verify applicants’ identities and remove specific fans from the winners’ list. The conversation also included mentions of sensitive personal information such as the number of albums fans had purchased.

Weverse is a platform with over 50 million users worldwide, serving as the official fan platform for top artists like BTS, SEVENTEEN, and NewJeans. BLACKPINK of YG Entertainment and aespa of SM Entertainment also use this platform through partnerships.

In the K-Pop industry, access to fan signings is generally granted through a lottery system linked to album purchases. Although officially random, there has long been criticism that it functions as a “buy-to-enter” system. Fans often purchase dozens or hundreds of albums to increase their chances of winning. This has even given rise to the term “fansign cut,” referring to the unofficial minimum number of albums believed to guarantee a win.

International fans also participate on a large scale in video call fan signings, and global retail platforms often allocate separate “foreign slots.” In such cases, competition is even fiercer, requiring more album purchases than domestic applicants. For offline fan events held in Korea, if foreign fans are selected, they too participate in bulk purchases to boost their chances of winning, despite the expense of international travel. The same purchase-based selection structure applies to album showcases and small-scale fan meetings organized by major agencies such as HYBE, YG Entertainment, and SM Entertainment.