The Harsh Reality of K-pop Trainee Systems Revealed... The Dark Side of the Industry as Seen in “Starlight Boys”

Behind the success myths of the K-pop industry lies extreme suffering endured by trainees. A recent Sino-Korean collaborative survival show produced by iQIYI, titled “Starlight Boys,” exposed the brutal realities of K-pop training systems. Michael Wu, a student majoring in communication at Stanford University, participated as a contestant on “Starlight Boys.” He experienced missions that required dancing for over two hours followed by just a few seconds of rest, and he witnessed the pain endured by his fellow trainees. “Those who passed had to step off the stage and look at their friends. Some trainees danced more than 20 times. We all cried while watching them keep dancing until they collapsed,” Wu said. He explained that while his extensive dance experience allowed him to endure such conditions, it was far more harsh for trainees who had only received one to two months of training. Born at St. George’s School, a renowned private school in Vancouver, Wu had been exposed to various dances such as ballet, jazz, and hip-hop since childhood. He switched to hip-hop at the age of 13 and had also reached the finals of a Canadian talent show. The severity of K-pop trainee systems also leads to failure and frustration for entire generations. Despite enduring over a decade of intense training as a K-pop trainee starting at the age of 11, EJAE, an American singer of Korean descent, failed to secure a debut opportunity. EJAE recalled, “I worked very hard, trying my best to make my voice cleaner, to dance better, and to maintain a certain appearance. But it seems I simply didn’t leave any trace.” Continuous competition and psychological pressure caused his academic performance to decline, leading him to feel “like he was failing at everything.” After his contract expired and he experienced prolonged apathy, EJAE ultimately decided to reinvent himself. He took the risky step of turning into a composer and eventually contributed to the soundtrack of the Netflix film “Demon Hunters,” earning him the honor of winning Golden Globe and Grammy awards. Claire Marie Lim, an associate professor at Berklee College of Music and an expert on K-pop, noted that “it is extremely rare to see someone like EJAE achieve such great success after being a former trainee.” She explained that most people who were trainees during the same period left the professional music industry if they failed to debut. The common belief within the K-pop industry at that time was that idols should “sing, dance, rap, and model without participating in the creative processes behind the scenes.” The path EJAE is pursuing is a “very rare” one, demonstrating that the K-pop industry still needs institutional improvements today.