Critics Called South Korean Entertainment a Real-Life Squid Game and How This Should Be Stopped

Just days after the untimely demise of Kim Sae-Ron, South Korean police announced her cause of death. Authorities presumed Kim, who was found dead at her home by a friend, died by suicide, according to South Korean media outlets like The Korea Times and Yonhap News Agency. Police found no foul play over her death and she did not leave a suicide note.

The death of actress Kim Sae-ron on February 16, reminded the world again of the dark side of the celebrity culture in South Korea. Almost every year, they have cases of celebrity suicide and yet, this heartbreaking situation and circumstances in their culture remain unresolved. Why does it seem like this becomes part of their culture and cannot be given a solution?

The last high-profile death by suicide of a South Korean star was that of popular actor Lee Sun-kyun, who played the head of a wealthy family in the Oscar-winning Best Picture, Parasite. On December 27, 2023, Lee was found dead in his car in what is widely seen as a suicide following an intense weekslong police investigation into his alleged drug use.

Lee Sun-kyun

Following his death, South Korean entertainment personalities pondered how the case of Lee Sun-kyun was handled by the police and the media, which many believed had pushed him to take his own life. Celebrities questioned why police repeatedly summoned Lee in the presence of TV cameras and whether they had inappropriately leaked information about the investigation to the media. 

They also questioned whether media outlets had overly sensationalized reports about Lee’s private life that were unrelated to the drug investigation. Lee suffered “severe character assassination” before his death as a result of the allegations of illegal drugs investigated by the police.

Now, another South Korean celebrity had taken her own life, which focused once more on the dark side of South Korean celebrity culture. Kim Sae-ron's death in an apparent suicide has renewed criticism of South Korea's entertainment industry, which not only castigated stars but also subjected them to intense pressure and scrutiny.

South Korean celebrities often experience cyberbullying from fans, severe criticism, and overly media coverage when something goes wrong with their lives. These circumstances often led to depression and anxiety that ultimately pushed them to the edge. 

Although South Korean celebrities are not the only people in the world who suffer cyber bullying and attacks from judgmental fans, their culture is really different. Maybe there's a social stigma of reaching out for professional help to address anxiety and depression in South Korea, something that their government and private sectors should work out to prevent further cases in the future.

However, some critics say, there are efforts already exerted to promote awareness of mental health in South Korea among celebrities, but as long as there are cyber bullying and obsessed fandoms, this might not be stopped.

According to experts, the deaths of Lee Sun-kyun and Kim Sae-ron might never lead to change in South Korean culture. The country is known for its hyper-competitive nature and has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. 

This pressure is heightened in the case of celebrities. They face immense pressure to be perfect and are subjected to the demands of obsessive fandoms that can make or break their idols' careers. One day, they are glorified and greatly adored by fans, the next day they are severely castigated for a slight misstep. 

Kim Sae-ron

Once a popular star who began her career as a child actress, Kim Sae-ron started her downfall when she was involved in a drunk driving incident in 2022. She ultimately suffered a public backlash and became so unpopular that her scenes in the drama, Bloodhounds, were edited out of the show. 

"It is not enough that celebrities be punished by the law. They become targets of relentless criticism," Korean culture critic Kim Hern-sik told the BBC News.

Kim Hern-sik referred to K-pop artists Sulli and Goo Hara, who died by suicide in 2019 after long battles with internet trolls, even though they did not have known brushes with the law. Sulli had offended fans for not conforming to the K-pop mold, while an internet mob had targeted Goo Hara over her relationship with an ex-boyfriend.

The downside of the popularity of South Korean celebrities, K-pop and K-drama stars alike, is that fans become obsessed with them, so obsessed that K-pop and K-drama fandoms think their idols are demi-gods who could not go wrong. A slight misstep by these celebrities made fans go wild criticizing them. 

"A real-life Squid Game" is what some critics called the South Korean entertainment, referring to the hit K-Drama, Squid Game where players raced to their deaths for money. 

Cyber bullying has become a money-making gig for some fans and influencers, Kim Hern-sik told the BBC. "YouTubers get the views, forums get the engagement, news outlets get the traffic. I don't think [Kim's death] will change the situation", Kim Hern-sik added.

So how this issue be given a solution in South Korea to protect the celebrities? "There needs to be harsher criminal punishment against those bullies", Kim Hern-sik said.

Kim Sae-ron's father has blamed a YouTuber for her death, claiming the controversial videos they published caused her deep emotional distress. Others have pointed fingers at some local media outlets, who reportedly fueled public animosity against Kim by reporting the unverified claims.

"This cycle of media-driven character assassination must stop," civic group Citizens' Coalition for Democratic Media said in a statement on Tuesday.

Na Jong-ho, a psychiatry professor at Yale University, likened the spate of celebrity deaths in South Korea to a real-life version of Squid Game. 

"Our society abandons those who stumble and moves on as if nothing happened. How many more lives must be lost before we stop inflicting this destructive, suffocating shame on people?" he wrote on Facebook.

"Drunk driving is a big mistake. There would be a problem with our legal system if that goes unpunished. However, a society that buries people who make mistakes without giving them a second chance is not a healthy one," Prof Na added.

Last year, the BBC reported on how "super fans" in the notorious K-pop industry try to dictate their idols' private lives - from their romantic relationships to their daily activities outside of work - and can be unforgiving when things go off script.

It is no surprise that Kim Sae-ron chose to withdraw from the public eye after her DUI conviction, for which she was fined 20 million won (£11,000) in April 2023.

In March 2024, she was subjected to severe criticism from fans when she posted on her IG story a photo with fellow actor Kim Soo-hyun which she later deleted.

In South Korea, it is "extremely tough" for artists to recover when they do something that puts a crack in their "idol" image, says K-pop columnist Jeff Benjamin. He contrasts this to entertainment industries in the West, where controversies and scandals sometimes even "add a rock star-like edge" to celebrities' reputations.

"No one cheers when a Hollywood celebrity is arrested for DUI [driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs] or sent to jail for significant crimes, it's not necessarily career-ending," he says.

While the Korean entertainment industry has made moves to address performers' mental health concerns, it is unclear how effective these have been. Real change can only happen when there are no more financial or attention incentives to continue with such intrusive reporting, says Mr Benjamin.

But as long as there are obsessed fans and media outlets that won't allow Korean celebrities to breathe on their own terms and live their life freely, these suicide cases might never be stopped in the coming years. So we are hoping the public will realize this.