​Local females’ path to becoming Kpop stars filled with hardship

Lianhe Zaobao zbNOW, page 7

Following the recent suicides of Kpop stars, the feature looks at what trainees have to go through before they can debut. Asst Prof Liew Kai Khiun, from NTU’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information who has researched on the Korean wave for 15 years, said rapid debuts of Kpop groups and increased standards mean companies have higher expectations of newbies and training will be more intense. It is also a challenge for artistes to change to another path after they are past the age of an idol.