Recently a post on a popular Korean online community board reminisced about the early years of first-generation K-Pop and a video resurfaced of an event for first-generation K-Pop group members that is unthinkable today.
With today’s K-Pop idols, companies often go to great lengths to protect their artists, with many posting clear guidelines and notices for fans to adhere to regarding idols’ personal lives and where fans should belong.
As an example, HYBE Labels frequently release “fan etiquette” statements asking fans not to visit company buildings, idol homes, or personal schedules, among other requests for privacy.
The OP (original poster) from an online community board posted a video from 2001 in what seems to be a scenario today’s companies want to avoid at all costs.
The video is a news report, and footage from the scene shows a large, organized crowd of people in a parking lot. Most sat in the crowd, but a few stepped forward to carry gifts into an orderly line to add to the pile of gifts.
While a large number of fans gathering to publicly celebrate an idol’s birthday is nothing out of the ordinary, what is unusual about this birthday party is that it was held in the parking lot of a first-generation K-Pop group. HOTapartment complex.
The police officers came, not to ask the fans to leave, but to help control the crowd as HOT’s leader Moon Hee Jun arrives to take part briefly in his birthday celebration.
The crowd cheered and screamed making the apartment community seem more like a concert venue as Moon Hee Jun cut his cake and greeted the fans.
Netizens commented on how much fan culture has changed since then, sharing that idol addresses were more accessible in the first generation of K-Pop. Sometimes, they are even published in newspapers and magazines.
The fan culture was obsessive for not all, but some fans, which caused the older generation to dislike the younger generation who were fans of K-Pop idols at the time.
Others reminisce about how rules and regulations were almost non-existent during the early generations of K-Pop. It’s inconceivable today to see such an event happen in an idol’s house today.
Today’s fan culture is not suitable for any interest, whether it be for sports, movies, celebrities or music. Even so, it is interesting for many netizens to remember the progress that has been made in setting boundaries for idols over the years.
Check out the news clip below!
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