South Korea’s entertainment industry is renowned for its ability to manufacture new sensations overnight. From hunky boy bands to female film stars, “K-celebs,” as they’re known, are the hottest property in Asia. But invariably, they’re also the property of all-powerful management agencies, which force them to sign so-called slave contracts, tying them to punishing schedules and curtailing their personal freedom. Thrust into the limelight, many homegrown stars are ill-prepared for the pressures of fame.
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Actress Ja-yeon Jang, 26, popular soap star, killed herself last April and left behind a seven-page letter blasting the nation’s “evil and corrupt” entertainment industry. She said that on top of being told what to eat, what to wear, and where to socialize, she was forced to provide sexual favors to her agent’s business associates.
The Korea Times reports that many K-celeb contracts include clauses allowing agencies to keep up to 90 percent of stars’ earning and forbidding them to retire, causing some stars to feel that suicide is the only way out.
http://asianfanatics.net/forum/topic/718726-south-koreas-scary-fame-game/I wonder if there are similar contracts outside of the entertainment industry. If so, that would explain a lot.