Sunday, July 19, 2020
11) What would have happend if Hwayoung had not been added?
All of that is without even considering what we know about Areum, who said that Hwayoung was a friend who took good care of her and that she was hurt by the staff. That suggests Hwayoung's bad relationship with the staff may have been more their fault than hers. It seems that they didn't like new members, and Areum lasted a little under a year in T-ara before she jumped ship (or was pushed overboard, it is not clear which). If it was her choice the stress of being in a group accused of bullying was surely part of the reason, but the loss of her friend Hwayoung and the staff problem were likely to be part of it too, probably more than the Hyoyoung incident.
The second alternative history is one in which no additions are made to the group. T-ara's most successful period was when Hwayoung was a member and she did help to attract new fans, but it is reasonable to think that Roly Poly and Lovey Dovey would still have been very big hits without her. The Budokan concerts would have passed without incident but T-ara's excessive workload would have caused problems eventually. Early in 2012 the members complained that they had not had a day off in over a year. To achieve long-term success the management needed to keep them happy and excited about they were doing and encourage them to work together for the good of the group, but KKS responded by threatening to replace members if he thought they weren't meeting his expectations. That is a terrible way to manage them that was likely to make them feel that they were in competition with each other and increase stress and tension, and it was probably one of the reasons for the conflict that led to the scandal.
Without Hwayoung the crisis would not have come when it did, but it was the scandal that slowed down their schedule and without it they would have kept working far too hard. Something probably would have gone badly wrong eventually; whether that would be their mental health, conflict within the group just a general loss of interest resulting in tired and lacklustre performances I don't know. The last of those is something they were criticised for even before KKS said he would replace members who fell below the standards he demanded.
T-ara were so badly managed that they probably would have run into serious trouble soon, with or without added members. From the position they were actually in, if Hwayoung's injury had not happened when it did they might have had a scandal about bullying Areum or Dani instead. They did have a mini-scandal when Areum left, which was as fake as the one involving Hwayoung. Because it was what people expected of T-ara it didn't become a big thing and didn't affect their popularity, so there was no attempt to demonise Areum, but what would have happened if the Areum scandal had been the first? It would have been just like the Hwayoung one, with T-ara hated for being bullies and Areum denounced as a victim-playing snake by the "loyal" fans.
Monday, July 13, 2020
10) Is Kim Kwang Soo the anonymous former staff member? (AFSM)
Reasons for being suspicious about AFSM's motive and honesty
Anonymity
Accusation of playing the victim.
AKP staff reported "She'll be fully opening up about her leave from T-ara on next week's episode of 'Taxi'."
An AKP user wrote "Hwayoung will also open up about the past controversy with T-ara."
“Again using t-ara”
Looks like she still always has to bring them up to boost her 'career'"
She really is a good actress, she fooled a whole nation into believing she was "bullied" and now she tries to get popular with that because back then she realized that she never stood out in T-ara at all lol”
The story told by AFSM was ready to go immediately when the show was aired and appears to be a premeditated attack on the twins, not a reaction to the broadcast. This is a definite red flag. Either AFSM decided, without having seen the interview, to prepare the story and claim that s/he couldn't watch Hwayoung play the victim any more (something she never did), or it was prepared by MBK, perhaps after a tip-off from someone at TVN, but it is very possible that MBK was involved from the very beginning.
KKS knew people in the industry and he could easily arrange to have Hwayoung invited onto a show and asked the right questions so that the answers could be spun as victim-playing. That could be followed by having Kim Woori on a show and getting him to talk about Hwayoung and the staff and editing it to make Hwayoung look bad. That was the knockout blow because the Taxi interview really had no substance.
Record of lying and treating the members badly
On January 22, legal sources reported that the Seoul Central District Court had sentenced Kim Kwang Soo, the general producer of MBK Entertainment, and “Park” (Park Kyu Heon), the CEO of PocketDol Studio, which is a subsidiary of MBK, to fines of 10 million won each (about $9,100). , the general producer of MBK Entertainment, and “Park” (Park Kyu Heon), the CEO of PocketDol Studio, which is a subsidiary of MBK, to fines of 10 million won each (about $9,100).
The two have been indicted on charges of obstruction of business. Both have been charged with buying 10,000 IDs between March and April 2016 and making MBK Entertainment employees use these borrowed IDs to vote and raise the rankings of three trainees from the agency. This resulted in about 89,228 false votes being cast in the third and final rounds of voting in the first season of “Produce 101.”
The court stated, “The defendants used illegal methods to raise the rankings of their agency trainees on the audition program by acquiring false IDs en masse and forcing company employees and trainees to vote. This had an effect on the rankings. Even though the defendants had produced and planned audition-style programs themselves, they not only failed to cultivate a clear, transparent, and fair business culture, but even used false votes and other secretive methods to sow distrust.”
The way he overworked the members and made them fear for their places was probably one of the biggest causes of the tension that led to the scandal.
Again the staff interviewed by Dispatch tell a different story.
The following is the testimony of a staff member who has been close to T-ara and in his private life
'"Hyomin tried to start a conversation. She sincerely wanted to address the problem. Hwayoung saw that sincerity too. She said, ‘I got it,” she walked alone afterwards and practiced by herself. Her expression was different.”
According to this staff, the situation was thought to be resolved with that. Then Hwayoung’s unnie, Hyoyoung, sent out the text messages exactly 1 hour before Music Bank went live.