제 22 호 Do You Like Younger K-pop Idols?
Kicker: ENTERTAINMENT
Do You Like Younger K-pop Idols?
By Ye-Dam Hwang, Reporter
Are you a fan of K-pop idol groups? If you are, then what is the mean age of the K-pop idol? Whether you are not aware of their ages, I think you may have seen the youngest members of idol groups who made people to be shocked with their ages because people worried that they are too young to be an Idol. For example, Hyein of NewJeans made her debut at the age of 14 in 2022, Han Yu-Jin of ZEROBASEONE debuted at the age of 16 in 2023, and Chiquita, the member of BABYMONSTER showed her first performance at the age of 14 in 2023. Recently, Lim Seo-Won of UNIS who debuted through the audition program “Universe Ticket” made her debut when she was 13 and now she became the youngest K-pop Idol.
An image of Lim Seo-Won in Universe Ticket
유니버스티켓 : 프로필 : SBS
Therefore, do you think that this tendency of Idols’ debuting at a young age is good? It can have some good things such as, especially for boy groups because of their military service, earning his or her spot on the K-pop music scene early in life, but I think the bad effects are bigger than the good things. Debuting at too young of an age can be harmful to the very young Idols, particularly in their educational aspect.
Idols’ Ages in the Past
Though our thoughts of Idol’s age are inclined to worry about the very young Idol, there were some who shocked the public in the past. For instance, the solo artist BoA debuted at the age of 13 in 2000, Sunmi, Hyuna, and Sohee of Wonder Girls made their debut when they were 15 in 2007. In 2008, Taemin of SHINee debuted at the age of 14, and the boy group TEENTOP showed their first performance in 2010 with the expression ‘the youngest boy group’ because their average age was 16.3 at their debut time. With their debuting ages, TEENTOP and SHINee’s debuting concept was about teenagers by enhancing their boyish images.
At the time, in spite of these examples, most Idol groups’ average debuting age was about 19 or 20, and the debuting ages of the youngest members of each group were usually 17 or 18. Also, as you can see in SHINee and TEENTOP’s case, because debuting at the very young age was not common at that time, Idol groups that had very young members often used their boylike or girllike images to enhance their music career.
The Reasons Why the Average Ages of Idol Are Becoming Younger
It is an undeniable fact that Idol’s debuting age is becoming younger. Unlike the past times, we can easily see the idol groups who have the average debuting age of 17 or 18. Moreover, the youngest members with the debuting age of 15 or 16 are now becoming common. For example, Bambam and Yugyeom of GOT7 debuted as the youngest members of the group at the age of 17 in 2014, but in 2021, Leeseo of Ive made her debut with her ‘the youngest member’ position of the group at the age of 14.
Then, why is this tendency ongoing? To answer this question, I can give three reasons why the average age of K-pop Idols started and are continuing to be younger. The first reason is the audition programs. With the hit of the audition program ‘Produce 101’ that picks some participants to be an idol, there were a lot of survival audition programs such as ‘I-LAND’, ‘Girls’ planet 999’, and ‘My Teenage Girls’. As this talent show frenzy begins, because these idol audition programs didn’t limit the age of participants, many very young girls or boys who want to be K-pop idol stars showed their performances in the program, and in reality, some very young participants became idols. Also, in the point that even the contestantswhodidn'tmakethedebut’scut can become popular with the programs, I think the audition programs of K-pop can cause the debuts of extremely young idols.
Second, debuting at the very young age can make enough time to build a music career for idols. Actually, it is a fact that getting old is a somewhat crucial matter to K-pop idols. Thus, they started to debut with the young ages to make their music career and gain more popularity and higher recognition level in their early times. This is especially true for the boy groups because of their mandatory military services in Korea. They have ample time to establish their careers before being drafted to the mandatory military services by debuting when they are young.
Lastly, relating to the second reason, the very young K-pop idol groups can make their own ‘narrative of growths’. I think many K-pop fans’ hearts go out to the idols who have the story of development of their skills. Therefore, by making and showing the story of growth and development as an idol from a very young age, they can earn popularity and get many people’s hearts.
The Bad Effects of This Tendency
Inspite of young idols’ great performances, there are some bad effects of this tendency. Since they are not adults and they are children, they can get tired easily and be exhausted by their schedule as an idol. Also, they may have to take on an image that doesn’t fit with them, such as of a mature woman. As well as these bad things, I want to focus on the bad effects in educational aspects. From the worrying-eyes about their ages, they have to receive the basic education at school and learn not only from teachers but also with friends because they are children before being idols. However, in most cases, they had no choice but to be absent or quit school because of their schedules and it can result in the lack of basic education including moral education and etiquette education. Also, this kind of lack can cause some important problems to the very young idols when they are grown up. Thus, I believe that this educational problem of young idols is now becoming significant and we need to take some actions about it.
The tendency of idols’ debuting at younger ages has started and is still continuing now. We can find three reasons for this inclination of by idols’: audition programs, building their music career, and showing a narrative of growth. Despite these reasons, the bad effects of this tendency such as young idols’ being easily exhausted by their schedule or exposed to malicious comments have a bigger impact than others. Also, the need to take some actions about the idols’lack of education is a rising issue. Therefore, because I believe this trend is worth our consideration, I hope this article will help you think more deeply about this problem.
Sources:
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/12/07/entertainment/kpop/ive-Leeseo-Wonyoung-Jang-Wonyoung/20211207154449336.html
데뷔에성공한평균연령 16세의아이돌..괜찮을까? (wisdomagora.com)
https://m.entertain.naver.com/article/109/0004895709
https://m.entertain.naver.com/article/410/0000974251
https://ygfamily.com/ko/artists/babymonster/main
