Super Junior’s Heechul enlists in the military: “A huge reality check” (Seoul Beats)

Just read a Seoul Beats article covering this latest development, whose writer Patricia interestingly mentions that “whenever a K-pop idol leaves for the army, it’s a huge reality check”:

Because let’s face it: for the most part, K-pop is the stuff of fantasy, and K-pop culture monopolizes on that fact: idols are molded to be as superhumanly perfect as possible, themes deemed too heavy for popular consumption are censored out, and things like love, sadness, and tragedy are trivialized.There’s a reason why you’ve got so many fans flocking to K-pop as a means of escape from the real world.

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But the history and politics behind Korea’s mandatory military requirement is very, very real. Whenever another K-pop star heads to the army, it temporarily breaks the K-pop fantasy and serves as a reminder that beyond the wonderful, fanciful world of K-pop, these people whom we have deemed ‘idols’ live in a country with issues that transcend beyond the triviality of who-is-dating-who and who got cheated out of a music show award.

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Korea is a lot bigger than just K-pop, and many fans who get caught up in K-pop idoldom (myself included) can sometimes forget that fact. In a way, Super Junior epitomizes all that is wonderful and fanciful about K-pop: the good-looking members, the infectiously catchy music, the shipping (the shipping!), and the legion of fans who have decidedly fallen in love with them. It’s really humbling to see this titan of K-pop fantasy begin to fall back to reality, one by one. We’ll miss them as they go, of course, but I think that seeing K-pop idols go off to the military is a good thing for both the idols and the fans. Like most Korean men who have served their time in the military, the idols return with new, matured perspectives on life and reality. Here’s hoping that the fans will do the same.

(Oh.. I just blockquoted like 75% of the article ^^)

When it comes to K-pop, for many it’s a hard fight against the inevitable descent towards the dark and lonely abyss of fandom. But you know you’ve crossed the line when you find yourself running away from home in hopes of meeting oppahr, blackmailing idols, or spamming them on Twitter. There’s no excuse to treat those we idolize like only non-reactive, non-human entities, nor as ‘entities’ we think we ‘unquestionably’ know inside-out and have complete control over… precisely the dangerous tendencies of those who’ve let themselves go a little too deep into the K-pop fantasy. And unfortunately, those tendencies don’t stop there. Take five minutes and browse through the posts of a site like Kpop Secrets and you’ll see what I mean. The world of fandom truly is an ugly one.

And it’s true what Patricia says: K-pop is NOT what Korea is all about. It never fails to leave me completely mindfacked whenever I hear fellow fans talk about the country as if the idols themselves were roaming the streets 24/7. Sure, K-pop can be seen as a force that serves a very important role for modern day Korea. But that doesn’t mean we should immediately associate aspects such as the Korean everyday life, Korean history, Korean food, Korean language — things that deserve to be appreciated on its own — to K-pop. True, understanding such aspects helps us foreign fans get a better grasp on the ongoings in the K-pop world, but to subject everything Korean to what you see in K-pop is not only ignorant, but disrespectful. 

Anyways. Heechul will be officially enlisted September 1st, and instead of active duty he’ll be instead involved in public service duties due to a past leg injury. All the best to him!