Kim Sae-ron’s death underscores the huge pressure on South Korean celebrities

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Seoul, South Korea (AP)-within about 1000 days between drunk crash in May 2022 and her death, at least the main Korean major news organizations published about 2000 stories on cinematic actor Kim Sai Rom. Rapid research in the country's press database leads to a wave of exciting headlines that show how local media often cover celebrities of grace. In the past of the brightest young stars in South Korean cinema, Kim was condemned and mocked for driving. To talk about her financial conflicts after losing roles; To take a job in the cafe; To try to return in the theater; To go out with friends instead of “showing remorse”; And to see her smiling at a collection while filming an independent movie.

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After the 24 -year -old actor was found dead at her home on Sunday, newspaper addresses expect that she will swing to call for changes in the way in which celebrities are dealt with in the public square.

Kim's death, which the police consider suicide, adds to an increasing list of the outstanding famous deaths in the country, which some experts attribute to the huge celebrities faced by celebrities under the indisputable and seized media that seizes every mistake.

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Editor's note: In South Korea, the callers can obtain advice 24 hours through the hotline to prevent suicide 1577-0199, and the “Life Line” service in 1588-9191, and “Al-Amal phone” in 129 and “Youth Phone” in 1388.

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Here is a look at the extreme pressure faced by South Korean celebrities who fall from grace.

Sudden

South Korea is harsh for its celebrities, especially women.

Kim rose to stardom as a child actress with the 2010 crime movie “The Man from Nowhere” and won praise and popularity to represent her in movies and TV drama for years.

But that changed after May 18, 2022, when Kim crashed a car in a tree and an electric adapter while driving driving in southern Seoul. I have published a handwritten apology on Instagram, and according to what was reported, it compensated for about 60 stores that temporarily lost energy due to the accident, but that did little to defuse negative coverage and fight to find an acting work.

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When a court in Seoul issued a fine of 200 million winners ($ 139,000) the accident in April 2023, Kim expressed her concerns about the media to reporters, saying that many articles about her private life were incorrect.

She said, “I am very afraid to say anything about them.”

Negative coverage is uncompromising

In the wake of Kim's collision, who is driving driving, celebrities of celebrity gossip started to publish negative videos of her private life, which indicates without providing evidence that she was exaggerating her financial strait by working in cafes, and the argument with friends means that she was not Sufficient remorse.

Other artists, especially females, have struggled to find work after running with the law, including driving driving or drug use, and experts say that many of them hesitate to ask for treatment for mental health problems such as depression, and for fear of negative coverage.

Celebration often feels impotence when coverage becomes negative after spending years in their public image cultivating. Coone, who remained with Kim's relatives during a three -day traditional funeral operation, said her family is considering taking legal action against YouTube with hundreds of thousands of subscribers to what they describe as unfounded attacks of your life.

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Peter Jongo Na, a professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, expressed his regret on Facebook that South Korean society has become a giant version of the “squid game”, and the drama of survival in the brutal Netflix, “abandoning people who make mistakes or fall behind, They behave, as if nothing happened. “

The media blamed the death of celebrities

The National Police Agency said that the officers had not found any signs of playing in Kim's house and that it had not left any note.

But a group of prominent deaths raised discussions on how news organizations cover the private life of celebrities and whether the floods of critical comments on the Internet are harmful to their mental health. Similar conversations occurred after the death of the 2008 Coi Jin-Sil movie; The death of her ex -husband to her Bibli husband, Chu Song Min, in 2013; The death of the K-Pop Sulli and Goo Hara in 2019; And the death of the “parasite”, Lee Sun Kayyun in 2023.

Hyun Jae Yu, a professor of communications at the University of Sogang in Seoul, said that exciting but unfounded demands from the media from social media are widely recycled and amplified by traditional media because they are competing for the public's attention.

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He said that the media, which is struggling with a sharp decrease in traditional media readers, turns into a YouTube drama as the easiest way to raise traffic, and often overcome reporting and verifying facts.

In the aftermath of Sulli and Goo Hara's death for 2019, which was widely attributed to online harassment and sexual harassment in both the public and the media, lawmakers suggested various measures to discourage harsh comments online. These included expanding the requirements of real name and enhancing the requirements of web sites to get rid of hate speech and wrong information, but none of these proposed laws have been approved.

Reforms are still far -reaching

South Korean administration agencies are increasingly succeeding in taking legal measures to protect artists from bullying over the Internet. HYBE, which runs many K-POP groups including BTS, publishes regular updates on the lawsuits they filed against commentators on social media that it considers harmful.

But Yu said it is very important for major media companies to enhance self -organization and reduce their use of YouTube content as news sources. He said that government authorities can force YouTube and other social media platforms to bear more responsibility for the content created by their users, including actively removing problematic videos and preventing creators from liquefy.

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In a statement to Associated Press, YouTube said it is carrying out guidance against threats, harassment, hatred and channels that violate its policies over and over again from liquefying their content or even termination.

Hugh Chanting, CEO at the Media and Human Rights Responsibility Center, said news organizations and web sites should consider closing the comments sections on fully entertainment stories.

“Her private life has been reported randomly exceeding what is necessary,” Hugh said. “This is not a legal issue of public interest.”

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