Average annual income of Korean celebrities in 2016

Info from 2016 by National Tax Service

In 2015, there were 38 male singers that belonged in the top 1%, and it was TVXQ, Super Junior, Bigbang, SHINee, 2PM, and EXO.

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Pann: Incomes of 1st tier idols in 2015

1. [+146, -2] Wow, I knew they were earning a lot but this is amazing. Look at their class, they're like from a different world.

2. [+140, -2] I can't believe some people think EXO isn't earning much ㅋㅋ

3. [+132, -2] I know it's a bull when someone says SM idols don't earn a lot.

4. [+56, -1] Chanyeol is wearing a $30,000 watch.

5. [+44, -3] Why would people worry about EXO's earnings... Do you know how much they earn per tour?

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Lee Hwi Jae says he ran into an idol couple in an elevator

Article: Lee Hwi Jae, "I saw an idol couple who got off on the same floor, they were panicked"

Source: Newsen via Nate

"When I used to live in Kondae (Konkuk University) area, there were a lot of idols there. I lived on the 6th floor. Sometimes, my wife and I went up to the 13th floor to visit my friend's couple. One day, I got on the elevator at night and I ran into a male idol who was a resident and a female idol who didn't live there. I said to the female idol, "So you also moved here. Congratulations." I talked with my wife after they left. The idol thanked me later. But the mistake they made is getting off on the same floor. If they weren't panicked, my wife wouldn't have noticed."

1. [+1137, -73] Again? He should be careful when he's talking about others...

2. [+1046, -79] Is he crazy? People can easily find idols who used to live in the same building as him ㅋㅋ It'll affect the couple and other idols will also be misunderstood.

3. [+855, -51] Watch out your mouth

4. [+79, -3] This is why he's unlikeable... He should know the limits. If you search up, you can find everything about his apartment and idols who lived there. We can even find the floor if we dig in more... Is he thoughtless?

5. [+68, -3] Honestly, I don't understand when celebrities talk like this. Not just him, but I get confused when celebrities gossip about other celebrities dating. A rumor makes a lot of people suffer. He should watch out his mouth and keep the story to himself.

6. [+52, -2] Everybody knows Lee Hwi Jae used to live in Kondae Star City because of his TV show and there was a very few idols that used to live in Star City at that time. He got a lot of hate for his mouth but he's still doing that... Amazing.

7. [+45, -0] Wow ㅋㅋㅋㅋ You can find the name of his apartment in Kondae and there was only a couple of boy groups that used to live there at that time ㅋㅋ That's a really expensive apartment so it was a popular boy group. The fans and a lot of people knew the group's dorm in Kondae ㅋㅋㅋㅋ It's easy to figure out but he's running his mouth again.

8. [+32, -0] EXO's dorm was across Konkuk University... And they lived in the same apartment as Lee Hwi Jae's family.

9. [+30, -0] I just searched up and the result popped up right away. SM boy group that starts with ㅇ.

10. [+28, -0] What the idol couple thought as they ran into Lee Hwi Jae: "Oh fuck... I'm screwed. Why Lee Hwi Jae of all people..."

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June comebacks & debuts

WJMK

June 1 - 'Strong'

Wanna One

June 4 - 3rd mini

Fromis 9

June 5 - 2nd mini 'DKDK'

ACE (sans Chan)

June 7

ONF

June 7

SHINee

May 28, June 11, June 25 - 6th album 'The Story of Light'

Kim Yongguk (JBJ)

June 13 - solo debut

Blackpink

June 15

BTOB

June 18 - mini album

Kim Donghan (JBJ)

June 19 - solo debut

Momoland

June 26

Melomance

End of June ~ Early July

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Pann: Singer lineup in June

1. [+54, -3] BTOB is releasing their song on the 11th and having a comeback on the 18th~ Please listen to them ㅠㅠ

2. [+19, -4] Thanks for the Wanna One memntion <3

3. [+16, -2] Yongguk is there ㅎㅎ Kim Yongguk is having a solo debut on the 13th with a digital single 'Clover' <3

4. [+14, -2] Thanks for mentioning Yongguk <3 Digital single 'Clover' will be released on the 13th, please listen <3

5. [+7, -1] Cheering for Yongguk and Donghan as a JBJ fan ㅠㅠ

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Korean franchises have to pay more to play music in their stores

Article: Will there be no more recent music at cafes and bakeries... "Pay 10 billion won more"

Source: SBS via Nate

With a new law, the franchises will have to pay $4~60 for "performing rights" to play music in their stores starting August 23. On top of that, Korea Music Copyright Association is also demanding the franchises to pay 2~10 billion won for the last 5 years of playing music.
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1. [+2281, -64] Those assholes are greedy. They need to undergo a tax investigation!

2. [+1928, -74] I miss the feelings when there used to be dance music playing on the street in the 90's.

3. [+1526, -81] As someone who doesn't watch TV and doesn't download music, the cafe is the only place where I get to listen to recent music. Are they insane?

4. [+135, -6] They're not even considering the fact that music playing on the street helps to promote the songs. A lot of people don't actively seek recent music, they hear songs randomly, like them, and buy them.

5. [+124, -4] From the singers' perspective, isn't it beneficial for their songs to be playing in stores? If their songs are playing here and there, it'll be exposed to the public and those who don't watch TV or listen to music will find out about them. If songs are unknown because of the copyrights, the singers will lose more.

6. [+107, -3] "Popular music" is meaningless if the public doesn't listen to it. It's not wrong to protect copyrights but shouldn't they be flexible to make it a win-win situation? There are a lot of year-end award shows and the shows are going to be their own parties.

7. [+96, -0] Just play classical music, then. It feels calm when classical music is playing in a coffee shop.

8. [+83, -5] This is why I stopped playing music in my gym. I'm also going to take down the speakers. The customers only need the TV and everybody exercises with earphones anyways. If I'm not playing music, they won't demand me to pay, will they? It's been a while since I stopped playing music but no one has complained. They actually said they like how quiet it is.

9. [+80, -2] Yeah, we can live quietly... What's the point of paying so much money to play music? Was it good to have no Christmas songs on the street in December? It ruined the business of Christmas songs. Recent songs are trash that disappear within a few years. They're not worth any penny. They should be paying me for listening to them instead ㅋㅋㅋ

10. [+76, -2] It's not like the artists are going to the stores to perform but they're demanding to be paid for performing rights. I wonder what they'll demand next time.

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Chanyeol and Baekhyun pretend streaming SHINee's new song?

EXO's manager posted a screencap of steaming SHINee's song

Chanyeol and Baekhyun used the manager's screencap to pretend they're streaming the song (the timing of the song are the same in their posts)

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Pann: EXO Chanyeol and Baekhyun are doing an insincere support for SHINee

1. [+503, -43] I don't think it's a hateful post. It's quite upsetting as a fan. If they're going to do that, it's better to not post anything at all.

2. [+439, -54] It looks obvious that they posted them because their company told them to. Both are stupid.

3. [+422, -35] They wouldn't have gotten criticized if the timing of the song was different. It's obviously a copy&paste, it's unlikeable.

4. [+193, -16] Shortly after Jonghyun passed away, Baekhyun said he didn't understand why people become depressed ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ He can't speak nor think properly.

5. [+175, -5] They were caught because of the manager ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Obviously, the manager posted the screencap in the group chat and those two members used it... They didn't think they'd get caught? So pathetic.

6. [+165, -13] SHINee must be really upset. They worked hard for the song but their hoobaes are streaming with their mouths. Two more controversies for Monthly EXO~

7. [+124, -5] EXO fans would be enraged if NCT posted a screencap of EXO's new song to pretend they're streaming ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

8. [+124, -2] Very different from this kid

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A man climbs 5 floors to save a child hanging on a balcony

Article: A child hanging on 5th floor balcony... Paris' 'spiderman' who appears like a movie

Source: Yeonhap via Nate

1. [+785, -16] "The father of the child was said to have gone shopping, leaving the child alone." Hmm.....

2. [+538, -10] A 4-year-old is too young to be left alone ㅠㅠ How did the child even get there with his short height?

3. [+51, -0] The man is an illegal immigrant but since this incident, the mayor of Paris said she will give him residency. He's also invited by the president and is going to the Élysée Palace today! The child's parents are arrested and are likely to lose their parental rights. Child abuse including leaving a child behind is 2-year sentence or 30K euros fine in France.

4. [+48, -0] I can't even imagine how a 4-year-old can be hanging on a balcony for 30 seconds.

5. [+34, -0] The child is amazing for hanging on there and the man is even more amazing.

6. [+31, -0] The neighbor ajussi can't even reach the child while the man is climbing 5 floors with his bare hands.

7. [+28, -3] I think those two neighbors could've saved the child.

8. [+24, -0] He deserves citizenship~

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Sechskies fans release a statement & ask YG to remove Ko Jiyong from profile (+ updated)

'Sechskies' former member Ko Jiyong's company is using 'Sechskies' brand without permission. For the following reasons, we ask YG to remove Ko Jiyong from 'Sechskies' profile.

1) His insulting actions of using Sechskies fans for his company events
A close associate of Ko Jiyong asked the biggest fandom community to participate in his company events by attending the events, promoting on SNS, and financially supporting them. 1000 fans attended one of the events and gave $1000, but the fans were told to act like normal participants at the event. The associate insulted the fans numerous times, and Ko Jiyong didn't bother to stop him when he was right beside the associate. Ko Jiyong asked for a group photo, and the fans were explained as normal participants for promoting the company event.

2) Using 'Sechskies' brand and fandom for getting investors
After the episode of 'Infinity Challenge', there was a poll that asked how long the effect of 'Sechskies' would last, which was revealed to be posted by Ko Jiyong's company. After that, his company released advertisements looking for investors and they said, "director Ko Jiyong's Sechskies power is predicted to last long, and his continuous communication with the members will affect the business positively." Ko Jiyong was also introduced to be "from Sechskies that holds a strength of a strong fandom", which shows that he is willing to use the fandom for his business. In the Infinity Challenge episode, his drink was included as PPL and he promoted it as "co-production of Infinity Challenge Sechskies content". Even today, on his company profile, he's listed as "former member of Sechskies".

3) Viral marketing by using 'Sechskies' trademark
Ko Jiyong's company has been using 'Sechskies' hashtag to promote their products including baby products, child books, food, glasses, bracelets, clothes, and etc. On Ko Jiyong's personal Instagram, he has promotional posts and the products are exposed with 'Sechskies' hashtag by his associates, representatives, official accounts, and unknown accounts.

4) Viral marketing by the international fandom
Due to Ko Jiyong's actions, the fandom went through a lot of pain. Since June 2017, many fans asked the portal sites to change his profile, but Ko Jiyong responded by deleting the promotional posts.
Since then, his duplicate account has been promoting the parenting show he was on and his company's products to the Chinese fandom. The posts were spread on the Chinese social media with 'Sechskies' hashtag. In December 2017, Ko Jiyong's visit to China to expand his glasses business was done by a fanmeet-like event. Sechskies fans visited his store, got his autograph, and participated in his live online shopping to buy his products. Ko Jiyong's company plans for 2019 include 'expansion of digital/physical sales' and 'expansion into the Asian market with cosmetics' and we're worried that this viral marketing will be taken place in the Southeast fandom as well.

There isn't any other group that includes a former member on their profile, and no one uses their former group for their personal business. We ask YG to edit the profile to protect the trademark rights of 'Sechskies'

DC Inside gallery of Sechskies, Yellow-On, Daum cafe 'Jekki Flower Road'

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Instiz: [Exclusive] Sechskies fans release a statement regarding to Ko Jiyong... Ask YG to remove him from the profile

- He left Sechskies because he didn't want his business to be interfered but he's on Superman and earning money off of Sechskies' name....

- Why is he doing that when he's not even promoting in the group?

- If fans turn their backs, there's a reason for it...

- I found it questionable that he was on Superman and not promoting in Sechskies...

- So it's happening... I feel bitter

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Source: Nate

1. [+320, -5] Hul, he's using the fans for his company's profits...

2. [+301, -3] Wow... I'm speechless... Using fans is the worst thing.

3. [+251, -3] It would've been good if he went on his way without using the fans... What a pity.

4. [+57, -1] I knew it was weird when he flatly said on Infinity Challenge that he was a businessman but appeared on Superman right away. I hope YG makes a wise decision.

5. [+48, -1] Ko Jiyong is the sliest one. Using Sechskies and his son, he's on TV. If he felt pressured to be on TV, he would've refused everything and live as a businessman. He wants to earn money but doesn't want to be Sechskies anymore.

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Article: YG responds to Sechskies fans' demand "We will remove Ko Jiyong from the profile" (official)

Source: Newsen via Nate

YG: "Their reunion has been 2 years already and the possibility of Ko Jiyong re-joining the group is low, so we will officially request all portal sites to edit the group's profile."

1. [+198, -2] You should've known the limits, Jiyong-ah.

2. [+163, -10] Yeah, stop appearing on Superman and I don't want to see the re-runs, either. His son is cute but Ko Jiyong's mindset is wrong.

3. [+119, -3] YG's quick feedback is nice.

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How companies bait fans

SM: I don't know what you want so I brought everything
JYP: I don't know what you want so I'm here instead
YG: I don't know what you want so I didn't do anything
Pledis: I'm trying to figure out what you want
YMC: I don't know what you want so I won't do anything
Cube: Who cares what you want
Big Hit: I know what you want so trust me and follow me

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Pann: Bait style of companies

1. [+369, -7] Pledis has another one - I thought you want this, no?

2. [+252, -17] ㅋㅋㅋ Big Hit is the best

3. [+176, -6] Ugh...
SM: I don't know what you want so I brought everything
YG: I don't know what you want so it's all mine
JYP: I don't know what you want so I'm here instead
Cube: I don't care what you want

4. [+145, -5] Big Hit ㅋㅋㅋㅋ This is from BTS' practice video of Not Today ㅋㅋㅋ They know fans too well...

5. [+140, -3] Can be explained in one picture

6. [+115, -0] YMC - I don't know what you want but I want money

7. [+88, -0] YMC - I don't know what you want so please vote

8. [+84, -0] Big Hit - I know what you want more than you do

9. [+72, -0] Woollim - I don't know what you want so I brought my type

10. [+67, -3] I think idols from Cube and Pledis get popular by their own... Seventeen, NU'EST, and Pentagon got popular by their own talent rather than the companies' work.

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Lack of lightsticks for SM's girl groups compared to boy groups

Pann: SM's sex discrimination

1. [+117, -3] It's not just this one... When SNSD's MV surpassed 200M views, there wasn't a single article about it. Taeyeon self-congratulated on her Instagram. Their discrimination is really bad.

2. [+110, -1] How can SNSD and BoA not have a lightstick? It looks severe as a non-fan ㅋㅋ I read a post where female trainees were recommending other companies because SM's discrimination is bad. I guess it's true.

3. [+76, -1] I thought they'd give SNSD a lightstick but they didn't until the end ㅋㅋ

4. [+48, -2] Don't try to justify SM's actions by mentioning sales. BoA and SNSD contributed a lot to the company. The company should give a lightstick to them for the sake of loyalty. It's not like they have a small fandom, either. They're top female artists and non-SM girl groups have lightsticks. They won't lose anything from giving a lightstick. It shows that SM treats their artists like products and gives no respect to them. I'm saying this as a long-term fan.

5. [+32, -2] People keep mentioning sales but how are you going to explain other girl groups getting lightsticks and practice videos? Isn't that a must these days? If they can't do that, then they shouldn't produce girl groups. BoA and SNSD are legends, it only looks like SM is discriminating them. So stop mentioning sales.

6. [+26, -1] MeUs all know that SM is trash.

7. [+23, -6] The point of this post isn't to complain how hoobae boy groups got their lightsticks first. It's to ask when the girl groups will finally get their lightsticks. Why are the fans of SM's boy groups getting upset over this? You can just say "yeah SM needs to give girl groups lightsticks" instead of acting like "but your sales aren't as big as the boy groups!"

8. [+21, -5] Can we mention the facts? Except EXO, all of the boy groups got their lightsticks last year and this year. People will think the boy groups got their lightsticks a long time ago. SuJu took 13 years, TVXQ took 15 years, SHINee took 10 years, and NCT took 2 years to get their lightsticks. It's either that SM needs money, got their shit together, or they're for the concerts. Since it's SHINee's 10th anniversary, they'll have a concert for sure and NCT seems like they're having one, too. There's no planned concert for SNSD and Red Velvet. Just ask for a concert and if you still don't get a lightstick, then you can beat SM up.

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Controversial figures: MoonMoon & Yang Yewon

Pann: How would MoonMoon and Yang Yewon feel right now?

1. [+403, -8] It's amazing that Lee Byung Hun hyung is promoting right now.

2. [+294, -3] If I were them, I'd want to kill myself... The entire country knows about them. One is for a hidden camera in a bathroom and another one is for being a nude model who lied about being sexually assaulted... I think both of them will change their names and disappear.

3. [+194, -0] Why the fuck would you film others peeing and pooping?

4. [+163, -6] They should date each other since one likes to film and another one likes to be filmed.

5. [+128, -1] Why would I care about a criminal who hides a camera in a bathroom?

6. [+78, -5] We have Nilo left...

7. [+77, -0] They both tried to cease down their issues but their actions backfired. They're seriously dumb.

8. [+73, -0] That's why Jo Min Ki committed suicide ㅋㅋㅋ I wish he died after getting the punishment.

9. [+71, -0] Yang Yewon hid her past, promoted as a Youtuber, and even uploaded a video of lies... I don't think her mentality is normal.

10. [+67, -0] Everybody will recognize MoonMoon's neck tattoo.

11. [+67, -0] The only solution is to emigrate.

12. [+40, -3] I hope MoonMoon and Yang Yewon get married.

13. [+40, -0] Yang Yewon is really daebak ㅋㅋㅋㅋ I watched the video and I was really worried about her and thought all men were assholes, but it was all acting ㅋㅋㅋ Speechless.

14. [+35, -1] I knew she was acting because she was trying to cry since the start of the video but there wasn't a single tear coming out of her eyes... People were just sympathetic since she was acting like a victim. She did victim-cosplay to cover her past.

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