The recent death of 2 of Korea’s rising young starlets, U-Nee and Jung Da Bin, has left everyone wondering why. We question why such beautiful young stars would end their own lives. In hopes of making sense out of the tragic situation, some blame the netizens, some blame the industry and others blame the stigma associated with depression treatment in S. Korea, but how accurate are their claims?
It was reported that netizen’s harsh criticisms fueled U-Nee and Jung Da Bin’s depression, which lead to their suicides, but doesn’t that come with the territory? Receiving both positive and negative comments about looks, fashion and lifestyle is a part of their glam careers and without public’s constant interest, stars wouldn’t be stars, they’ll be just one of us. Of course, I can’t imagine how much it hurt these girls when they saw their “before and after” pictures online and read nasty remarks about their facial features after their surgeries, but all celebs go through that.
There are hundreds of websites dedicated to exposing stars’ before pictures. You can find graduation, debut and even find baby pictures to check whether or not your favorite star is a “natural beauty” or a “plastic beauty.” The netizens did not single out these two actresses, in fact, they poke fun at all celebs because they are interested, and we all know that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Comedian Park Whee-Sun and announcer Kang Su Jung commented that no comment is more fearful than negative comments from netizens because it demonstrates lack of interest.
The relationship between stars and the public is a very delicate one and dumping all the blame on the netizens seem like a desperate attempt to make sense of U-Nee and Jung Da-Bin’s suicides. The negative remarks probably made them feel bad but I doubt that they are solely responsible for their depression. Other circumstances prior to their deaths were probably more important and instead of jumping to conclusions or wrongly accusing one group of people, we will focus on understanding various circumstances they faced prior to their deaths in hopes of understanding their tragic decisions.
This is the beginning of our dialogue about U-Nee and Jung Da-Bin’s death and we would like to encourage all of our readers to contribute to make this discussion more valuable to everybody.
When I was living in Korea, I experienced the ostracism of some of my closest South Korean friends because I confessed my feelings of depression to them. I couldn’t believe their reactions; they wanted me to just pretend everything was o.k. or else that was it and our relationship was in jeopardy.
After losing my girlfriend and two close guy friends due to my depression, I am still shocked at the culture of denial that exists in South Korea. I think this is the number one factor that leads so many unfortunate souls to taking their own lives in that country. People set themselves up for disaster by holding themselves to a standard of perfection and actually believing they will and MUST achieve it or all is lost. This is also the reason why so many young people feel compelled to let surgeons butcher them–they can’t accept who they actually are. Their lives are not their own to live.
If Korea is ever to heal, this destructive element of the culture must be confronted and rejected. When someone needs help, you HELP them. You don’t treat them like a leper.
My deepest sympathies go out to Miss Lee and Miss Jung and their families.
im still under of “not believing” thing of da bin’s death. i really adore her, well u-nee too.. well i think some people do over citicize the stars by their before and after look thinking that eventhough they are public figure thay can say whatever they want… grrrr.. . i really dont want to hurt someone so i just choose to control myself to whatever i say.. im pointing out to those people who always criticize other. so i just pray to god for their souls… may god saves their souls.. ^;^
great idea this site.
I think it’s a pity that depressions get to such points where people wnat to end their lives…it’s true that they may have been sad for the bad criticism of netizens…but they should have felt the love of their fans too, I mean, they touched the hearts of people everywhere, even in a far country as where I live, Spain, they were known by some people who were crazy about them. Their deaths are such a pity, I hope korean society can really change the preassure on their entertainment industry.
My beautiful young Korean wife took her own life as she was trying to break into TV and movies from the theater. I am so sad to see that the trend continues with Da Bin and U-nee.
I cannot comment about them, but my wife was under intense pressure from her manager to undergo plastic surgery to achieve the “look”. Who demands this look? The Korean fans who then criticize it, or managers who want to be seen with a perfect young woman.
Of course the other hideous fact of the Korean entertainment business is the “casting” couch. Most people seem to deny this but every time my wife came home after an audition she told me how her manager encouraged her to “spend time” with some producer, sponsor, suger daddy, fat old chaebol executive etc. Even for a miserable pamphlet photo shoot, the client company ad. manager wanted to sleep with her. She was told by some young man associated with the S. group elite that he could buy her at any price. My wife resisted all this filth, and needless to say she did not make a career in entertainment. The pressure of these disgusting managers, and her guilt about spending all her time with them rather than me, drove her to suicide (among many other reasons).
I do feel so sorry for any woman in Korean society who wants to get on, and revulsion of arrogant Korean males in influential positions who feel it is the right to have any young woman they choose.
Last empress- I am very sorry to hear about your loss. I also have friends who are in the entertainment business and the reasons that you gave were the same reasons why they got out of it……no person can stand that type of pressure for too long.
Wow to ^^ ~ I had no idea that the entertainment industry was like that. I guess I’m pretty naive when it comes to things like this but that’s just disgusting.
I’m sure that what happened to them was personal and of course on some level had to do with negative comments but they’ve both been in the industry for awhile now – so they would’ve been more used to it I guess. I remember on U;nee’s cyworld – in her minihompy – she had many people in it…but almost all of them were wearing masks. I thought that was really a big indicator that she was hiding from everyone who she really was…compared to her photo shoots and her candid shots – she didn’t seem like the same person.
With Jung Da Bin – I have no idea – but I really was looking foward to her next drama/movie. It’s just sad that they had to end their lives…
Omg! i cant believe they died , but i dont really think that this is commit suidice because both U-nee and Da bin died the similar way,i mean, think about it like they may have been under a lot of pressure but they cant kill their selves like that! I also heard that Da bin planned her summer , she was going aboard with her friends and she decided to play on the upcoming drama, if she was going to kill herself like that, why do you think she planned those summer vacation and stuff? And U-nee , i never really thought that she was under a lot of pressure , her carrier was going great , why do you think they killed their selves for no reason? Also , 2 years ago Lee eun joo died too , the same way, but she at least left a note to her mom saying ” mom, im sorry and i love you” . They could have done that , but they were no sign . So, i hope you guys think about it carefully . T_T