K-Pop

K-pop can refer to all South Korean pop music, but it is often used to talk about the idol industry in particular.
K-pop has an active RPF fandom. While there are many popular solo singers (Rain and Lee Hyori are just two examples), most fannish activity surrounds various boybands and girlgroups, sometimes called "Gasoos". 
== The Industry ==
Idol agencies run programs in which they train hopefuls in singing, rap, dance, and foreign languages. The agencies then decide which trainees will debut and the membership, look, and musical genre of the group they will belong to. For example, many trainees have trained for hiphop groups but end up as rappers in a pop group.This happened to members of both BTS and KARD, among other groups.
This studio-created, highly curated style is what defines idols along with their combination of music, dance, and visuals. South Korea has plenty of independent artists and groups who focus on music with no dance component, but they're outside of the idol industry.
Three of these agencies are particularly large and powerful and are referred to as the Big Three: SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment.
Aside from entertainment agencies and groups, three other types of shows are key to the K-Pop Industry. Music shows are the stage on which groups compete. Variety shows are how many idols promote and gain fans. Finally, survival shows, a type of reality show where idols compete to avoid elimination, are also emblematic of the competitive industry.
===Industry Culture===
* dating bans
* effects of mandatory military service
=== History of the Industry ===
Modern idol groups are often divided into "generations".K-Pop column 'Idology' lays out a timeline of all K-Pop generations from 1st through 4th on ALLKPOP. Posted June 13, 2020. Accessed February 2, 2024.
====First Generation====
Early 1990s-early 2000s - Seo Taiji and Boys and the rise of idol groups. 
Groups: H.O.T., Shinhwa, SechsKies, Fin.K.L, Jewelry, 1TYM, g.o.d, S.E.S.
====Second Generation====
2004-2011 - Kpop goes international, especially in Asia
Groups: 2NE1, BigBang, DBSK, Super Junior, KARA, SNSD, Wonder Girls, Miss A, INFINITE, 2PM, 2AM, SHINee, SISTAR, f(x), Block B, CNBLUE, B2ST (Highlight), 4Minute, SS501
====Third Generation====
2012-2017 - Kpop fully breaks into markets outside of Asia
Groups: BTS, Twice, EXO, BLACKPINK, GFRIEND, Seventeen, Red Velvet, WINNER, GOT7, B.A.P, Wanna One, MAMAMOO, NCT
====Fourth Generation====
2018-present 
Groups: ATEEZ, Stray Kids, The Boyz, TXT, ENHYPEN, ITZY, LOONA, IVE, NewJeans, LE SSERAFIM, aespa
==Terminology==
* akgae
* bias
* comeback
* gasoo
* sasaeng
* Fanchant
== English-Speaking Fandom ==
Because of the language barrier and difficulty accessing K-Pop media in other countries, a large part of the English-Speaking K-Pop fandom involves fan labor translating and distributing K-Pop media for other fans’ access. 
Fans with knowledge of the Korean Language translate music videos, interviews, TV appearances, and blog entries. Fans also share news and gossip about their favorite celebrities on Livejournal communities and forums. Some fans collect and share K-Pop albums through musical rotation communities.
Fans who like to dance or sing will cover their favorite group’s songs (often, when waiting to buy concert tickets or to enter concerts, these coverists will entertain their fellow fans). It is common for big fans to go to the airport to greet and catch a glimpse of their idols, and common for many fans to film performances, sometimes focusing on their bias(fancams) or other times the whole performance, and post them on Youtube with a watermark. Organized fan groups will host events at coffeeshops to celebrate anniversaries or birthdays, giving out fan-made merchandise, collecting notes for their idols to post to them, and sometimes raising money to support causes or buy gifts for the members.
K-pop fans have their own vernacular. For example, fans will often refer to their favorite member from a particular idol group as their bias. They might also use the word gasoo/gasu, which means a singer/artist in Korean, and which can refer to any singer (including a kpop idol) in general, although it does have a connotation of a “serious” singer.
There is a K-Pop secrets blog, although it is inactive.
===Music Rotation Communities===
Although less critical now that even the smallest of MVs make their music available on YouTube and even Spotify, iTunes, and the like, Music rotation communities were once an important part of K-pop fandom. For a long time, albums by Korean artists could only be purchased online through stores such as YesAsia, and so popular Korean-language music was not widely accessible outside of speciality stores. Music rotation communities (normally located on Livejournal) are maintained by a single person or a small team of uploaders who share albums (and music videos) by K-pop artists. 
=== English Fanfiction ===
While fanfic is written about various popular K-pop groups (see, for instance, DBSK), because of the large fan works community, fanfic doesn't dominate the overall fandom. Despite this, the K-Pop fandom as a whole is very large, so the overall contribution of the K-Pop fandom to fanfic is quite large.
====Where to Find It====
Out of the big three fanfic archives in English, FFN bans RPF, so K-pop fic is primarily found on AO3 and Wattpad. AsianFanfics is another major site. Mid-00s fic was often on Livejournal, while later fic was often on Tumblr and now Twitter.
Different sites have different types of fic, both in terms of which groups are popular and what types of shipping predominate.
=====K-pop on Wattpad=====
Wattpad often has het readerfic for groups like BTS.
=====K-pop on AsianFanfics=====
A lot of AFF fic is het, both with OC or reader/idol and male idol/female idol. M/M and F/F are also present. Some popular tags in 2021 are:
* EXO - 145,273
* BTS - 42,415
* Shinee - 35,676AFF popular tags list. Accessed September 27, 2021.
=====K-pop on AO3=====
Overview: Between 2010 and 2021, K-pop has gone from being a nonentity to being one of the biggest tags on AO3. Much of this is BTS fic. As is the norm on AO3, much of the fic is m/m between group members, but in the 2020s, there is a rise in readerfic, which is often het.
As of January 2024, these are the big AO3 tags:
* K-pop (637,570, up from 442,404 in Sept. 2021) - a metatag encompassing all of the specific group tags
* 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS (216,415, up from 167,189 in Sept. 2021)
* NCT (Band) (69,501, up from 49,031 in Sept. 2021)
* Stray Kids (Band) (61,492, up from 24,248 in Sept. 2021)
* EXO (Band) (50,087, up from 43,674 in Sept. 2021)
* SEVENTEEN (Band) (44,465, up from 26,898 in Sept. 2021)
* ATEEZ (Band) (23,965, up from 10,360 in Sept. 2021)
* TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band) (18,726)
* GOT7 (15,501, up from 15,113 in Sept. 2021)
* Monsta X (Band) (13,628, up from 11,562 in Sept. 2021)
* ENHYPEN (BAND) (13,269)
*Super Junior (10,848, up from 7,594 in Sept. 2021)
History:
In late October 2014, K-Pop became one of the top 5 fandoms in the Music & Bands category on Archive of Our Own, a primarily English site after reaching over 7,600 works.Fandoms on AO3, archived October 26, 2014 The fandom continued to rise in the ranks until in late October 2016 it reached reached 47,700 works and took the top spot, surpassing One Direction.Fandoms on AO3, archived October 29, 2016 In March 2018, BTS hit over 52,300 works and took the second place as well.Fandoms on AO3, archived March 12, 2018 K-Pop has maintained in the top spot, hitting over 100,000 public works in November 2017 and over 200,000 works in March 2019. As of June 2021, K-Pop has over 400,000 fics, of which over 370,000 are written in English. 160,000 of those are written for BTS, a sub-fandom of K-Pop, and the second largest fandom in the category. For comparison, the third and fourth popular fandoms are the general “Music RPF” tag and the English-speaking band One Direction.
K-Pop is popular overall on AO3, even outside the “Music and Bands” category. According to the YouTube video Largest Fandoms on AO3 Over TimeLargest Fandoms on AO3 Over Time by Thom McManus. Posted April 10, 2021. Accessed July 1, 2021. BTS became the first K-Pop fandom to crack the top 25 largest fandoms (fandoms with the most works) of any category on AO3, debuting at number 24 on February 4, 2017. BTS quickly rose through the ranks, reaching the number 10 slot on December 31 that same year. According to this video, BTS overtook One Direction as the 8th largest fandom by April 2018. They became the 5th largest fandom in May, 2020. They peaked as the 4th largest fandom starting in October 2020, before falling back to the 5th largest fandom behind Boku no Hero Academia a few months later on January 3rd, 2021. As of February, 2021, it still held that spot with almost 150,000 fics and no other K-Pop band had reached the top 25 by meeting the minimum of 41,806 fics. The overall “K-Pop” fandom was not tracked by this metric. 
In addition to regular fanfic, there is a subgroup of K-Pop Podfic in the K-Pop fanfic community with its own dedicated fans.
====Fic Timeline====
In 2011, the K-Pop fanfiction history blog Time Vault divided the history of kpop fanfiction (in English?) into the following eras:Kpop fic history] on Time Vault. Posted January, 5, 2011. (Accessed May 17, 2011.)
* CLASSIC ERA (Pre-2001)
** Popular Artists: H.O.T., Sechskies, S.E.S., Shinhwa, 1tym, FinKL, FTTS, Boa, g.o.d
** Forums: Soompi, Winglin, KMH, Funky Fanfic Library, CGIworld boards, personal sites (Angelfire, Geocities, Tripod), mailing lists (Yahoo Groups).
* OLD SCHOOL ERA (2001-2003)
** Popular Artists: Bi, Se7en
** Forums: CGI boards, forums, Writers’ Asylum, Solid07, Type-V, kpopper, The Sofa
* NEW SCHOOL ERA (2003-2005)
** Popular Artists: DBSG, Super Junior, SS501
** Forums: kpop2, LiveJournal, Xanga
* NEO NEW SCHOOL ERA (2005-2007)
** Popular Artists: Bae Seulgi, CSJH, Jang Riin, Big Bang, Wonder Girls
** Forums: Ficaholics, Shoebox, Wattpad
* POST NEO NEW SCHOOL ERA (2007-2010)
** Popular Artists: SNSD, 2PM, SHINee, MBLAQ, BEAST, 2NE1
** Forums: Tumblr, WordPress, Blogspot, AsianFanFics, LiveJournal
* NEW AGE ERA (2010-present)
** Popular Artists: BTS, EXO, Seventeen, GOT7, MonstaX, Red Velvet, BLACKPINK, GFriend
** Forums: Tumblr, Wattpad, AsianFanFics, AO3
These eras encapsulate the K-Pop fandom at the time, but do not document the more recent shifts in the fandom, for example the fact that, as of 2021, the K-Pop fandom has primarily moved to Tumblr and Twitter.
====Fanwork Events and Communities====
Fanwork events are popular within K-Ppop fandom, particularly for fanfiction on LiveJournal. While specific K-Pop groups have events individual to their fandom, there are general K-Pop fanwork events as well.
*K-Pop Olymficskpop_olymfics on LiveJournal
*K-Pop Ficmixkpop_ficmix on LiveJournal - a remix exchange
*K-Pop Prompts
*kprompts - an anonymous prompting meme
*Selca Day - selfie posting meme.
Some previous events include:
*K-Pop Big Bang
*Another big bang challenge
*Extrafictionary: An AU Challenge
*Into A Club - a kpop crossover exchange
*kacts - on LiveJournal/on Dreamwidth - a five acts challenge
*The K-Pop 100 - a drabble writing contest	
*K-Pop Ficcage - a competitive drabble writing contest
*K-Pop Valentines - a stocking-styled Valentine's gift event
*Unnideul - a pan-Asian fic prompt community focused on ladies 
*Unnie Dearest - a seasonal challenge/exchange focused on kpop girlbands/female soloists
*Kfic Collab - a collaboration challenge
*Kpop Fic Wank Mini-Bang - a mini big bang challenge	
Other communities for general K-Pop on LiveJournal:
*K-Pop Fanfics
*K-Pop Gen
*Unniefic: K-Pop Girls
*Nugufic: K-Pop new groups
*K-Pop Het
*K-Pop Like Crack - a rare/crack ships community	
*Seoulfulness - an anonymous fanworks meme
*Yokshim: YG Family Fanworks
*YG Multibang - a flexible big bang challenge for YG family writers
*Mutant K-Pop
*K-Advertise
*Fic Comms and Other Resources at kficanon on Dreamwidth	
Anon memes:
*kpopsecretmeme2 (at Dreamwidth)
*kpopsecretmeme3
*kpopficsmeme
*kficanon	
*kficrevolution at LJ
*kficrevolution at DW
*kpopficwank
*kpopficwangst	
===Pimp Posts===
Pimp posts are popular among fans, particularly when they want to promote their favorite groups, idols, or ships. 
Many have accumulated lists of pimp posts, in an effort for them to be accessible in a directory fashion.
*☆ MALE IDOL PIMP POSTS AND METAS at kpoplists on Tumblr
*Pimp Posts and Meta at kpoplists on LiveJournal
*K-pop Pimp Posts Directory by cheotil on Livejournal
*2010 Pimp Post Directory at worldvidz on LiveJournal
===Roleplay===
K-Pop has a rich roleplay community, on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.
Some examples of roleplay directories are at the following blogs on Tumblr:
*kpoprpdatabase
*kpoproleplayads
*kpoprole-playdirectory
===Other English Fan Works===
====Zines====
* Bubble Pop!
* Girl Pop!
====Gossip Sites====
*Soompi
*Allkpop
*koreaboo
==== Videos ====
* entering the kpop fandom like by ColeyDoesThings
* when your friend is a kpop fan (but you aren't) by ColeyDoesThings
==== Podcasts ====
* Ask Me About Kpop
===Online Reputation===
As the popularity of K-pop has boomed, K-pop stans have developed a reputation on the internet. They are know for their massive numbers and enthusiasm, as well as their ability to band together as a result.
Prior to June 2020, K-pop stans had a reputation on Twitter of annoying users who kept posting fancams in unrelated threads and hashtags, often using it as a sole reaction/response. However, during the George Floyd Protests in May-June 2020, K-pop stans banded together and flooded Dallas PD app used to identify protesters, as well as various pro-police and right-wing political hashtags, with numerous fancams, effectively shutting down the app and making the hashtags difficult to scroll. In response, a lot of voices on Twitter expressed admiration towards K-pop stans, and apologized for dismissing the fandom in the past. A lot of people encouraged further action in the same vein. A modified LoTR graphic started circulating on Twitter in threads discussing the fan activism showing the exchange between Gimli and Legolas with K-pop idol pasted into Legolas' place.
== Korean-speaking fandom ==
Fans in Korea are well-organized, and powerful: "There's a real sense of ownership and loyalty, and it ties these idols to their fans, up to a really weird degree. A lot of Korean boybands say "cutesy" things like "I'm married to my fans" or "my girlfriend is fanclub name]."" Comment by fivil on Musing on the bizarre "can't date anyone ever" star phenomenon in Asian entertainment. (Accessed July 30, 2009) 
Fan groups can act as powerful pressure groups when they feel it is in the interest of their idols. SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and JYP--three of Korea's major management agencies--have liaisons who work exclusively with fan clubs. Changing demographics may play a role in the increased power of fan clubs. Fan club activities include protecting stars' rights, charitable activities, and promotion. Fan clubs grow into forces of nature; mirrored at Omona They Didn't (Accessed May 6, 2010) 
Popular artists also gain anti-fans: "An anti-fan is a person who ‘hates’ a particular celebrity or icon. Anti-fanclubs, also known as virtual communities of disregard, hate listings and diss-share sites are groupings of such anti-fans." 
 A sasaeng (or sasaeng fan) is a fan who actively stalks and harasses idols to the point of invading their privacy. The term comes from the Korean word 사생활(sasaenghwal), which means private life. Sasaeng fan on Wikipedia Sasaengs in Korean fandom have also received an extremely negative reputation among English-speaking and Korean-speaking fandom alik
[Example of fan activity, positive and negative. Super Junior fan suicide, DBSK poisoning, SNSD shunning, etc. See this fail_fandom anon thread for examples and links. Another FFA link.]
==Fandom in Other Languages==
K-pop's global popularity means that it has not only fandom but fic and fanworks in many languages.
===Supporting the group===
Many international fans organize or participate in Group Orders when obtaining merch
KCON - a K-Pop convention held in Southern California.
===Fanworks===
Despite being banned, K-pop RPF does show up on FFN. Most of it is in Indonesian, and it tends to be m/m between group members.
The large Russian archive Ficbook.net has 150,614 works tagged with BTS and 49,876 with EXO, among other groups. M/M appears to be popular.
== Popular K-pop groups ==
*2PM
*2AM
*2NE1
*4Minute
*ATEEZ
*B.A.P
*Beast (B2ST)
*Big Bang (Band)
*Brown Eyed Girls
*BLACKPINK
*Block B
*BTS
*DBSK
*EXO
*f(x)	
*GFriend
*GOT7
*Kara
*MonstaX
*NCT
*Red Velvet
*Seventeen
*SS501
*SHINee
*So Nyeo Shi Dae (Girls Generations, SNSD)
*Stray Kids
*Super Junior
*T-ara
*U-KISS
*VIXX	
==Controversy==
===In K-Pop Industry===
====Racism====
=====Anti-Blackness=====
There have been scandals over cultural appropriation, like idols sporting dreadlocks, and over blatant blackface on variety shows.Blackface on South Korean TV Show (Accessed July 28, 2010)
====Mental/Physical Health controversies====
(Jine from Oh My Girl anorexia and the pressure to diet), (Sulli and Goo Hara suicides)
===In K-Pop Fandom===
====Asian Fetishization====
====Dating Controversies====
Edawn and Hyuna. The two worked for the same entertainment company, CUBE. Edawn, who was part of Pentagon, was dropped from the group as a result of the dating scandal.
=== In International Media ===
Kpop fans have also butted heads with international news outlets and journalists on multiple occasions. These instances typically arise after incorrect, sloppy reporting; insensitive comments; and racism and xenophonia.
Notable Instances have included:
* How BTS Became One of the Most Popular Bands in History - 2022 New Yorker Article by E. Tammy Kim that drew substantial backlash
* A K-pop star was photographed kissing a woman. Fans decided he should be fired for it. - 2024 NBC article by Larissa Gao
* James Corden vs BTS ARMY controversy
* Jimmy Kimmel's jokes comparing BTS to the coronavirus
=== Fan Responses ===
Over the years, fans have responded to controversies in the industry in numerous ways. One increasingly popular response involves fans renting protest trucks to drive around an entertainment agency's headquarters and display whatever message they wish to convey.
Fans will sometimes clash about which ways are proper for fans to protest. For instance, after fans started sending traditional Korean funeral wreaths to demand members' removal from groups in the Autumn of 2024, many fans criticized this practice as inhumane. One fan started a petition in both English and Korean that called for this practice to be banned after such wreaths were sent to two companies.https://www.change.org/p/protect-our-artists-in-south-korea-ban-sending-condolence-wreaths-to-living-artists
== Resources ==
*K-pop Icons
* Asian Pop Addict
*K Bites
*K-popped!
*Omona They Didn't!
*seoulbeats
*we rec fics
*All Kpop.com
*Soompi
*YesAsia
*Kpop Wiki
*K-pop fanworks metatag on AO3
== Notes ==
Category:K-Pop Fandom Glossary
Category:Fandoms by Canon Type
 
Category:Multilingual Fandom
Category:Korean Media Fandom