The Korean Pop industry seems to have a dark underbelly, Goo Hara’s recent suicide shook South Korea as a whole as it came only a short while after Sulli’s reported suicide.
This second suicide has done much to raise awareness regarding mental health and the large amount of scrutiny that idols and celebrities have to undergo.
Cyber crime investigator Jeon Min-su, states, “It’s rather simple with physical violence, as the victim can go see a doctor, but with cyber violence, there is no cure.”
The police consider cyber crime and bullying to be an extremely serious offense and have taken measures by initiating active programs that work to educate the public regarding online attacks and the damage they cause to the parties on the receiving end.
There have been a total of 150,000 cases received last year on cyber crime charges but these cases don’t even represent a minuscule portion when compared to the vast pool of online bullying and cyber crime that is actively occurring around the country.
One of the biggest reasons perpetrators go unpunished is due to the lack of available resources, for the inflicted.
Another speculated reason as to why Goo Hara and Sulli became more entangled in cyber bullying has been appropriately summed up by comedian-turned-counsellor, Kwon Young-chan.
He stated, “After the artists began performing solo, they had to deal with depression and attacks against them all on their own.”
