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Korea's Drinking Culture

to find a green bottle of soju on the table. It is not something you can choose, but a must. Koreans' Love for Alcohols According to Statistics Korea, more than 3.6 billion bottles of soju were consumed in 2017. There were 42 million Korean adults in the year, which means that every adult drank around 87 bottles of soju a year. For beer, the number is 9.14 litres (27 cans) per adult in 2017. Add up numbers of makgeolli (rice wine) and other drinks, and it would become even more surprising. 3. Why Soju? Soju was first introduced to Korea in the 13th century, during the Mongolian invasion. Back in the days, only a small amount could be distilled and it was so rare that only nobles could have it. Now soju is produced in mass production, and the price has become so low that it's almost as cheap as water. So we understand soju is widely loved here, but drinking soju alone could feel quite heavy and it might also leave you hungover the next day. It's funny how some people call soju 'a medicinal drink'. It comes from the past when only nobles could drink it and they, in fact, used it as medicine too. Reasons For Heavy Drinking Why do Koreans drink so much? Is Korea so cold that they need to drink to warm themselves up? That might be true in Russia, but Koreans drink a lot even when it's 35 degrees. Koreans drink to loosen themselves up, to feel comfortable, and to relieve built-up stress. So how high do Koreans rank on alcohol drinking rankings? According to the statistics, Seoul was one of the top 6 most alcohol-consuming cities around the world. Also, Korea consumes the most amount of alcohol per person in Asia. Why did they become such an alcohol-loving nation? When you first drink, you are likely to drink with seniors. In Korean society, when elders pour alcohol, you don't get to say no. You'll have to turn your head as a general etiquette and drink it up. As this kept on repeating for generations, everyone is trained to drink so much. Also, Koreans like to do drinking contests, until one person passes out. This created this hardcore drinking culture in Korea. Problems Of Heavy Drinking Koreans love to drink, and they drink well, but it doesn't mean they don't get drunk. If you look around at night, you will see lots of people vomiting on the streets and even in subway stations. It is quite alarming, and it will tell you how dangerous it is to be out of control because of alcohol. Take the late-night trains or buses, and you could find people who smell like soju. The smell of alcohol is bothersome to many, but it is an inevitable part of Seoul's public transportation. It's not a surprise that you can find more people at police stations and emergency rooms from Friday to Sunday. When a Korean person goes to a hospital because of a stomachache, the first question they would get from the doctor will be, "Do you drink a lot?" Drinking has caused many social problems in Korea. The biggest one would be . Many public figures have damaged their career because of DUI, but funny thing is that sometimes they get less punishment for temporary insanity because of drinking. Drinking Culture Is Changing In Korea Many believed that the punishment for committing a DUI wasn't sufficient, and the court is starting to change its attitude towards crimes committed under the influence of alcohol. Also, lots of people do not think it's cool to get drunk and many companies are losing the drinking get-togethers. Drinking could be good and relaxing if you can control yourself. If you lose control due to excessive drinking, it will be a problem. If you are travelling in Korea, avoid the drunk people on the streets, and do try to avoid being overly drunk yourself. If you have any questions or suggestions leave a comment or send us an e-mail at help@creatrip.com....

The History Behind Korea's Major Food Companies

In 1987, they started diversifying, investing in fields such as electronics, trade and heavy industry. But financial results took a hit as a result of the ventures, and they went bankrupt during the financial crisis in 1997. Haitai takes its name from the mythical animal Haetae Although bankrupt, the brand value was still there. Between 1999 and 2001, several groups offered investments, and they were eventually able to revive the brand. In 2005, Crown consortium acquired the company. Even after the take-over, Haitai could continue its operations as a separate entity, keeping its catalogue of products as well as its well-recognized name. Haitai reached another peak in 2014, when they released their Honey Butter Chip. It was an instant hit, leading to chronic shortages of the potato chips, and Crown’s market share jumped to a record 35%. To this day, it holds the number one spot among confectionary companies in Korea. LOTTE (롯데) Lotte is nowadays a global company, and it has never been purely Korean, starting its operations in Japan. Because of its history, Lotte has been targeted by some Koreans during the Japan-South Korea trade dispute that started in 2019. Having migrated to the neighboring country during the war, Shin Kyuk-ho established Lotte Group in Japan in 1948. At the time, they only focused on food products. After the normalization of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan in 1965, Shin Kyuk-ho returned to Korea to invest in Korean operations, and LOTTE Confectionery began its operations in the country in 1967. After the end of the Korean War, Lotte grew by leaps and bounds, and later in the 80s established Lotte Holdings. Lotte expanded business to tourism, petrochemistry, banking, retail, entertainment, fast food, and became famous for companies and operations such as Lotte Department Store, Lotte Mart, Lotte Food, Lotte Cinema, Lotte Hotels & Resorts and Lotte World. Although they were constantly developing new products, Lotte’s market share within the food field remained relatively small compared to other established brands. By building Lotte Marts throughout the country (needless to say, Lotte Marts will have plenty of Lotte products on the shelves), they managed to increase their sales. In the 80s and 90s, Lotte continued their expansion, fueled by their growing domestic entertainment business as well as new overseas business. In recent year, a nasty succession battle between the deceased founders’ two sons has damaged Lotte Group’s reputation. The brand took a further hit during Park Geun-hye’s presidency, when a scandal involving bribes, tax-evasion and illegal trade was uncovered. SAMYANG (삼양) Samyang was established in September 1961, and the company grew under the protecting care of president Park Chung-hee. The first product they released was Samyang Ramen. Initially priced at only 10 won, it gained a lot of attention, and it aimed to help solving post-war food shortage, as well as increase employments rates in the countryside. Throughout its history, Samyang has not only produced ramen, it has also tried its luck in industries such as diary, oil, and medical centers. Samyang steadily grew until a scandal shook the company in November 1989; Samyang Foods were exposed to have used industrial oil in its ramen. Their reputation took a heavy hit. After investigations, the ramen was declared safe for human consumption, but by the time the verdict came out, their top spot as instant noodle manufacturer had already been usurped by Nongshim. Another reason for their dethroning as the top ramen company was down to the fact that Samyang had not been able to keep up with Nongshim on the product development side. Samyang was then surpassed in 2013 by Ottogi, and again in 2016 by Paldo, and it is currently in 4th place in instant noodle sales. Samyang is currently looking to expand its overseas sales, strongly pushing their Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen (buldak-bokkeum-myeon). As a result of their efforts, they successfully broke into the Chinese market in 2014, and their sales have doubled in recent years. Another scandal involving Samyang was exposed in 2012, when it came to light that ramen companies in South Korea had been colluding to fix prices for the past 10 years. Four major instant noodle makers were fined a total of 135.4 billion won (approx. 117M USD). The biggest player in the market, Nongshim, was said to have led the collusion. Nongshim was also hit with the lion share of the fine, and almost their entire operating profit that year was lost. Samyang was the only of the four companies to avoid any fines. Why? They were the one to tip off the collusion scheme! In 2015, Nongshim succeeded in nullifying the fine imposed on them, and Samyang has since the debacle been seen as a traitor by rival noodle companies. NONGSHIM (농심) Last but not least, we will take a look at Nongshim. Nongshim was established by the little brother of Lotte Group’s founder. Initially, they operated in different fields, but when Lotte released their own instant noodles, a rivalry unfolded between the two companies. The ever popular Shin Ramyun, Ansungtangmyun and Beef Flavor Noodles all come from Nongshim. But this has become somewhat of a problem for Nongshim: these noodles were all developed in the 80s, and Nongshim has not been able to put new products on the market that can compete with their own classic noodles. In the 80s, Nongshim temporarily enjoyed a 80% market share for instant noodles. In the 2010s, Samyang, Paldo, Ottogi and other companies slowly gained ground, and Nongshim’s market share fell to around 60%. In 2017, their share further fell to under 50%, the worst figure in their history. Nongshim’s products are sometimes said to be outdated, lacking in competitiveness, but there is more to it than that. Nongshim’s public image has taken a hit by reports of insects found in their products, and traces of radiation has also been reported. After they tweaked its Shin Ramyun recipe, many people have said that the flavor is not as good as it used to be. And there is also the collusion scandal that led to Nonshim being fined 107.7 billion won (approx. 92M USD) in 2012, resulting in operation profits of that year more or less vanishing. Nongshim have tried many things to increase sales: TV commercials, price cuts and improved recipes. But the reception from consumers has been lukewarm, and many still say that the taste of their products is not what is used to be. Not only have they reduced ingredients in their products in order to reduce price, tweaking and trying to improve the flavor has also been a conscious choice. But in the end, these changed have ended up hurting Nongshim. This article has examined the history of some of the most famous Korean food companies. There are many other food makers: Ottogi, Paldo and Orion to mention a few. Do you have any favorite brand? What is your instant noodle of choice? If you have questions or comments about the blog post, please leave a comment below or email us at help@creatrip.com....

Top 50 Highest Paying Jobs In Korea

95 million won Korean Medicine Doctor 92.23 million won Upper Level Civil Servant 92.01 million won CEOs and other top management of companies in the private sector are included in Execute Management pocketing around 128,000 USD. On place number three we find Maritime Pilot (110,000 USD), a famously dangerous but well paid profession. Other highly prestigious and well paid professions include airplane pilot (91,000 USD), upper level civil servant (80,000 USD) and surgeons (96,000 USD). Needless to say, the competition to get any of these jobs is fierce! RANK 11-20 Note: The numbers below are median salaries and conversions to USD are rounded. Profession Annual Salary Financial Management 89.39 million won Radiologist 88.53 million won University Principals/ Deans 88.52 million won Psychiatrist 87.83 million won Otolaryngologist87.70 million won Plastic Surgeon87.23 million won Market Research Management 87.15 million won Professor (Humanities) 86.22 million won Lawyer 85.53 million won Professor (Natural Science) 83.48 million won We are not surprised that doctors and surgeons are well represented among the top-earners in Korea. Other professions that many dream of are university professor and lawyer (75,000 USD). Getting employment at a law firm is not an easy feat, but once you land a position, your starting salary will equal or surpass the starting salary of employees of corporate giants in Korea. RANK 21-30 Note: The numbers below are median salaries and conversions to USD are rounded. Profession Annual Salary Family Physician82.94 million won Professor (Education)81.55 million wonGeneral Practitioner81.00 million won Professor (Medicine)80.17 million won Judge79.67 million won Pediatrist79.62 million won Accountant78.39 million won Professor (Engineering)78.35 million won Gynecologist77.57 million won Anesthesiologist76.61 million won Moving on to place 21-30, doctors continue to dominate the list. But perhaps more curious is that judges (69,000 USD) seem to earn less than lawyers in Korea. Similar to lawyers, once you earn your certification as an accountant (68,000 USD), your starting salary is relatively high. RANK 31-40 Note: The numbers below are median salaries and conversions to USD are rounded. Profession Annual Salary Helicopter Pilot76.53 million won Professor (Sociology)75.44 million won Urologists74.59 million won Junior High School Principal – Vice Principal72.38 million won Philosophy Scholar72.13 million won Professor (Arts and Sports)72.09 million won Pro Sport Athlete70.71 million won Foreign Currency Trader69.70 million won Civil Servant Management69.52 million won Pharmacist69.11 million won Here we find that pro athletes (62,000 USD) also belong to the big earners. This number reflects the fixed salary (bonuses included) that they receive from their employers, but of course many have additional sources of income, from commercials and other. RANK 41-50 Note: The numbers below are median salaries and conversions to USD are rounded. Profession Annual Salary Dermatologist68.84 million won Middle Management (Public and Private Sector)68.75 million won Military Officer68.63 million won Financial Assets Trader68.17 million won Financial Instruments Developer68.17 million won General Affairs, HR Management67.64 million won Elementary School Principal, Vice Principal 67.27 million won Government Think Tank Analyst 67.08 million won Movie Director66.61 million won Planning, Advertisement Management66.19 million won As we can see, military officer (58,000 USD) is also a high-paying profession. Movie director (58,000 USD) refers to directors who have landed a contract for productions. Their salaries may seem high, but actually many high earners in Korea work within the huge entertainment industry. In this article, we have presented the top 50 highest paying professions in Korea. With the cut-throat competition starting already from young age, landing any of these jobs is not an easy task. Do you have a friend in Korea with any of these jobs? We're sure that they have been through a lot to reach their current position. Find Us On Social Media ...

Cafeterias At Korea's Big Entertainment Agencies | What Company Employees & Idols Eat At Work

variety of dishes! Can we also talk about the cafeteria's decor? It reminds me of a luxury restaurant rather than a company cafeteria. Great food and decor, plus running into JYP's idols during meal times, working at JYP is packed with benefits! YG EATERY TRENDING AMONG CELEBS YG's cafeteria, which has been famous for years for its great food, is a place non-YG idols want to visit and taste! YG's artists like G-Dragon, Winner and BLACKPINK have talked about the great food at their cafeteria on many occasions and its popularity hasn't died down. On Infinity Challenge, Jeong Hyeong-don visits the cafeteria with G-Dragon and calls Haha, knowing eating at YG's cafeteria on his bucket list, to brag about how delectable the food is! BLACKPINK members on a radio show in 2017 talked about the cooks' talents and said they sometimes even ask to have the to take home! As YG moved to a fancier building in 2020, many were curious about their new cafeteria. According to an announcement made by YG, the entire second floor resembles a modern restaurant that's very spacious. In , you can catch a glimpse of the new cafeteria at the YG building for the first time, and the food still looks delicious. As expected, YG cafeteria food's high reputation isn't changing anytime soon. SM A RESTAURANT OPEN TO EVERYONE SM Town Cheongdam's SUM Cafe is a popular local spot open to the general public. Because SM doesn't have an in-company cafeteria like the two mentioned above, its employees get 50% off at the cafeteria instead. SUM Cafe is beautifully decorated in pink and offers a variety of items on the menu! You'll find a lot of pictures on IG when you search for the cafe. Try the food often enjoyed by SM idols and take a look around the goods shop located in the same building! HYBE AIMING FOR THE TOP SPOT When HYBE was Big Hit, they didn't have a cafeteria at their company. But as of January 2021, the new HYBE building at Yongsan officially opened a huge cafeteria. This is the picture that went viral on social media. These meals are served at the new cafeteria! Don't they look like they're from a high-class restaurant? HYBE's new cafeteria is responsible for their employees' daily meals. Their menus are very diverse. In addition to Korean food, they also serve Japanese, Chinese, Western, and fusion foods. What's even more surprising is that all these fancy meals are only 2,000 won! It's hard to find a good sandwich in Seoul for 2,000 won but employees at HYBE get to enjoy such high-quality meals at affordable prices. A new YouTube video by features TXT and Park Joon-hyung touring the new HYBE cafeteria. The photo above is only a small part of the whole cafeteria, so it's super spacious! The cafeteria is located on a very high level of the building, so the view is spectacular. They can enjoy a beautiful view of the Han River while eating delicious meals. In fact, employees at HYBE said they save a lot of money thanks to the cafeteria since they don't eat out at other restaurants anymore. FEEL GHOOD MUSIC A GENEROUS MEAL ALLOWANCE Feel Ghood Music is run by Korea's 1st generation rapper Tiger JK and is home to artists like Yoon Mirae and BIBI, and offers unique benefits to its employees! Korea's average meal allowance covered by the company is around 7,000 won (Approx. 6.3 USD) but at Feel Ghood, employees get a meal allowance of 13,000 won! Tiger JK said he didn't have a lot to eat when he was poor and he wanted to offer his employees a generous meal allowance to make sure they don't get the same feeling of going hungry and lacking food. What did you guys think of these company cafeterias? Which one would you want to visit? I would love to enjoy a nice, organic meal at JYP....

Comparing The Dance Practice Rooms Of 4 Big K-Pop Entertainment Agencies

March 22nd. Many fans were wondering what the practice room of their new building would look like. Then on March 31st, the choreography video of was released, revealing the new and improved practice room! It looks like they can practice not only their choreography for the music show broadcasts, but also for their concerts that require bigger movements. We're all looking forward to what kind of choreography BTS and many other idols will show in their new practice rooms! 😃 SM TVXQ, Super Junior, Girl's Generation, SHINee, EXO, Red Velvet, NCT, and Aespa! What kind of practice room does SM entertainment with so many popular artists have? This is the choreography video of from EXO's debut album. The footage above shows the former SM practice room where young EXO members showed their best moves 10 years ago. If you have been a fan of SM artists for a while, you will be quite familiar with this room! It's a place that appeared a lot in the practice videos of SM's 2nd generation Kpop idol groups TVXQ, Super Junior, Girl's Generation, and SHINee! Among SM idol fans, there was a popular equation of SM = Cloudy Wall that was going around. Key from SHINee even showed this infamous wall in a variety show and joked, "You all know this wall, right?" 🤣 The legendary choreography video of was also filmed here. You can feel how much time went by in these videos, right? This video was from 10 years ago! Besides, at this time, they uploaded their raw footage of practice videos. These days, a lot of idols film a separate high-quality choreography video to upload. But back then, they filmed their choreography for themselves to check, and uploaded it! Just like this video. Of course, these days the videos are better quality, but the past choreography videos feel more authentic. So there are a lot of fans who miss these types of videos! The room where was also filmed at is a famous space that is often seen in old choreography videos of SM. This practice room is a little bigger than the room with the cloud background, so choreographies like may benefit from the extra space. However, this place rarely appears in any videos ever since 2016 when SM Entertainment built a new office building. seems to be the last choreography video that was filmed here. So what do SM's practice rooms look like now? Since there are so many artists in SM, the office building and practice rooms are divided into several rooms. Out of those, I will show you the three that are most frequently shown in the media. The is the first room! The room where was filmed is one of SM's practice rooms that have appeared in videos from 2017. This place which appeared in is very spacious. Unlike most of the other practice rooms that are underground and do not have windows, this stands out as it has a large window. This room where was filmed, is also one of the newer spaces. It is definitely more spacious and neater than the room before, right? was also filmed here. This room seems to be the most used by NCT than other groups. If you are a fan of SM artists, you will probably know all about this practice room! It is a place that has appeared not only in choreography videos but also in various media. was also filmed here! As you can see from choreography video, this practice room is very large for its artists to freely move around. Since there are many types of equipment installed in the back, they also prepare for larger concert performances here. According to public records, SM Entertainment plans to relocate its office to Seongsu-dong, Seoul, where Seoul Forest is located. I'm already excited to see what their new practice rooms will look like! 3. YG Now, shall we look at YG's practice rooms? Shown in order are , , choreography. All three songs are about 10 years old. The unique dark lighting is the main characteristic of YG. After, was filmed here. choreography was also filmed here. Doesn't this practice room proudly boast a long history? Of course, BLACKPINK also followed their dreams in this practice room. Their debut song, choreography was filmed here. In the previous practice room, the background was just a simple wall. But in the practice video, you can see blinds with the BLACKPINK logo that have been installed. Afterward, and choreography videos were filmed here. YG maintained its unique dark lighting. YG has been using their practice room for over 10 years. Then last year, the news that YG built a new office building with a size of 6,000 pyeong (19834.71 square meters) broke through. And fans were very excited to see what the newly renovated practice room will look like. In the choreography video of , filmed last September, the practice room of the new office building was revealed for the first time! There are a total of 7 practice rooms in YG's new office building. It is said that it was prepared so that each artist can have a separate room for them to practice. The previous practice room looked a little narrow, but doesn't their new rooms look way more spacious? The LED screen in the back is also really impressive. When this was filmed, the office building was still under construction so they had to use BIGBANG's practice room instead. The choreography video of for their recent comeback was filmed in the new practice room for iKON. Clearly, it looks much bigger than the previous one and the facilities look amazing too! What does BLACKPINK's practice room look like? You can see it in their choreography video! Doesn't the background look like a European castle? It fits their image very well. The room also looks spacious enough for them to practice their choreography! Looking at the practice rooms in the new office building, I can feel that YG works hard to support its artists! I am looking forward to seeing more artists that will showcase their talent in high-quality videos! 4. JYP Lastly, shall we look at JYP's practice rooms? The very early stages of JYP practice rooms looked like this. This video is from choreography video from 2009! At this time, uploading choreography videos weren't really a thing yet so it feels more authentic! After that, JYP's practice room gets remodeled and transformed! and were all filmed in their new space. TWICE also used this practice room since their debut. The biggest downside of this room is that it's pretty narrow. TWICE's and choreography don't even involve too much movement, but you can feel how small the space is. If you look at choreography video it's clear that it's too narrow for dance practices. They even bumped into the wall a couple of times during the choreography. Perhaps that's why when their choreography requires a lot of movement, they use a different room. In , they seemed like they used a different practice room. Also, as a side note, JYP has a practice room with white lights on a black wall. It mainly appeared in Stray Kids, and SIXTEEN, a program before TWICE's debut. Perhaps, this is the space that mainly trainees use. This is a video from choreography practice. It is a lot wider, right? It completely eliminated the previous downsides of the practice room. The lights with JYP on the ceiling and the red wall are quite impressive. Since the space got bigger, artists can have more space to move around in choreographies like . There is a secret behind this room. If you watch video, you can see that the two spaces are combined. The red wall we saw above was what actually divides the two spaces. So, when practicing choreography for a large stage, they can raise the wall up to make the space wider! Isn't that really cool? There is also a light blue room such as the one shown in video. There are so many practice rooms in JYP, a small gray studio that filmed and a large studio that filmed . Having a clear concept in each practice room seems to be the most important feature that sets itself apart from other agencies! Today we looked at the history of HYBE (Big Hit), SM, YG, and JYP's choreography practice rooms. What was your favorite? Usually, I enjoy watching practice videos of idols. Watching these videos make me realize once again how much work they put in behind the scenes! What is your favorite dance practice video? Let us know down in the comments below! I'll be back with more fun content next time, thank you for reading!...

Not All Glitz & Glamour: The Reality Of Working At K-pop Entertainment Companies

HYBE went through the process of rebranding their entire company from Big Hit to HYBE. It was announced that they had created a culture where members with various professions can work together creatively. Also, they rebranded the company to pay attention to the working conditions of not only the artists but also the employees. Considering that the welfare and salary received a rating of 3/5, it can be judged as decent. So most of the strengths of HYBE are centered around the fact that they are a fast-growing company with increasing opportunities. Also, the welfare and salary of the company are relatively good compared to other entertainment companies. They try to create a comfortable work environment. However, the cons of working for HYBE reviewed by its employees seem awful! First of all, there seems to be no work-life balance at all. And although they emphasize that they allow their employees to have creative freedom, it seems that the employees are experiencing the opposite. They reviewed that most of the decisions are made by the people on top and they just follow their orders. The title "HYBE - BTS = 0" is very intense and you can feel the rage coming from the employee. YG What about YG? YG Entertainment rose to the top when BIG BANG and 2NE1 debuted 10 years ago. They're not disappearing anytime soon with the continued success of BLACKPINK, WINNER, TREASURE, and iKON. Founded: 1996.05.20 Number of Employees: 315 Revenue: 285.8 billion won (Approx. 255 million USD) Salary: Average of college graduates: 20 million won (Approx. 25k USD) Average of all employees: 31 million won (Approx. 28k USD) Business Size: Medium How is YG Entertainment evaluated by its current and former employees? A total of 257 reviews can be found on the website with a rating average of 2.3 out of 5. Welfare and Salary: 2.2/5 Work-life Balance: 2.1/5 Company Culture: 2.3/5 Opportunities for Advancement: 2.5/5 Management: 1.9/5 According to the reviews, the company recommendation rate is 23%, the CEO support rate is 25%, and the growth potential rate is 19%. Title A company that makes a living out of its brand name value of being a large entertainment company. Pros You can brag to people that you work at YG. Cons Working overtime is expected even though you get paid a low salary. Existing employees act extra pretentious and authoritative. Title It has brand name value so I don't need to go in-depth about the company. Has good company image. Pros The new office building is awesome. Feels like working for a large company. The company provides lunch, dinner, and late-night snacks. Cons Has a lot of employees who have worked at the company for a long time and acts like they're above everyone. Even if you don't work hard, if you suck up to your boss you will be comfortable at work. Title A company that has a history but no records of their internal work history. Pros A youthful, lively company culture. Events for new hires. Cons Even though the culture is overall youthful, the work atmosphere is oppressive and there is a lot of pressure. Proper training and records of work history are non-existent. Unsure of what's right or wrong. They don't think their employees are important so there is a high turnover rate. Too much work. It affects your health and personality. YG recently moved its headquarters to . The office building is gigantic and they are well-known for their amazing facilities. The most famous part of their company is the cafeteria. Not only the reviews mentioned above, but all other reviews online constantly praise the food at the YG cafeteria. My friend also works at YG and frequently uploads on social media that he only attends work to eat. In addition, YG has established itself as the best entertainment company in Korea for 20 years. There are many reviews that speak highly of their brand since most people know YG Entertainment. But YG also has its disadvantages. Similar to HYBE, its employees have reviewed that the work-life balance does not exist. Many people also feel that the culture is oppressive and does not allow for creative freedom. Also, a lot of powerful statements were made that said, "Take care of your employees too, not just your artists." Since they are an entertainment company that revolves around its artist's success, the efforts of the employees that support the artists often go unnoticed. The reviews reflect the frustration of the employees as they feel that they aren't treated with much importance. SM SM Entertainment was at the forefront of K-pop when idols were first introduced in Korea. It has since continued to rise in success and has numerous artists to this day. Founded: 1995.02.14 Number of Employees: 498 (As of March 2021) Revenue: Approx. 302.6 billion won (Approx. 270 million USD) (As of December 31, 2020) Salary: Average of college graduates: 31 million won (Approx. 27k USD) Average of all employees: 41 million won (Approx. 36k USD) Business Size: Medium For reference, the reason why YG and SM are classified as medium-sized companies despite having lower sales than HYBE is that YG and SM have been at the top of the entertainment industry longer than HYBE and have consistently achieved high average sales. It's predicted that HYBE will be classified as a medium-sized company in the near future. How is SM evaluated by its current and former employees? A total of 387 reviews can be found on the website with a rating average of 2.4 out of 5. Welfare and Salary: 2/5 Work-life Balance: 2/5 Company Culture: 2.4/5 Opportunities for Advancement: 2.3/5 Management: 2.1/5 According to its reviews, the company recommendation rate is 25%, the CEO support rate is 40%, and the growth potential rate is 20%. Title A company that has a strong mindset of "there are many others that can do the job if you can't." All positions start as contract workers. Pros Pays 20,000 won for your phone bill. Pays 10,000 won for meals if working overtime. Sometimes if an artist releases a new album, their manager will give you a signed copy. Cons Clocking in exists, but there's no clocking out. Whatever the people at the top tell you to do, you do it. They don't see the importance of people. Title Fun. It's fun. But only fun. Don't start working here with high expectations. Pros If you love the entertainment industry and K-pop content you will have fun. Your work efficiently improves naturally because there's too much work. Cons Inefficient work. Working overtime doesn't exist, it's more like living at the company and working day and night. Title Very old-fashioned organizational culture. There needs to be a change. I often feel overwhelmed when work is dumped on me last minute. Pros Since there are so many artists, you can work on various content. The scope of the work is very wide so you can find yourself working on new things that you didn't think were possible. Cons A vicious cycle of producing/planning/publishing and struggling to manage so many artists. 'Do what you're told' attitude. Poor salary that provides no motivation. SM was considered one of the biggest and best Korean entertainment companies before HYBE grew its success. It has a great brand name value since they've produced numerous artists over 20 years. However, because of this, the old-fashioned organizational culture still remains. Like other entertainment companies, they lack an efficient system to get work done which is considered a major problem. Also, since there are much more artists at SM compared to other companies, there's a high amount of work to get done. This is a problem since its employees are overloaded with work. The dissatisfaction rate seems high because the salary is low considering the amount of work. Most reviews reflect that they are only holding on because of their love for K-pop and the industry. JYP JYP is one of the representative entertainment companies in Korea where various idols such as TWICE, Stray Kids, and Day6 are active with Park Jin-young in the center of it all. Founded: 1997.11.18 Number of Employees: 246 Revenue: Approx. 130 billion won (Approx 116 USD) Salary: Average of college graduates: 32 million won (Approx. 28k USD) Average of all employees: 41 million won (Approx. 36k USD) Business Size: Small/Medium How is JYP evaluated by its current and former employees? Based on a total of 133 reviews on the website, it received a rating of 2.5/5. Surprisingly, 2.5 is the highest score among the four entertainment companies. Welfare and Salary: 2.3/5 Work-life Balance: 1.8/5 Company Culture: 2.6/5 Opportunities for Advancement: 2.7/5 Management: 2.4/5 According to its reviews, the company recommendation rate is 26%, the CEO support rate is 55%, and the growth potential rate is 13%. Title A company I would recommend if you want to work in the entertainment industry because they care about ethics. Pros It varies from each department but usually, you're free to use your vacation. Delicious foods at the cafeteria. A welcoming atmosphere that values the opinions of their employees and tries to accommodate them. Cons Vacation is more like working from home. Work-related calls even on weekends. Title The atmosphere and culture vary depending on each department. Recommended for those that are passionate about the entertainment industry. You don't get to rest on weekends or at night during busy seasons. One of the very few entertainment companies that stick to ethical principles. Pros Delicious meals. They don't make you do anything unethical. Will quickly increase your understanding of the entertainment industry. Cons No work-life balance. Very low salary for new hires. Work-related calls even on weekends. Title Among entertainment companies, they are one of the very few that think of their employees. The name Park Jin-young says it all. Pros Book purchase fees are provided. Company welfare is not bad for an entertainment company. The representative is not authoritative. Cons Long work hours and a lot of work. Physically more tiring than mentally. Low salaries If you're a fan of JYP Entertainment, you've probably heard of Park Jin-young's strong stance on ethical principles. Park Jin-young has always emphasized good character and ethics not only for the artists but also for the employees. In the past, he appeared on a program and revealed that he once told his employees, "The moment you walk into an establishment where women are there to serve and entertain, consider yourself fired." This was a surprise since there are many other companies that will let unethical things slide behind closed doors. But thanks to these values upheld by Park Jin-young, JYP's work culture seem to be relatively good compared to the other companies. The company culture and opportunities for advancement are rated higher than others. Unfortunately, like other entertainment companies, JYP Entertainment also doesn't seem to have a work-life balance. Even though they say that they are allowed to use their vacation freely, you can get a sense of the intensity of their workload from their reviews of receiving work-related calls on weekends and holidays. Like other companies, the salary is also pretty low. THE K-POP ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY Do the issues only apply to big entertainment companies such as HYBE, YG, SM, and JYP? Absolutely not. In fact, the problems listed above all apply to other companies in the entertainment industry. We looked at the results on JobPlanet when you search for different entertainment companies. Pledis Entertainment, Jellyfish Entertainment, Cube Entertainment, and Woolim Entertainment all received low ratings ranging from 2.3 to 2.5 out of 5. You can see that other companies are even worse than this! Let's summarize the main issues at entertainment companies: 1. Too much workload. 2. Your evenings, weekends, and vacation is not guaranteed. 3. Low salaries. 4. No proper system in place. 5. All decisions are made by the top and passed down. 6. They prioritize their artists and don't treat their employees well. This is the reality of most entertainment industries. So people that love K-pop and the glamorous entertainment industry enter the company with big dreams, but they end up leaving within a few years. They feel that the mental and physical stress is not worth their small paychecks. Earlier when introducing the four major entertainment companies, I mentioned the average annual salary of college graduates and all employees. For college graduates, the average salary is around 31.3 million won (Approx. 28k USD). According to Job Korea, the annual salary of new college graduates in large companies is about 41.21 million won (Approx. 36k USD) as of 2021. As for smaller companies, the average salary is about 27.93 million won (Approx. 25k USD). It can be said that the average salary of college graduates at an entertainment company is a little higher than a small/medium-sized company. However, considering the overwhelming amount of workload and long working hours, their salary is considered to be low. Apart from the people in higher positions, it is said that the longest an employee stays at a company is less than 5 years. Therefore, it gets difficult to set a proper system in place and the culture becomes very authorative. The reputation of working at these entertainment companies is not great. Even when I went in for a job counseling session at my college, they advised me to not even look in the direction of entertainment companies. It's shocking to hear that the 4 major entertainment companies in Korea that I introduced above are considered the best out of them all. In order for K-pop to develop further and produce more creative content, of course, the artist's talent is important but the employees that work behind the scenes at these companies are important too. If the issues are not resolved, it's going to be an endless, vicious cycle of its workers getting burnt out thus affecting the quality of the content produced. Source: sedaily There are various jobs within an entertainment company, such as management, content planning, production, and marketing to name a few. If you want to know more about what it's like to be a manager of a K-pop idol, you can read our blog Were you shocked reading about what it's like behind the scenes working for these K-pop entertainment companies? Growing up I had dreamt of working for one of these companies as I'm a huge fan of K-pop, but the more I learned about what the work culture was like, I was devasted. As much as I support K-pop idols, I also hope that their employees will also see a change in the work culture and their days of being unappreciated will come to an end....