“Brainwashed” Boy Group Member Blames JY Park For His Delayed Dating Life

Despite the stringent standards of the K-Pop industry loosening over time as it takes a global approach, dating largely remains a taboo among idols. It is still a big enough issue to cost an artist their entire career. But things were much worse for second-generation groups, at least in certain agencies.

The second-generation JYP Entertainment boy group 2AM recently appeared on a YouTube show on the channel Vivo TV and talked about their dating experiences as an idol. Jo Kwon, one of the members, addressed his past comment about the group’s no-dating rule until disbandment.

Jo Kwon | @kwon_jo/Instagram

He explained that it was ingrained in him as a young idol that dating would be sabotaging the group. This “brainwashing,” as Kwon called it, was done by none other than JY Park (Park Jin Young, founder of JYP Entertainment).

It’d been a year since our debut. I was very brainwashed by Jinyoung hyung. Back then I was more focused on ‘I worked so hard to debut.’…So I said no (to dating).

— Jo Kwon

When asked if it meant he had never dated people, Jo Kwon said that since his 2AM days, he has experienced both love and breakups. But he was well into his late 20s when he had his first romantic relationship.

But after some time, Sunye got married. And as I passed my mid 20s and was going into my late 20s… I dated when I was 27. It was a bit late.

— Jo Kwon

Though Jo Kwon felt the heavy responsibility not to get into relationships to protect his career, his groupmate Jinwoon was frequently caught up in dating rumors with female idols including Wonder Girls’ Yeeun and Nine Muses’ Kyungri. He had admitted to his relationship with the latter in 2017, and even acknowledged her passively after their breakup in 2021.

Meanwhile, even the newest generation of idol groups is not completely pardoned from the no-dating rule. Recently, a fifth-generation boy group made a public pledge to steer clear of dating. You can read more about it here.