Second-generation girl group SeeYa recently reunited 15 years after disbandment and 20 years after debut on the YouTube channel of actress Ha Ji Young. In the video, they recount shocking stories of mistreatment by their former agency, which isn’t named prominently in a lot of news coverage but is Core Contents Media/MBK Entertainment/PocketDol Studio (like I said in the FANTASY BOYS/BAE173 article, a long history).
In particular, it’s brought up that despite their high profile and hit songs, they resorted to surviving on cereal and instant ramen. It wasn’t due to a diet, but rather the agency stopped paying for their meals and they were too poor to afford anything else.
SeeYa member Lee Boram clarified that it wasn’t due to being too busy to eat, but from having a lack of money. She revealed they were even kicked out of a restaurant because their agency had failed to pay for meals, with unpaid tabs piling up for three months. Agencies often open tabs with restaurants near dorms or companies for idols to eat at.
She went on to recall a moment of despair shared among the members: “We even joked, ‘Our faces are already known, so maybe we should try working part-time in mascot costumes?’ It wasn’t really a joke—we were all broke.”
As is almost expected by now given their agency and timing of popularity, they also said they didn’t earn much of anything.
She added that despite public perception, they earned little to no money at the time. SeeYa was one of the most popular groups at that time.
“People would tell me to treat them since I was ‘making a lot,’ but I wasn’t earning anything. We really had no money.”
They also talked about their poor living conditions, which quite honestly at this point feels like it was the norm back then.
Member Nam Gyuri, who later went on to become a successful actress, also described the stark contrast between their public image and real lives. While traveling for events, they would eat cheap meals on the go, yet still be recognized by fans. Back at their dorm, they dealt with poor living conditions, even mentioning ants crawling on newspaper-covered floors as they ate instant noodles. She added that such harsh conditions affected their confidence as artists, saying they became emotionally worn down.
“The gap was so extreme. When we went around doing events all day, we would mix rice into ramen at rest stops and eat in a rush, grabbing pieces of bread and triangle kimbap on the go. But once we went out into the world, people would chase after us. When we came back to the dorm, we would lay out newspapers, there were ants crawling around, and we would hurriedly fill our stomachs with cup ramen on the floor. The gap was so big that while we should have developed pride as artists, but because of that environment, we became weak.”
Arguably the most important thing they addressed was the discord in the group in the time that led to the disbandment, and that it was purposefully sowed between them by the company (a Kim Kwang Soo special).
The members revealed that their former management agency actively sowed discord among them, spreading lies and stoking misunderstandings. Nam Gyu-ri explained, “As our activities became more individualized, misunderstandings piled up. Even good news, when passed along, could be misinterpreted, and bad news sounded even worse.” Lee Bo-ram added, “One day, Nam Gyu-ri called to ask, ‘Did you really do this?’ She was just trying to check the facts because the agency was lying to drive us apart.” Lee insisted that the truth could be verified by checking CCTV footage, and eventually, the members resolved their misunderstandings through direct conversation. “We didn’t want to harbor any more doubts, so we talked it out and agreed to trust each other,” she recalled.
I get the feeling this isn’t all that rare either, but he was just the most openly shameless about it.
Either we’re going to get more stories like this as the newer generations get older or the companies have gotten better at hiding it, but they certainly haven’t gotten more ethical or moral, that’s for damn sure.
Additionally, they released new songs and content for their reunion.
“Nevertheless We”
“Still Here Still Us”
Behind The Scenes
English (US) · 