Former U-KISS member Dongho says he struggled daily as an idol

By alice101 Friday, October 14, 2016 48,249 4,977 27

Dongho, a former U-KISS member, reflected on his days as an idol.

On 'A Man who gives Dog Food' episode that aired on October 14, Dongho shared his thoughts on his life as a former idol.

In the episode, Dongho began to recall his idol days as he looked through fan letters and photos from the past.

He confessed, "I can't believe I endured all that, if you told me to do it now, I couldn't. I can't look at these photos with only happy memories. Now that I think about it, I don't have many good memories. We went home so late every night. Every day was a struggle. I still have a lot of sleeping pills from those days."

fxcx09 • Saturday, October 15, 2016

It's good to know that he is happy where he is now and even has his own family. Maybe he can't seem to find any happiness back then as an idol but seeing him on variety shows last time when he was an idol made me happy bcs he was such a happy kid but little did we know he struggled on a daily basis. It was a smart decision for him to leave, and now he has the happiness he's always wanted. But just out of curiosity, does anyone know what he works as now? He appears on shows from time to time just recently but I'm sure he has an actual proper job? Does anybody know?

bakanishela fxcx09 • Saturday, October 15, 2016

I think he mentioned it before that he works as a dj... but not sure if it's still until now. It was about when he just got married. I'm pretty sure he has a stable job cause he has his baby and wife waiting for him.

jkc • Saturday, October 15, 2016

work hard during training, just to go out into the world and work even harder, yet even with all this hard work success is not guaranteed yet soo many young kids audition to become a famous idol one day. its crazy, mad respect

starempress • Friday, October 14, 2016

UKISS was another group that had major issues... as someone who was following UKISS since the original line up (as a general fan but not a KISSme).... it seems that UKISS was always headed for trouble... ever since the company decided it was a good idea to drop members for "lack of talent"... NH really doesn't seem to know how to take care of their groups

joycb • Friday, October 14, 2016

My fave member. He was a baby when they started and he was the one with the most schedule (Invincible Team, Maknae Rebellion, etc) and often sent to variety shows. Super tiring! I hope he's more relaxed and happy now.

estheram • Friday, October 14, 2016

He used to be my bias in U-Kiss, hope he's truly happy now!

k_kid • Friday, October 14, 2016

I'm more than sure he went through hard times, but aside from the lack of privacy, in MY personal opinion, I think being an idol is relatively easy compared to physical jobs that most people do. I have an uncle who has his own business and works from 6am to 2am every single day. That's 20 hours a day, 7 days a week, about 2-3 hours of sleep, and he's done it for over 25 years now. My friend's dad works in the fields picking fruits and vegetables for about 12-13 hours a day under the sun, 6 days a week. So I think it depends on the person whether they can handle the workload and the stress.

charlie_d k_kid • Friday, October 14, 2016

What are you talking about? I know dancing looks fun, but it's freaking hard! Have you watch them practice??????? Moreover, they do workout routines and diets.

k_kid charlie_d • Friday, October 14, 2016

If you get to choose one from working like my uncle, my friend's dad, or be an idol. Which would you choose? I rather be an idol, if it was up to me. And I never said being an idol wasn't hard and they don't suffer. But I personally know people who have it 100x worse and still push through it somehow. Some people can handle stress better than others.

Blue82 k_kid • Saturday, October 15, 2016

The difference being that at least the other jobs you can eat enough to have the strength to do that and if you are very ill you can usually arrange time off but idols are kept on incredibly strict diets and not only lack sleep but more than one company has been in trouble for not taking care of the health of the idols. Also these are not grown men and women these are teens and sometimes even children doing these schedules. Some members have been acting, singing, and dancing since they were very young and living in dorms away from their families as young as 13. I'm a grown adult and I would not choose and idols life even if I had amazing skills.

k_kid Blue82 • Saturday, October 15, 2016

You should see how much bags my uncle has under his eyes. He's extremely sleep deprived and eats only a small portion a day. There are days where he says he feel like he's going to faint, but he pushes through because he wants to provide for his family. Over 25 years of no proper rest, no family vacation, no family time, etc. This type of lifestyle is 100x more difficult than an idol's. I rather be an idol than to live like my uncle in all honesty. There are many different ways to be on a diet and lose weight without starving yourself. But this is just my opinion.

Blue82 k_kid • Saturday, October 15, 2016

Idols don't get to decide what they eat. Your uncle is commendable for working so hard but he shouldn't have to work like that. The fact is though he is an adult and I'm not sure what circumstances have forced him to have to work so much just to provide for his family but he doesn't have anyone else telling him he has to work his job like that. You made it clear he chose to do it. Idols make the choice to go through hell to debut and it's their choice but that means there comes a time when some of them just can't do it anymore. Every person is different and it's not just physically wearing it also wears people down mentally and emotionally.

freysan • Friday, October 14, 2016

he was the most popular member of U-KISS that time.. he practically carried their name in his back.. my memory might be wrong but I seem to remember when he was maybe 15 or 16 y/o, he had more schedule than the rest of them -- practice, variety shows, studying at the same time.. he lived a difficult life..

Yuckfire • Friday, October 14, 2016

The sad thing is on average he was making 40k a year, that's less than teachers make in in America

Naruta Yuckfire • Friday, October 14, 2016

I guess even with this "small" income he still wasn´t that bad paid compared to the mases of not so famous Idols.

k_kid Yuckfire • Friday, October 14, 2016

But you also have to take in the huge amount of money that is invested in these idol groups. You're investing at least a million for a "quality" group. On top of that, free housing and such.

centen k_kid • Friday, October 14, 2016

It's not "free." Part of the contracts is paying all that back. That's why groups like AOA say things like it took THREE YEARS for any of them to get a paycheck. Can you imagine how much worse UKISS did in comparison, considering they don't have hits on the same scale as Miniskirt under their belt?

k_kid centen • Friday, October 14, 2016

That's what I meant to say.

purplematoki • Friday, October 14, 2016

we don't know truly what an idol is feeling and thats how fans and celebrities are together

sweetviolett • Friday, October 14, 2016

I wonder why he didn't leave sooner if he was that unhappy. he could have left and stated health issues as the problem for leaving the group. I've heard of a few idols doing that and he should have too

Yudah sweetviolett • Friday, October 14, 2016

agencies allow their artists seldomly to leave the group or take a break. The fact that idols need more rest/a breaktime just recently started to become more acknowledged in the industry and even then, they give it to them belately or when its too late.

krell sweetviolett • Friday, October 14, 2016

You do NOT want to be the member that 'let down' the Group. As though your leaving does somehow make it IMPOSSIBLE to achieve the ULTIMATE GROUP GOALS. THAT is clearly HEAVILY SOLD by the AGENCY to the members of a given K-pop Group. Also, maybe you NEED THE MONEY? And you would have to *prove* that you are SICK enough (via medical exam by AGENCY approved Doctor) to quit. Otherwise, you are often LEGALLY subject to some kind of BUY OUT FEE (at least around $20,000 USD say) that you have to PAY the AGENCY ; for TRAINING COSTS and like that.

krell sweetviolett • Friday, October 14, 2016

When member DAHEE of GLAM Group got involved in the BLACKMAIL CRIME against actor LEE BYUNG HUN. It came out that DAHEE was like $375,000 USD in DEBT to her AGENCY for PROMOTION and TRAINING expenses. Which gives you an IDEA of how 'easy' that it might be to 'quit' your Group. As long as the Group is STILL PROMOTING, and you are a member, then you do NOT have to PAY BACK the MONEY. But if you QUIT, *then* the AGENCY will DEFINITELY 'come after you' LEGALLY to recover their MONEY. Which, you WONDER about the EXPENSES that the AGENCY does 'RUN UP' and 'PASS ON' to the TRAINEES. Like say how many EMPTY SOJU BOTTLES (alcohol) for the AGENCY MANAGERS ??? ... ;-)

krell • Friday, October 14, 2016

http://www.allkpop.com/article/2015/03/dahee-and-lee-ji-yeon-given-lighter-sentences-for-blackmailing-lee-byung-hun-with-their-appeal ... <-- AKP ARTICLE refers to the DAHEE and LEE BYUNG HUN situation with regard to BLACKMAIL crime.

centen sweetviolett • Friday, October 14, 2016

Three reasons: there's a contract, which would require a lawyer to get out of, if you're even successful; the public WILL DESPISE YOU for being "weak" - look at how people reacted to, for example, Lay just fainting at the airport and not getting to Japan on time; and finally, what he's saying is in hindsight... he found a way to endure it because he had to, but you always have different feelings when you look back at things.

fxcx09 sweetviolett • Saturday, October 15, 2016

It was better that he waited for his contract to end and not renew it rather than taking it to the court which would've caused a bigger mess. Plus he didn't actually have legitimate reasons to leave. He was fatigued but to the point where his health deteriorated massively. Look at Kris, he's still under SM despite his reason being "sick". It was a smarter choice to just endure it a little while till his contract ends. Not to mention he was the most popular UKISS member at the time so there was no way in hell would the company allow him to leave on his own free will.

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