Media and culture critics talk about record labels and management agencies’ practices in training idols following recent idol departures

By Staff Writer

Oct 27 2014, 00:33 AM EDT

Idols departure from their groups after years of training and gaining popularity as a group is now a hot topic among media critics, KpopStars reports. The new term "eat and run" is in fact becoming widely popular in the Korean entertainment industry.

Many are questioning the practices of record labels and management agencies. This is especially true in their strategies in raising stars such as long period of training and inclusion of foreign trainees on their groups.

SM Entertainment, one of the most popular Korean record labels that has produced some of the most successful K-pop acts, is on the center of controversies. This was after former EXO members Kris (Wu Yifan) and Luhan filed lawsuits to nullify their contract with the company this year, as well as the recent departure of Jessica from Girls' Generation.

Kris, who left the then 12-mmeber megagroup in May is Canadian-Chinese and is currently making his own name in China as a solo artist. Luhan, who just left this month, is of Chinese descent and is now staying in his hometown in Beijing.

Jessica Jung, a Korean-American, was removed from the titan girl group SNSD recently. She is now busy promoting her fashion line, BLANC & ECLARE.

Kim Heon-Sik, a culture critic, wrote on his Media Today column that Korea labels' system is "a time-consuming process and also requires trainees to sacrifice."

Kim also raised a question if there should be a difference in training Korean and foreign artists saying "...but is it right to train [foreign idols] in the same was as Koreans? ...Many Korean singers tolerate unfair practices from their agencies because that they can't fight against giants."

Lee Dong-yeon, Korea National University of Arts professor pointed that idols of foreign blood may find it difficult to adjust to cultural norms in Korea.

Meanwhile, SM is seemingly moving on from the recent controversies. The entertainment giant recently held its "SMTOWN Live World Tour IV" in Shanghai, where artists entertained about 30,000 fans. Their concert tour this year will end in Indonesia on December 27.