CLASSIC: The Dark Story of K-Pop

Stuff They Don't Want You To Know

iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture

4.3 • 10.7K Ratings

🗓️ 14 August 2025

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Korean pop music, or K-pop, originated in South Korea but has become a powerful, global phenomenon. This multi-billion dollar industry manufacturers scores of pitch-perfect idols and groups, performers who become lead trendsetters in the world of fashion, dance, music and more. Yet there's a dark side to this fame, and a peek behind the curtain reveals a brutal, dangerous world of cut-throat competition, financial corruption and abuse. Tune in to learn about the dark side of K-Pop.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Fellow conspiracy realist, it's Matt, it's Ben, it's stuff they don't want you to know.
0:05.3	You or you.
0:06.1	This is a classic episode about one of the most globally successful genres of music in recent history, K-pop.
0:18.0	Oh, baby.
0:21.3	Look, admittedly, I know everything I know about K-pop from what I gather while sitting at the
0:29.8	Korean Steakhouse when I go with my son, because we love those places.
0:35.0	And we go all the time.
0:35.8	And on the screens, in every single one there is
0:40.5	k-pop and i but i don't know who these people are what they're doing or why they're doing you know
0:46.1	bts you're not down with bts i am aware of them i think because they were on s nl maybe or they
0:52.3	played they were they were old bear they were or they played somewhere. They were a Colbert. They were
0:54.6	yeah. Yeah, they had something like a British invasion level. Yeah. Pop culture phenomenon occurring.
1:02.1	K-pop short for Korean pop music originated in the ROK, the Republic of Korea. That's South
1:10.2	Korea.
1:13.9	It is a multi-billion dollar industry.
1:18.9	They make all these pitch-perfect idols and groups who come and go.
1:20.8	They're trendsetters.
1:24.2	Originally, they were just trendsetters in South Korea,
1:30.2	but then they quickly became trendsetters and Taylor Swift level stars in the East Asian sphere.
1:34.2	And now it's a global thing.
1:37.5	Everybody is at least aware of the term K-pop. And we thought back in 2020, we thought, well, if there's this much money involved, multi-billion dollar industry,
1:48.6	is it all, you know, trumpets, sick dance moves, angel farts, and fun?
	...

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