9 K-Pop Urban Legends That Will Keep You Awake Tonight
1. Jay Park’s Affairs
To this day, fans still believe there is more to this former 2PM member’s departure that the public does not know.
One of the most widely circulated stories involves an unplanned pregnancy. Netizens claim that Jay Park allegedly got HyunA pregnant, who then left Wonder Girls to have an overseas abortion.
Another story claims that Jay Park was booted from the group for having an affair with J.Y. Park‘s second ex-wife.
Some netizens believe that Jay Park poked fun at the first rumor in this parody video. Part of the video’s storyline involves Jay Park getting the lead actress pregnant.
2. The 7-Year Curse
When an idol group reaches their 7th year, fans’ hearts start pounding. According to this urban legend, groups are cursed to lose members once they reach their 7th anniversary until they are eventually are forced to disband.
Although this has been true for many groups, like Wonder Girls, 4MINUTE, EXID, and SISTAR, the “curse” likely has more to do with the length of idols’ contracts.
7 years is now the maximum length for an idol contract. Once a contract expires, the company decide whether or not the group is profitable enough to renew, and the members decide whether or not they want to continue as well.
3. SM Entertainment Stole TVXQ’s Views.
To this day, many netizens claim TVXQ‘s “Mirotic” MV hit 80 million views long before Girls’ Generation‘s “Gee” MV did.
Legend has it that SM Entertainment deleted the “Mirotic” MV, for unknown reasons, then reuploaded it, causing it to lose its original view count.
This K-Pop urban legend popped up long before PSY‘s “Gangnam Style”, back when “Gee” MV was the most-viewed K-pop MV on YouTube. Some TVXQ fans swear that title really belongs to “Mirotic”!
4. Hangeng’s Mask
In Super Junior‘s early days, their (former) Chinese member Hangeng had to wear a mask on certain programs, due to issues with his visa status.
Legend has it that Hangeng’s best friend, Heechul, defied these rules. He allegedly took off Hangeng’s mask so he could be seen. Video footage of this incident does not seem to exist, but that hasn’t stopped fans from sharing this story over the years.
5. EXO Tao’s Farewell Serenades
Some fans say that on the day news broke about Kris‘s departure from EXO, Tao cried while singing Wang Leehom‘s “Kiss You Goodbye” in a practice room. They say that he even opened the window so fans waiting outside SM Entertainment headquarters could hear him.
This would be plausible, perhaps, if there was audio evidence. The use who allegedly posted the audio clip of this event deleted her account after she was accused of fabricating the incident.
Netizens have also claim that Tao sang EXO’s “Christmas Day” because it sounds like “Kris must stay”.
6. f(x)’s “Ghost”
Sulli was (nearly) edited out of an episode of A Song For You, and to this day no one knows exactly what the reason for this was. Some suspect that it is because she did not participate much in the conversation.
The weird thing about it is that editors tried to make it seem as though Sulli was not present during the episode, when she actually was there. This has resulted in eerie little editing slip-ups, where Sulli can be seen at the edge of some shots.
Sulli’s random presence and her despondent expression have struck some fans as “ghostly”. If a non-fan who had never heard of f(x) watched the episode, they would surely wonder about this vanishing woman!
7. NCT’s Mark
During NCT‘s debut days, there was a widely-circulated story about Mark‘s departure from Canada.
The story goes that Mark left to become an idol without telling any of his friends or family members.
They allegedly had no idea what had happened to him and believed he had gone missing, or worse! This rumor did not stop circulating until the fan who originally posted the story admitted that it was false.
8. Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon And EXO’s Baekhyun Never Really Dated
Some netizens claim that their relationship was all one big cover-up to combat rumors about Taeyeon being a lesbian.
Another version of the story claims that the relationship was made up to divert media attention away from Kris’s EXO departure.
What makes this urban legend all the more interesting is that there are allegedly staff notes that were leaked in 2012. These notes detailed the long-term business plans for EXO that included the couple’s relationship.
9. MOMOLAND’s Nancy’s Politics
A simple case of mistaken identity has led to the ongoing claim that Nancy is a white supremacist and her parents are Donald Trump supporters.
A netizen allegedly searched Facebook for Nancy’s parents and ended up mistaking a Trump-supporting married couple for them.
Even though the husband and wife are not Nancy’s parents, some netizens choose to use this information against her. When tensions rose between BLACKPINK and MOMOLAND fans, Nancy was called many names, including a “Trump supporter”.
MOMOLAND’s Nancy Didn’t Smile While Looking At BLACKPINK, Upsets Fans
