Interview with Director Lee Hark-Joon

On November 17th the world premiere of the K-pop documentary Nine Muses of Star Empire was held. The documentary was shown at the International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA) in Amsterdam. The director Lee Hark-Joon followed members of Nine Muses for one year, documenting the ups and downs of their lives as trainees. Despite of his busy promotion schedule Lee Hark-Joon took time to give an interview to KoME.


First of all we would like to congratulate you on your world premier of the documentary 9 Muses of Star Empire. It’s a great opportunity for the Dutch audience to get more insight on a phenomenon that has captured a lot of attention world wide over the past few years. It also offers an interesting and in depth look into the other side of fame and the Korean music industry.



Why did you decide on filming this documentary on K-pop and why did you choose the girl group Nine Muses?

It is incredible to see music and culture of a small Asian country get so popular worldwide. In my childhood, I was very into American pop-music so I shut down the opportunities to listen to other music from different countries. Looking back to my childhood, I've found it shocking to see Korean music is loved by people all over the world. The global enthusiasm toward K-Pop made me desire to investigate more into the phenomenon. From the beginning, it was not important to decide who would be main characters. What I thought was important was having characters who could talk truthfully because it was hard for celebrities to open their hearts and talk about their thoughts truthfully, since the mystic image is a virtue for celebrities. So I went to find the Nine Muses, who had more than six months before their debut. They were expected to be big stars by major Korean media companies, and I thought that they could talk truthfully.

If I used Girls' Generation in the movie, it would be more eye-catching and profitable from a business perspective. But I didn’t film this movie to show a success story of stars. Rather, I wanted to see the nature of the entertainment business that's hidden by the fancy stages and looks.I wanted to find an agency and girl group who could tell their stories truthfully. So I think it was not a bad decision to meet with Nine Muses and Star Empire. I wanted people to reflect on their lives by watching the nine girls’ efforts and fierce competition to become stars.



In the documentary, the ups and down of the trainees on their paths to becoming a star are captured. During their trainee days they face hardships and difficult times preparing for their debut. This might be in stark contrast with what people would expect, judging on the bubbly image K-pop displays on the outside. What are your thoughts on that?

I think it is common throughout the world that the image of celebrities on the stage is different from outside the stage. The Nine Muses had a hard time getting on the stage and had to suffer from endless competition. An 18-year-old girl, though not filmed in the movie, was selected as a member of Nine Muses but because she suffered from the hard training and harsh treatment, she gave up and left within six months. Becoming a star is difficult and needs fierce competitiveness, especially in the K-Pop business, which developed so fast. Human nature gets hurt in the tough competition. I reflected on myself and contemporary men’s portrait through the girls. But I don’t think it is only limited to K-Pop. The entertainment business all over the world would be similar and my documentary directly shows the reality of the entertainment business.



The girls can be seen practicing from morning until late at night. What does the daily routine for Nine Muses look like?

Their schedule was tight from 10 AM to 2 AM. It was subject to change but usually, they spent the time to practice dancing and singing. They also learned a foreign language and learned how to interview with media. Sometimes, they are taught by a famous fashion professional on how to dress like a star. They also learned how to compose and produce songs from senior singers in the agency.



During the documentary the members of Nine Muses were treated rather harshly at times, it seemed. Did you feel the same way?

This documentary shows the dark sides outside the stage and reflects heavily the girls’ point of views. So you might think that the girls get hurt from the heartless managers. However, Nine Muses got lazy sometimes and did not obey rules. Managers also have reasons to act quite strictly. I hope that they are not seen as bad people. They are desperate because they have to shut down their business if Nine Muses fail.



That is definitely understandable. Does this reflect how managements and labels treat their artists in general, or does this differ per label? Are there any distinct differences between how girl groups and boy groups are treated?

Overall, it is the same. However, I heard that girl groups are harder to train because girls have more fragile emotions. So, many managers said that boys are easier to nurture with hard training.



In the documentary the girls are told: “You should look decent, pretty and not stupid. It’s all about the image.” Do you feel that the music industry is focusing too much on the image and has put music in second place?

I will answer to this question in conjunction with K-Pop’s key success factors since K-Pop uses unique tools to attract the audience.

The reason for K-Pop’s success can be summarized as four key factors: the agency’s planning, the Spartan training, hook song techniques and the marketing through Youtube. The major agencies in South Korea are good at reading trends and finding talented youth. They try to find talented teenagers all over the world in places such as China, Japan, Thailand and America. A hook song uses repeated phrases and thus gets people addicted to the song. Group dancing is important because it looks attractive.



In the documentary the managers can be seen deciding on the girls’ outfits, songs and choreography. Do the girls have any say in their group’s concept, or is everything decided on for them?

The girls’ and boys’ band concept is decided by the agency. However, not all successful bands are like that. As they adjust to the music industry, they start composing their own songs and have more of a voice in their concept. In the documentary, the girls are told by managers: “If you become a star, your opinion is law. If you think you are treated unfairly, become a star.” What the manger said is cruel but it shows a reality.



In the beginning of the documentary, the numbers of fans abroad are counted and the numbers shoot up, visualising the enormous increase in popularity K-pop is experiencing worldwide. Do you think this worldwide popularity has increased the pressure on Korean artists? Are standards higher because of it?

Now, Korea’s big star becomes a top star in Asia. There is also a hope to be a worldwide star like Psy.. Those who want to be stars in China, Thailand and Japan come to Korea. The competition will be tougher from now on.




Has your own view on the K-pop world changed after shooting the documentary?

I’ve gotten to know how tough the competitions they went through to be on the stage are. I can’t comfortably watch them dancing and singing on the stage with bright smiles any more as I did in the past.



During the Q&A after the first screening, you mentioned you filmed the documentary while acting as their management. Could you elaborate on that?

When I first told my friends and colleagues that I would shoot a documentary on a K-Pop band outside the stage, they thought that the project would not be possible. Honestly, I got rejected by many agencies. It took more than six months to persuade Star Empire. They allowed me to film the documentary under one condition: They asked me to act as the girls’ managers and shoot the documentary. I accepted their request and got to spend time with the girls for one year. I plan to publish a book on this documentary and it will be published in English as well. I will describe more stories that occurred during the shooting in the book.



Will the documentary also be shown in other countries?

IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) is world premier. So we haven’t finished our post production yet. After we leave Amsterdam, we plan to focus on post production and submit our documentary to film festivals. As I am also in discussion with major distributors, I hope to meet audience from all over the world with this documentary.



Finally, would you like to share a message with our readers?

To succeed and get attention is a basic desire for humans. To compete and succeed in our society is regarded as a great value. I want to ask people if the success from the fierce competition would make them happy.

I dealt with the entertainment industry in the movie. However, similar episodes happen in our everyday life. Through this movie, I want to give people time to reflect on ourselves and think about the reason we strive for success.

You can find more information on this site.Thank you and I hope to see you in other film festivals in Europe.



KoME would like to thank Lee Hark-Joon for his time and wish him and the members of Nine Muses good luck in all their future projects.