Fans of the popular K-pop group Red Velvet have expressed serious concern for member Park Soo-young, known as Joy, after she appeared with a dramatically thinner frame in recent images.
Fan Alarm Over Shrinking Frame
The 29-year-old performer, once celebrated for her healthy, fuller figure and distinctive full cheeks, shocked her fanbase by appearing much slimmer than usual. Online reactions were swift and worried, with one supporter commenting, 'A healthy body doesn't mean a slim body. Being too thin isn't a good thing.' Others echoed the sentiment, with remarks like 'She's getting so thin' and 'Oh my god, she's lost so much weight.'
Many fans urged the star to prioritise her wellbeing, with one writing, 'Joy, you are beautiful. You don't need to risk your health to please others... Your body is perfect just the way it is.' The performer had previously spoken about her body image on the South Korean variety show I Live Alone earlier this year, where she confessed to envying those with a naturally slim build and lamented her own 'round' face and body type.
The Dark Side of K-pop Perfection
Joy's visible weight loss has reignited a conversation about the immense pressure on idols within the multi-billion dollar K-pop industry, where extreme standards of appearance are often enforced. This pressure can lead to dangerously restrictive practices.
A report by the Korea Times, citing the investigative book K-pop: Idols in Wonderland, revealed that as many as eight out of ten female K-pop trainees stop menstruating due to severe dieting, compounded by stress and sleep deprivation.
The industry's history is marked by alarming examples:
- In 2023, NewJeans member Hyein, then fourteen, showed the meagre meal she ate during a shoot: a slice of avocado, half a cherry tomato, and a tiny portion of rice.
- TWICE's Momo, now 29, once starved herself for a week, consuming only a cube of ice, to lose 7kg (15lbs) ahead of her group's debut, fearing she would not wake up if she slept.
A Pattern of Health Crises
The consequences of such pressure extend beyond weight loss to serious health crises. Veteran star Hyuna, 33, collapsed on stage at the Waterbomb Festival in Macau last year. At the time, she was on an extreme diet, having shed 10kg (22lbs) in a single month.
Hyuna has been candid about the long-term damage caused by years of disordered eating, which began when she was a teenager. She survived on a single piece of kimbap (sushi) per day to maintain a weight of just 40kg (88lbs), a regime that led to her developing a fainting condition called peripheral neuritis. 'I fainted 12 times in a month,' she revealed on the talk show Point of Omniscient Interfere.
Daily Mail has contacted Joy's agency, SM Entertainment, for comment but has not yet received a response. The ongoing concern for Joy underscores a systemic issue within the glamorous world of K-pop, where the pursuit of perfection continues to take a severe toll on the physical and mental health of its stars.
