Mongrolian

Very sound throughout. But as for the "rebel" label, as I see it it's just all the gray area between facts and interpretation. I believe they should, or that they have to separate from their current employer, but it will still take flexible, skillful management to deal with all the fallout from any such move. It's kind of like a small town where everyone knows a kid is being mistreated by his or her parents, but no one actually takes on the responsibility of taking that kid into their own household. But among all the considerations, there will still be the level on which a group broke with their parent company. I'm pretty sure that would be a stumbling block from the management's point of view - the mindset being that, given time, it wouldn't take a big mental leap for other (especially younger) idols to move from "T-ara weren't being treated properly, and so they left," to "T-ara didn't like how they were being treated, and so they left," to "I don't like how I'm being treated, and so I will leave." And stuff like that. As for the talent thing, yeah, I hadn't thought of a hiatus, which would help not only performance-wise but also just to clear the air after everything, recharge the batteries and all (more than the measly, threat-laced break they just got now). Just for the record, I think they're all "good enough," even ignoring their potential to be better, and I'm all for them breaking from Mr. Kim's company. I have a thing for pointing out negatives that I hope isn't taken as adopting those viewpoints or trying to discourage people from taking certain paths. But most of all, I hope that onlookers will recognize that this whole thing isn't Mr. Kim coming up with another crazy scheme, he's threatening the members because they spoke up for themselves. The girls need to fight this, and they will need support to get through it.

Looks like you're more caught up with the facts than I am. But I don't know, management is still management, even if they're made of better stuff than Mr. Kim. Taking T-ara into the fold would mean a lot of things. First and foremost, dealing with a "rebel" idol group. Like you said, the last thing the agencies want is to have rebellious idols, and if T-ara succeed in breaking from CCM, they will carry that legacy around with them. I'm pretty sure some agency heads have it in their minds that they don't want to bring that kind of element in to influence their younger talents. I mean, SM actually asked Sooyoung to stop doing that yelling impersonation thing, so there's obviously some disconnect between the mentality of the management and of the fans. Also, it seems widely recognized that up to four members of T-ara have various struggles with performing on stage - bringing T-ara into the fold would mean accepting an idol group with those shortcomings who nevertheless broke from their parent company. And the new company would need a good vision for the future of T-ara - just a matter of having the right stylistic vision and creativity to accommodate them, but still, they'd need to have the right people to make it happen. To a certain extent, Mr. Kim worked around T-ara's shortcomings because he had to, lacking as wide a talent pool as more successful agencies. I remember the Shinhwa thing, but I think they were a bigger deal back then (than T-ara now), and more consistent across the board. I don't know much about DBSK, but Big Bang, all five of those guys look pretty solid. And I'm a little confused about how exactly the Kara thing played out. But who knows? Mr. Kim may have been a dolt for going public with saying that rebel groups should be blacklisted (that did happen, right?), but that could be a de facto policy among the agencies. Nevertheless, I believe the best thing for the members would be to break from CCM, don't get me wrong. I hate to see anyone being cowed by a bully, let alone these seven. And in spite of the above I'm sure they can make something work - they just need (to continue) to work hard and find an agency with a vision that suits them. But yeah, the wick on the powder keg's been lit, and the clock is ticking. I hope the girls understand the kind of fight they've got on their hands, and have the will to fight it - and, like, get quality legal assistance. I don't know how much they've considered their options, as far as breaking from CCM and what everything would mean, and how far they're willing to go for their own sake. I think Soyeon is sharp enough, and strong enough, but she'd need all the members with her - and there's still a chance I overestimate her mettle. Hyomin is a bit sheepish but I think she could be counted on for support if she were adequately inspired. I hear Eunjung is heavily influenced by her mother, and I can't speak as to the quality and quantity of that influence, but from what I've seen she's not as strong morally as she is physically. Boram and Qri are old enough to know what's what, but I don't know much about them, and Jiyeon and Hwayoung are hardworking but young; bottom line, they need to stick together and stand up for themselves. LIke you said, there's no way they will accept (or endure) conditions at CCM in the long run, but the gauntlet's been thrown and they need to answer. Especially for themselves, but also for labor relations in K-pop and for all the fans - the young people with their own dreams and hearts and whatever who want to see the good guys come through as winners, who would be especially disheartened to see a bad situation drag on.

I think mostly it's a threat to the members. New leader Soyeon stood up on that show (with Boram and Hyomin) and called him out, and I'm pretty sure they spoke up in-house too, and then everything since... He'll dangle the threat of membership changes to bully Soyeon and the rest into compliance. Who knows he might be spiteful enough to remove her for what he seems to think is her ill discipline. But more likely, he's threatening the people closest to her, the other members, the members with the least stable positions on the roster. Get them to back down by threatening the careers of their co-members. That's also probably why the relatively long span of two or three weeks till the official announcement is made, he wants them to stew a little. A fear tactic, I guess, I can't remember what they call it. At this point, after this great breach of labor relations, I'd prefer for them to cut ties with his company, but making a transition will likely be pretty difficult too. It depends on how firm their mental fortitude is. Mr. Kim looks pretty bad, sure, but I'm pretty sure other CEOs would at least think twice about taking on a group who broke from their former company over a labor dispute. And how would another company treat the line-up, too? Mr. Kim can certainly argue that another company would demand member changes anyway, and then make the counter-offer that if they fall in line, he'll keep the line-up as it is. So I hope the members can stand up for themselves, whatever they decide to do. Be strong, kids! I think it's his appetite for authority more than anything - he seems to be either blind or indifferent to the effect his announcements could make on T-ara's viability in the future. Or he just thinks he can eat the difference. But even if he doesn't make any drastic changes, he's built up a lot of negative press with all this (at least among the fan community), and I'm pretty sure any onlookers with a conscience will have serious misgivings about supporting a tyrant mistreating T-ara, even if just on principle. Maybe enough people can be brought back into the fold - supporting T-ara no matter what (or just choosing to buy albums or endorsements), even with the straight-up unjust behavior of their handlers - to satisfy the bookkeepers for a while, but how long will the members accept his ultimatums? How long 'till they say enough is enough? Now that they've seen how he responds to even their simple demands for humane treatment, will they just continue to swallow their pride and accept his conditions, knowing he's just not gonna respect them as professionals or as human beings? Even if they do knuckle under and accept his terms now, how long can they keep up with the work rate he demands, keep silent as to their future demands from the company and still be able to perform to an acceptable level? Good luck out there.

Hey, it's a talking point, right? Whatever exactly being a group leader entails, I hope Soyeon can manage the pressure, as I imagine she's the only one with the backbone to 1) have raised issues with the boss in the first place, and 2) deal with the fallout. And hopefully the group as a whole will side with each other (and their own dignity) rather than knuckle under to the boss or bicker amongst themselves. Just to rehash some stuff been said, yeah, the boss signed off on the group in the first place, and accepted conditions along the way without making such statements, so he deserves much blame for the problems he's talking about. And I guess he just doesn't understand how to foster talent (that is, artistic abilities) very well if he thinks creating internal competition for spots in the line-up will motivate the talent to work harder. They were signed and assigned to the group - let them rise and fall as the group they are. If the group gets complacent, usher in the rise of a different act. He's not running a sports team; these are people who want to sing and dance and need to rely on each other for support. If you want to compare it to a drama troupe (or whatever they call them), that is, a group of actors who actually do compete with each other for roles and such, I mean, it's in the name: "drama." You know, all the backbiting and stuff you hear about - but that stuff can translate into good acting energy. In the feel-good world of pop music, it just makes for angry performers without the proper emotional support to keep going. I mean, of all ironies he has the nerve to say that "stress becomes a bigger problem," and then says that part of the solution is to create more stress. But again, it really looks like it's not about what he's saying it's about, but that he's trying to demonstrate authority after T-ara got up in his face about a few things - he may be on an ego trip, but I doubt even he thinks the new album (two albums?), the concert, the group in general will fare well with a shakeup such as he proposes. My guess is he's the sort who'd prefer to disband the group than to let them question his authority openly, and this is just him playing his hand. As for adding members, that's just grabbing at straws - if he's serious about it, it's just a man with no ideas, and not having whatever it takes to try to introduce a new act. It's a real shame all this is going down just as T-ara was on a high - as far as I can tell, the past year has been great for them, professionally, and on a personal note, they were able to cap it off with a first vacation - and that all these positive feelings have to be muddied with the boss-man playing his mind games, but hopefully whatever happens the ladies will find themselves in a better work environment.

Blows. "Places in the team," I said on the last tidbit, and looks like he's toying with that idea. "Stress," "pride" and "laziness?" All this after just granting a vacation to the members? Really sounds like a power trip to me. Good luck to the members. Also, totally undermines the notion of the fanclub if the fans signing up won't even know who's gonna be in the group in a month's time. Bad news. Again, good luck to those kids. I mean, really, he's really sending a message about how he's going to react to any further requests from the talent. He's asking the talent to bust themselves to fight for places in the group, and then reward them not only with a tenuous position, but the threat of being dropped if they ask for some time off? Hope the kids don't fall into that kind of unhealthy lifestyle. Well, folks, good while it lasted, right? I really liked (I'm Really Hurt) and a bunch of their other songs. We'll see what comes, I guess. I mean seriously, does he realize how much he's crushing the spirits of his performers? If he thinks it's a bad thing for performers to want some time off, or for his performers to have official fanclubs, I guess he's going to learn what it's like to have performers who have professional and a personal beef with him, who have reduced job security, and now have the added pressure of the threat of being removed from their careers, their dear friends and... so many things. Really sucks for the T-ara members and their diehard fans, too - I'm pretty sure he'll find it pretty easy to convince himself that the negative fan reaction to his decisions and policies is a negative reaction to the group, and place the blame on them instead of on his own shoulders. Good luck out there.

I guess most of it's already been said, but that's some jacked management to throw in the possible membership changes after just conceding on the vacation thing and the fanclub thing... like he's playing mental games, trying to re-establish dominance by threatening the security of the places in the team. Not a long-time fan, but apparently he's kinda like that. It'd be one thing for him to get what's coming to him, but these kids' careers are in play and all. Keep your fingers crossed, folks! As has been said, it seems most likely both a carefully worded statement to get a reaction and carefully edited reporting (from the original source, not the Diadem folks) to make the most noise.