#131. 삼행시, 사행시 -- Poems of the internet age (feat. Kang Daniel)

The past couple of days have been interesting for the K-pop fans. News first broke (from the legendary celebrity gossip outlet Dispatch) that Kang Daniel, formerly of Wanna One, is dating Jihyo of TWICE. The next day, another news outlet reported that Heechul of Super Junior is dating Momo of TWICE, although both parties denied this rumour quickly.

The newest power couple of the K-Pop world!

The Korean fans and the international fans never seem to see eye-to-eye on their idols dating. The Korean fans are almost always disappointed when their oppa gets a girlfriend; they claim that this is because being a fan of some celebrity is like being in a make-believe relationship, and that the celebrities have an obligation to uphold this fantasy, as this is where their income is generated. The international fans, of course, take a much more generous stand, and they seem happy when two of their favourite celebs become a couple.

The Koreans are especially upset when there is evidence that the star seemingly mocks their devotion, by openly acknowledging their girlfriends (for example, by devoting an Instagram post exclusively for their girlfriend, usually by using a secret code or an item), or by treating the fans as nothing but a cash machine (for example, asking for certain expensive items, or openly encouraging the fans to spend more money).

The most recent example of this is that of Kang Daniel. After Wanna One disbanded, Kang Daniel was banned from promoting in the entertainment industry due to a lawsuit between himself and his entertainment agency (in which it tried to exploit him in various ways, it seems). His fans really supported him through this difficult time, and when Kang Daniel won the lawsuit and announced the release of his solo album on July 25, his fans wanted to make his solo debut special.

The fans advocated "just eating rice with salt or soy sauce" to save money, and to buy more albums for Kang Daniel, for over six months

After having saved up money for over six months, many fans bought upwards of hundred albums (each album costs around $10 USD), and established an all-time record of 460,000 albums, the highest in for a solo singer in Korean history. On top of making a large profit, this ensured that Kang Daniel got the media attention, an established him as a very promising solo singer.

This is when things went sour for the Korean fans. A few days later, on August 5, when the scandal with Jihyo broke, the fans noticed that the original article had been entered into the website on July 20, a few days before Kang Daniel's solo debut.

Betrayed?

The news outlet Dispatch is known for publishing surprising scandals between top celebs of K-entertainment industry. They are also said to be quite humane, in that they don't publish scandals for rookies (as most fans would just drop their stars if they are not established enough and if they dare to get into a relationship too early in their career), and that they try not to cause too much financial harm.

So the fans theorized that Kang Daniel knew that this news was breaking, and that he made a deal with Dispatch to delay the publication date to a few days after his debut, so that his album sales would not be affected. He also held six fan signs in the two-week promotion period (which is, apparently, a lot more than most other groups). Of course, in order to get into a fan sign, you need to buy hundreds of albums to even get a chance at the lottery.

The Korean fans felt betrayed; it definitely feels as if all Kang Daniel cared about was ensuring that he gets all the profit from his album sales. And so the fans are now leaving the fandom. Kang Daniel wrote a letter to the fans thanking them a couple of days after the scandal, but he did not address this particular issue.

The Koreans pride themselves on their sense of humour, and this was just another occasion for some Korean internauts to boast just how funny they could be.

A 삼행시 has a fairly long tradition in the K-entertainment industry (and for normal Koreans too, as a result). As a way to entertain the audience, the participants are given a word, usually a name of someone else (so, for most Koreans, that's three letters). Then the participants are asked to write a poem, where each line of the poem starts with each of the three letters of the given word. The word "삼행시" literally means "three (삼) row (행) poem (시)."

Here are some funny examples:

In this photo, Mina of IOI was asked to compose a three row poem with the word "이상민," one of the panel members of the show "아는형님." 이상민 is currently known for his huge debt of over 10 million USD, and the fact that he's working very hard to repay it. And Mina composed the following poem using his name:

이번달까지 꼭 갚을게요! (I'll definitely repay it by the end of this month!)

상황이 좋지 않아서요 (Things are not so great right now)

민사 소송까지는... (Please, don't start a civil lawsuit)

You have to admit, it is pretty hilarious given the situation, if a bit crude (Korean humour is often like this!) Here is another example, using the name "서장훈," who is also on this show, and his divorce made national headlines many years ago.

Another panel member, 이수근, wrote the following 삼행시:

서장훈 (Seo Janghoon's)
장모님이 찾아와 (mother-in-law came and said)
훈서방 꼭 이랬어야만 했... (Hoon, did you really have to do this?)

Again, crude, hilarious, and befitting the situation.

Going back to the story of Kang Daniel, the Korean internaut below also decided to dedicate a poem to him and his situation. In this case, since Kang Daniel's name has four letters in Korean (강다니엘), this poem is a 사행시 (four-line poem), and not a 삼행시.

강다니엘입니다 (Kang Daniel here)

다름이 아니라 (I just want to say)

니들이 사준 (Thanks for all your)

엘범비 꺼억 (money for my album, *burp*)

So, yeah. The drama in the Korean internet is always entertaining to watch!