On June 17, fromis_9 member Jiwon revealed she had no income for eight years of her career as a K-pop idol since debuting in 2018. The news came during a YouTube show called "A Job Where You Can Check an Idol's Salary," in which Jiwon took on a part-time job as a bank clerk for a day. After learning what her mentor on the show makes annually, she was struck by the contrast – her company only just started paying her two years ago, despite already being in her eighth year with fromis_9. "Until two years ago, I had no money at all," Jiwon said. "I had no income for eight years; I was like a broke beggar. Now I'm finally saving steadily." While Jiwon's disclosure is striking, it’s not an anomaly. Idol pay disputes surface every year; the names and labels change, while the underlying dynamic stays the same.

Debuting as an idol is already stressful enough, both physically and mentally, but the financial toll on top of that makes the path to K-pop stardom an uncertain career choice. It’s no secret that once idol groups debut, they’re often expected to pay back what’s known as the ‘trainee debt’ to their labels for the money they’ve invested into the group – whether it’s studio time, music video production, live performances, and more. According to The Korea Herald, industry experts suggest that debuting a new group can cost anywhere between 1 billion won ($653,300) to 2 billion won for smaller companies, while major entertainment agencies could spend between 5 billion to 10 billion won or more. That debt often sits on the artist, not the label. For many idols, the dream they are chasing comes with a bill attached – and until it's cleared, the income doesn't flow. In Jiwon's case, that took eight years.

With fromis_9 approaching a decade in the industry, the timeline makes the situation harder to dismiss. Four of the group's nine members have left – one in 2022, three in 2025 – and while label direction and individual ambitions are always factors, financial instability tends to be the more decisive one. It also matters that fromis_9 occupy the middle tier of the industry: visible enough to maintain a fanbase, but not prominent enough to generate the kind of revenue that makes staying worthwhile.

"People see the success stories, but they're the exception rather than the rule," a K-pop agency official told The Korea Herald. "Most groups never reach the point where members can rely on idol activities alone for a stable income, so it's not unusual for them to start looking for other career options.”

Even then, some of K-pop’s most prominent idols have reported financial issues within their respective companies. Back in February, SHINee’s Taemin terminated his contract with BPM Entertainment while reports were spreading regarding the label’s financial instability. Soon after, it was alleged that the singer left due to contractual breaches – with BPM signing an exclusive contract with a company without his consent – and unpaid wages of one billion won in financial settlement. Because of this, Taemin had personally paid out of pocket to provide his staff’s salaries during this time before officially signing with Galaxy Corporation in March.

SM's own record in this area is not without complication. Since 2023, EXO-CBX – the subunit comprising Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin – have been in ongoing legal dispute with the company over earnings transparency, contract terms, unpaid royalties, and music distribution fees. SM filed a lawsuit against the trio for failing to pay 10% of their individual activity revenue; EXO-CBX countersued, arguing the company had not honoured a promised 5.5% distribution fee and that the 10% agreement was itself unfair. The settlement claim dispute runs to approximately 600 million KRW. The fallout has been significant enough to exclude Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin from EXO's comeback with REVERXE earlier this year.

Additionally, nine of the ten members of THE BOYZ have also raised concerns over financial discrepancies this year. On February 10, the group filed for a provisional injunction to suspend their activities with One Hundred Label – coincidentally, a subsidiary of BPM Entertainment. The dispute was made public on March 19, with TBZ citing unpaid settlements since July 2025, contract transparency issues, and a subsequent court injunction in late April. They also filed a formal complaint against CEO Cha Ga-won for alleged embezzlement amidst reports of the label experiencing severe financial difficulties. Although One Hundred denied the allegations, the court officially ruled in favor of TBZ on April 24, granting the group the provisional injunction to suspend their exclusive contracts with the label.

Jiwon's disclosure is not an outlier – it's a data point in a pattern that repeats itself every year, across labels of every size. The structural problem isn't rogue agencies or bad actors; it's a system that was built to extract value from artists before they're in a position to push back. The cases are becoming more public, the legal challenges more organised, and the artists more willing to go on record. Whether that translates into systemic change is a different question – but the industry's ability to keep this quiet is clearly diminishing.