The Escalating K-Pop Crisis: How K-pop might lead to the downfall of Korea’s richest self-made tech mogul.

• Kakao Corp’s founder Kim Beom-soo has been arrested for allegedly manipulating SM Entertainment’s stock prices, intensifying the ongoing K-pop crisis.
• The K-pop industry, dominated by the Big 4 agencies, has seen its stock prices plummet by nearly 50% over the past year, wiping out over $5 billion in market value.
• Inflation and BTS’s hiatus due to compulsory military service have contributed to the decline in K-pop album sales and streaming revenues.
• The slump in exports to China, a major market for K-pop, has further exacerbated the industry’s troubles, marking the first downturn in K-pop CD export volume in nine years.
• K-pop agencies are now focusing on global markets, launching localized music groups to emulate the K-pop style, but ongoing scandals may hinder their efforts to stabilize stock prices.

Source: Finshots, The Verge, Financial Times