SUJU Leeteuk's sauerkraut message (In detail)

I know many were confused this morning about Lee teuk's message so I did some research to clear things up. It actually became a very serious article....

Super Junior’s leader, Lee Teuk, left a sour comment on his mini-hompy about Korea’s performing arts culture and of its audience on July 19, which is causing strife amongst netizens once again.

Leeteuk wrote, “You people who nit-pick idol culture and fandom should go think about it yourself. You can’t even see your own self, and you are pointing fingers at other people.. Go look in the mirror.. I really hate this.”

His surprisingly harsh tone has got many fans and netizens alarmed and curious why Leeteuk exploded. Many are attributing his invective at the recent “Cass Tok Concert” held on July 18, while others are blaming anti-fans who left him rude and hurtful messages on his mini-hompy; I’d say it’s an culmination of both and Leeteuk got fed up. But his message is more relevant to the recent “Cass Tok Concert,” where some of the audience left their seats when Super Junior was performing.

The Incident (Testimony from a concert-goer)

The “Cass Tok Concert” was a concert restricted to people over 20 years of age, which meant that teens, who make up the majority of SUJU’s fanbase, were no present. Therefore, most of the concert-goers were adults in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s who were mostly intoxicated from a few drinks. Many hip-hop artists were lined up to perform for this event, which makes Super Junior stand out with their teen-pop genre. But SUJU-Happy was lined up to perform last. A few jaded concert-goers decided to leave early because it was getting late; however, there was a segment of the audience who cussed out SUJU members as they left their seats, emptying the front rows. Despite the shelled-out front rows, SUJU members had to continue with their performance, and SUJU’s leader Leeteuk could not face the crowds as he performed. Acknowledging the fact that the concert was open, allowing revelers to exit freely, the members of the audience who left early are not at fault. Therefore, Leetuek wrote his sauerkraut message, addressing the few members of the audience who left shouting obscenities at SUJU members.

Looking at Leeteuk’s message, we can notice the conspicuous prejudice against idol culture that many older generations hold. This incident also harks back to the SNSD silent treatment at the Dream Concert, which shows Korea’s problematic fandom culture. But it all comes down to a generation gap. The emerging trend of idol fandom has caused a significant rift between the social and cultural customs of Korea’s younger and older generation. The older generation is not able to understand the rapid, transient pop culture of the youth, which leads to conflicts pertaining to behavior and manners. This SUJU-Happy incident proves once again that Korea’s performance culture is still in its developing stages (and should I dare say, is still low-class).

Many ELF fans were outraged at such ill-mannered behavior by adults. They left messages, such as “Even though we were at fault for the silent treatment during SNSD’s performance, we did not leave the performance hall; instead, we just did not respond to the performance” and “It is not the appropriate conduct to leave the performance hall during performance intervals.” The 10’s generation ELFs condemned the immature actions of these adults and took it upon themselves to point out their blatant hypocrisy.

I must testify that I’ve read various blogs and comment boxes and a lot of older netizens leave condescending messages that attack fandom culture. Part of their reason is that they fear fandom is consuming the time and attention of the youth and causing unnecessary ruckus. The recent vendetta between crazy fans and anti-fans has generalized to a condemning of the fandom culture. This over-generalization has caused many idol groups to come into scrutiny and attack because an attack on fandom is an indirect attack on the idol groups themselves. Yet, these idol groups are innocent from the violence that arises due to obsessive fans. And thus, Lee Teuk got sick and tired of fans fighting, pointing fingers and accusing the next fan of being more aggressive and rude than themselves. But it's always hard to define the "normal and acceptable" behavior of a fan when there are so many gray areas.

However, one thing is certain – the glaring hypocrisy of either generation. The younger generation is ignorant of their obsessive-compulsive behavior that drives fandom into a blood-stained path. Then the self-righteous adults chide these “immature” young kids for being foolish. Yet this recent event allows one to wonder whether the older generation – the very people who judged unfavorably against the “immature” young fans – is at the greatest fault by setting a bad example.

Source: Naver blogs, sookyung.wordpress
Credit: soyboy

P.S. If someone could be kind enough to put this on the blog, I would appreciate it. Please keep the bolding too. And can you change the title to: SUJU Leeteuk, "To those who pick at fandom, go look in the mirror". The blog keeps crashing one me TT TT

well then SM should re-evaluate if SUJU should target a broader range if their going to preform at a 20+ concert.

the leaving part i can understand cuz i always have to leave the adults cuz they always want to "beat" the crowds out to the parking lot. i don't agree that they should have made those comments if they were like "oh these guys are "faggots" " or anything hateful for that matter. i agree about the statement he made but it effects all fans young and old. everyone should look at themselves and try to step into the other people's shoes and look at what their doing as a whole. if you look at it as a whole it doesn't look as pretty cuz all of those "i'll just add another hateful comment" eventually those add up to turn into millions and that's just not cool.

i don't really care if someone hate someone else or some group, it's common curiosity to clap (at the very least) for someone who performs for you and to stay for the whole thing.

Thanks Soyboy for posting this up ^^

I really enjoyed reading this post... ^o^

Thnks for the article.

Leeteuk sshi is so mad. Chill oppa~

a...so dats da reason he is so mad..
well performing in front of empty rows and looking at ppl leaves da place do make you piss..
i truly understand why he make that statement..he is a human he still need to release his unhappiness..
but u cant blame those adults..
ya, they might be rude to leave early but afterall they still have generation gap..suju fans are mostly consist of teenagers so u cant expect da adults to act da same like da fans...

But really he suprised me with that statement. I have never seen him this angry and harsh. Well hes the leader afterall and he speaks for the group.
Good luck SuJu.

I cant even believe the adults were so immature than teens. If adults react like that then I have to say the teens are more mature than adults. Really I dont care if they left but they could have just left rather than insulting SuJu.

I agree with ninja.

He can go angry at them, for not showing 'respect' to them while performing

but he should understand as well and think of the reason why they do that...

I can't say that the adults are at fault, but it's their right as well to leave since they have their own things to do as well
but the adults as well, as an older generation, they should show good manner to other people.. if they want to leave, they are welcome, but not with
such bad comment. If they can't keep with younger generation style of fandom, just don't say anything... no one's will be hurt by doing so...

LeeTeuk, as the leader, when posting the statement, probably is hell tired since he got so many things to do, so I understand his feelings for not being 'appreciated' during the performance...

SM should not force him to do many things, he should get rest next month...poor him...

well .... I have no idea thats crazy I've never EVER seen Leeteuk mad
I was surprised and shocked to read his message

but I was horrified when I saw what other fans did and shouted at them
Super Junior unlike other groups have done GREAT and has great talent they've deserved where they are!
and those fans who can't understand that are just plain rude and stubborn -__-

I feel bad for Teukie I just want him to get rest and some food

when I'm tired and hungry lol I get SUPER cranky =)

Whoa..I have never seen Leeteuk this angry and upset before. Usually he would in a way keep it in, but I think he just couldn't hold it anymore...I somewhat understand the position he's in tho. Being the leader he is bombarded with a lot more stuff and responsibilites. But Super Junior doesn't deserve to get that kind of treatment regardless of the fan generation. They've worked so hard and all of the members are really talented. Teukie Oppa please get some rest and mind your health. =] Just know that we're here to support you!

thanks for sharing.
at least this kinda explains to us why leeteuk got so mad.
again, thanks!

hmmm, why ere SUJU-H in that concert in the first place?

aish~ those people = so disrespectful~

leeteuk is being truthful... he speaks his mind and reacts genuinely...
he just expressed what he feels... His reaction actually is a normal reaction of a matured person....

leeteuk oppa....

It doesnt matter. I think the news about them being 1st both on Taiwan and Thailand 2-3 times in a row would make them feel a little bit better.