Chinese fans say that even though they can treat idols like their families, there still needs to be moral standards. Photo: VCG

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday called for a "thorough investigation" into the drug and sex scandal that involves former BIGBANG member Seungri (Lee Seunghyun), according to the Korea Times.

Formed by South Korea's YG Entertainment in 2006, BIGBANG is one of the most popular and influential K-pop boy bands. It's been recognized as the king of K-pop by international media, and currently has over 10 million followers on Facebook and seven million followers on China's Twitter-like social media platform, Sina Weibo.

Twenty-two-year-old Iye (pseudonym) is one of BIGBANG's VIP fans. Different from most people who just view the issue as another celebrity scandal, Iye said it was hard for her to read all the news and she often tries to avoid talking about it with others.

"I have been a fan of BIGBANG since 2013. The feeling that your long loved idol turned out to be a criminal is like dropping from a cloud into a valley," Iye told the Global Times.

She described her feelings as being very complicated: sad, disappointed, regretful, angry, and hard to let it go.

"For a band like BIGBANG, which has been such an important influence in the Asian [pop] music world, it is hard to believe they will end up like this. It is very awkward and embarrassing," Iye explained. She knows that people who are not VIP fans may find it hard to understand. Therefore, her friend Xiao Fan is the only one she shared her emotions with.

"To us, our idols are like our families," Xiao, who is a fan of another K-pop band EXO, explained. Yet she emphasized that while some wrongdoings can be forgiven, there also needs to be moral standards.

K-pop loyalty

K-pop's influence stretches beyond its home country.

According to an early report from Bloomberg Businessweek, the worldwide sales of K-pop in 2016 reached $4.7 billion. And on YouTube, videos from the top 200 K-pop stars reached 24 billion views in the year 2016, among which 80 percent came from viewers outside of South Korea.

Under such extreme popularity, K-pop has also raised a new kind of star-chasing culture among its VIP fans.

Different from individual fans, VIPs belong to a group and launch supporting activities in well-organized ways. Also, while the majority of common fans mostly consume a star's products, VIPs care more about helping increase their idol's influence by carrying out charity activities in the name of their idols, for example.

"There is a leader in our group who arranges work for us to raise money to [purchase downloads to help our idol's songs] climb the charts," Wei Yuqi, a college student who is a fan of K-pop boy group WINNER, told the Global Times.

She said that even though she is not a fan of BIGBANG, the Seungri scandal made her worried that it will affect the future of WINNER since they also belong to YG Entertainment.

"After all, the issue has affected almost half of the K-pop entertainment industry in South Korea," Wei said.

Behave like a star

Aside from the BIGBANG issue, scandals among stars worldwide occur from time to time and people have their own opinions of how stars should behave. The Global Times recently hit the streets to find out more about this issue.

Fitness instructor Fu, 40, sees stars that live indiscreet private lives as being careless.

"As an idol, one should have his or her standards," Fu said. "If you want to be a public figure, just live your life the same as performing onstage, and behave the best way you can."

Ramzy, 39, from Pakistan, believes that stars who do drugs carry the most negative influence. "Teenagers or younger people could take it as a bad example, like 'I want to be like that. It must be good to be high,'" he told the Global Times.

Aside from drugs, Vivian from China said academic cheating is the second worst thing a star can do.

"It's unfair for students who study hard," she said. "And [cheating] can [negatively] influence their future."

Chinese actor Zhai Tianlin, who is famous for his excellent acting skills, was caught cheating on his academic thesis in February, which has caused the public to doubt Chinese students' academic integrity.

Ricky, a soccer fan from China, said that he was once a fan of soccer player Marcus Rashford of Manchester United. He felt disappointed that Rashford focused more on things "off of the field" and lost focus on his career after he became famous.

"I don't think that is good. For a young soccer player, one needs to remember where you started," Ricky said.