[K-Entertainment Shock] Former Child Stars Reveal Dark Filming Sets: 'Beaten Until We Bled Sometimes'

Former South Korean child stars Heo Jung-min, Kang Rae-yeon, and Seo Jae-kyung recently appeared on a show together, candidly discussing the hardships they endured while working as child actors. They revealed that back then, not only was there a lack of protective measures, but also a strict hierarchy, all-night filming, and even instances where they were "beaten until they sometimes bled for making mistakes," offering the public a glimpse into the untold side of past film sets.

Former Child Stars Reunite to Recall: 'No Protective Measures Like Today'

The YouTube channel B-Level Studio released a video on July 10th titled, "I definitely saw this a long time ago... Inviting popular child stars from the previous generation! | EP.31 Heo Jung-min, Kang Rae-yeon, Seo Jae-kyung." In the program, Kang Rae-yeon mentioned, "Back then, we weren't treated like child stars today, nor did we have any sense of accomplishment from our work, or protective measures specifically for child stars."

She continued, stating that while child stars today earn substantial incomes, they had a "child star ranking system" when they were young, with pay determined by rank. "Even if you were popular, as a child star, your income was still relatively low." Heo Jung-min added, "The ranks went from 1 to 5. The most successful were rank 5, and the least popular were rank 1."

Kang Rae-yeon revealed that the highest pay per episode for acting back then was 250,000 Korean Won, which is about 167 US dollars, or roughly 5,400 New Taiwan Dollars.