“Sasaengpaen” or K-pop fan? Singapore youths, authentic identities, and Asian media fandom J. Patrick Williams and Samantha Xiang Xin Ho Nanyang Technological University, Singapore ABSTRACT Since the late 1990s, the Korean pop-culture wave has had a huge impact, achieving immense popularity and sustaining a global community of con- sumers and fans. In Singapore, a significant K-pop fan culture has emerged among youths. In this article, we study the emergence of the sasaeng fan—a stigmatized fan identity that refers to individuals who are unhealthily inter- ested in the personal lives of K-pop idols. Drawing on data from mass and social media, participant-observation, and interviews, we map the signifi- cance of the sasaeng fan identity for Singapore K-pop music fans and focus specific attention on how fans negotiate an understanding of their own “authentic” identities vis-à-vis the mediated identity of the sasaeng fan. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 7 July 2014 Accepted 17 September 2014 Introduction Since the late 1990s, the “Hallyu” (한류) or Korean pop-culture wave has buffeted the shores of countries across broader Asia. With a highly rationalized industry that spans the breadth of cultural production and diffusion, K-pop has achieved immense popularity via music, television, and other entertainment channels with a correspondingly massive following of consumers and fans across East and Southeast Asia (Chua 2004; 2010; Fu and Liew 2005). Along with the diffusion and consumption of these media products comes the objectification of the individual artists involved, most prominently by East and Southeast Asian audiences (Russell 2008; Shin 2009) and a variety of cultural products used by those artists, including clothes, accessories, and technological goods (Kwon 2007). The boom of the K-pop industry in the new millennium has been attributed to a domestic culture industry that pursues total entertainment management through vertical and horizontal integration of products to encompass an entire range of cultural objects, from music to drama, radio and television programs, publicity, and other related businesses (Siriyuvasak and Shin 2007). The advancement and prolifera- tion of digital technologies have allowed K-pop to gain extensive international coverage with its strong and expanding following active across a variety of digital media platforms. Throughout Asia, exposure to, and consumption of, K-pop culture continues to increase. Transnational cultural flows have allowed Korean pop culture to achieve multilayered and multi- directional mobility beyond national and institutional boundaries (Jung 2006, 2009). The popularity of K-pop in Singapore, for example, is evidenced by more than 100 events starring K-pop artists held locally between July 2010 and February 2013, including concerts, showcases, autograph sessions, meet-and-greet sessions, fan meetings and other appearances in festivals, launch events, fashion shows, grand prix and award ceremonies, all of which amount to an average of around three events per month. With K-pop artists flying to Singapore regularly, there is consistent exposure to K-pop and access is easily made available to Singapore’s large middle class, which has a high per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) compared to other countries in South and Southeast Asia. CONTACT J. Patrick Williams patrick.williams@ntu.edu.sg 14 Nanyang Dr., HSS-05-41, Division of Sociology, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 637332. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC DEVIANT BEHAVIOR, 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2014.983011