South Korea's pop industry is big business in Asia. As K-Pop sets its sights on Europe and the US, will this force a change in the way it treats its artists?Selling singles is no way for a pop star to make money these days. Most artists find that touring and merchandise sales are more lucrative. So when it comes to concerts, size matters. This is why the biggest date in the Korean pop calendar - the Dream Concert, at which up to 20 bands perform - is held in Seoul's 66,800-seat World Cup Stadium. Teenage crushes come here for a once-a-year date in a national love story, where commitment is measured in coloured balloons, and devotion is knowing all the words.Most of the bands, like Super Junior and Wonder Girls, are household names; highly produced, sugary boy- and girl-bands with slick dance routines and catchy tunes. But the industry also has a less glamorous side: a history of controversy and legal disputes over the way it treats its young artists, which it is still struggling to shake.

K-Pop is a massive industry: global sales were worth over $30m (£18m) in 2009, and that figure is likely to have doubled last year, according to a government website. Industry leaders are also ambitious - Korean stars are beating a path to Japan, America and Europe. This month, South Korea's biggest production company, SM Entertainment, held its first European concert in Paris, part of a year-long world tour. In April, Korea's king of pop, Rain, was voted the most influential person of the year by readers of Time magazine. And earlier this year, boy band Big Bang reached the top 10 album chart on US iTunes.Korea is excited by what this new musical export could do for its image - and its economy. But some of K-Pop's biggest success stories were built on the back of so-called slave contracts, which tied its trainee-stars into long exclusive deals, with little control or financial reward. Two years ago, one of its most successful groups, Dong Bang Shin Ki, took its management company to court, on the grounds that their 13-year-contract was too long, too restrictive, and gave them almost none of the profits from their success.

The court came down on their side, and the ruling prompted the Fair Trade Commission to issue a "model contract" to try to improve the deal artists got from their management companies.Industry insiders say the rising success of K-Pop abroad, and experience with foreign music companies, has also helped push for change."Until now, there hasn't been much of a culture of hard negotiation in Asia, especially if you're new to the industry," says Sang-hyuk Im, an entertainment lawyer who represents both music companies and artists.Attitudes are changing, he says, but there are some things that even new contracts and new attitudes cannot fix. Rainbow is a seven-member girl-band, each singer named after a different colour. If any group could lead to a pot of gold, you would think they would.But Rainbow - currently in a seven-year contract with their management company, DSP - say that, despite working long hours for almost two years, their parents were "heartbroken" at how little they were getting paid.

A director for DSP says they do share profits with the group, but admits that after the company recoups its costs, there is sometimes little left for the performers.K-Pop is expensive to produce. The groups are highly manufactured, and can require a team of managers, choreographers and wardrobe assistants, as well as years of singing lessons, dance training, accommodation and living expenses. borderlands backpack upgrade locationsThe bill can add up to several hundred thousand dollars. backpacking enchanted valleyDepending on the group, some estimates say it is more like a million.buy golite backpackBut music sales in South Korea alone do not recoup that investment. avengers backpack hot topic

For all their passion, home-grown fans are not paying enough for K-Pop. The CD industry is stagnant, and digital music sites are seen as vastly underpriced, with some charging just a few cents a song. Bernie Cho, head of music distribution label DFSB Kollective, says online music sellers have dropped their prices too low in a bid to compete with pirated music sites. "But how do you slice a fraction of a penny, and give that to the artist? backpack tulisanYou can't do it," he says.expedition backpack 300 greyWith downward pressure on music prices at home, "many top artists make more money from one week in Japan than they do in one year in Korea", Mr Cho says. Company representatives say concerts and advertising bring in far more than music sales. "Overseas markets have been good to us," says one spokesman. South Korean musicians need to perform on home turf, but "Japan is where all the money is".

As acts start to make money overseas, he says this "broken business model" - underpricing - is creeping into their activities abroad.A former policy director at South Korea's main artists' union, Moon Jae-gap, believes the industry will go through a major upheaval. "Because at the moment, it's not sustainable," he says.Until that happens, he says, artists will continue to have difficulty making a living.South Korea's government is keen to promote its new international identity, one many hope could rival Japan's cool cultural image. The only question is whether the industry ends up more famous for its music, or for its problems.Heart-breaking video footage and photographs of terrified school students aboard the doomed Sewol South Korean ferry as it begins to capsize have emerged today.In footage recovered from a phone belonging to one of the passengers aboard the ill-fated Sewol ferry, a student can be heard saying: 'This is fun'. Clearly unaware of the severity of their situation, another says: 'This is like Titanic.'Moments later, as the ferry begins to tilt and shake, one young boy can be heard saying: 'I want to get off.

We don't want to die.'Pictures from the phone show groups of terrified young men wearing life jackets as they attempt to make sense of the terrifying situation. This picture, taken with a mobile phone by deceased South Korean high school student Park Su-hyeon, shows a group of students wearing life jackets and holding on to what they can as the South Korean ferry sinks. The boy also filmed the terrifying scene A boy on the bottom bunk fixes his life jacket and the ship begins to capsize The male students sit on the floor to avoid being flung from their beds and the ferry rocks from side to side One of the boys shouts 'This is like Titanic' as the vessel begins to tilt and shake. Moments later, the boys begin to panic - with some saying they don't want to die and they want to get off the ship Towards the end of the footage, found on a phone belonging to Park Su-hyeon, 17, one child can be heard documenting his last words - saying: 'This looks like the end'.

Another poignantly says: 'These are pictures we need to take as our last memories,' before another boy cuts in and says: 'Mom, Dad, I love you.'The harrowing footage comes as an off-duty captain claims he warned the ship shouldn't carry too much cargo because it wasn't stable enough. He says these concerns were ignored by operators. The captain, whom prosecutors will only identify by his surname, Shin, was on vacation on the day of the tragedy two weeks ago. At the time, the ship was carrying 476 people, mostly from one high school. Only 174 people survived, including 22 of the 29 crew members. The ferry was piloted April 16 by a substitute captain, Lee Joon-seok, who is now being detained along with 14 other crew members who were involved in navigating the Sewol. One of the young males laughs says 'This is fun!' as the ship tilts One of the students shouts 'I want to get off. The footage was recovered from the phone of Park Su-hyeon, who perished in the tragedy on April 16

Another boy can be heard saying 'We don't want to die, we don't want to die.' An off-duty captain claims he told ferry operators he had concerns about the stability of the ferry before it sunk Yesterday, heartbreaking footage emerged showing passengers trapped on board the sinking South Korean ferry desperately trying to break windows before the ship disappears beneath the surface.In the harrowing video, an arm can be seen hammering on the glass in a frantic attempt to reach rescuers who are just a few feet away on the other side.Moments later, the ferry sinks below the waves, leaving the passengers with no hope of escaping alive or the rescue boats of saving them.Today's footage was taken from the phone of 17-year-old student Su-hyeon  - who was one of about 250 high school students aboard the ill-fated ferry.After the student's body was recovered, officers returned the boy's personal items to his family - who found the footage on his phone. The boy's father released to video to local media earlier this week - saying lessons must be learnt from his son's death.

Seung-ho, South Korean television broadcaster, introduced the footage on Newstapa, he said: 'This is by far the most heartbreaking scene I have seen in my 27-year broadcasting career.' Some of the boys take a moment to record their final words. It is thought around 150 of the 443 passengers aboard the ship were students The announcer tells passengers not to move from their cabins. Later, crew told investigators they thought this would be the safest place for them Su-hyeon’s video begins at 8:52am - three minutes before ferry officials sent the first distress signal to maritime controllers on shore.As panic mounts in the cabin, an announcer can be heard telling the children to stay where they were and hold on to what they could.Ferry officials later told investigators they thought this was the safest option.Moments later, one student says: 'This is going to be a lot of fun if we get it onto our Facebook.'At 8:57, another announcement is made and, clearly panicked, one boy asks: 'Should I call Mom?

Mom, this looks like the end of me.'In footage taken from another video of student Park Ye-seul, who also died on the ferry, a group of girls can be hear cheering as helicopters arrive. The off duty captain of the Sewol claims he warned the ferry company renovations had altered the balance of the ship and undermined its anti-rolling ability However, footage of rescuers show coast guards did not attempt to save those below deck - where both student would have been trapped.The footage is being reviewed as part of ongoing investigations in to the tragedy.Meanwhile, the off duty captain's claims he warned ship owners of the vessel's instability are also being investigated. Jung-jin, a senior prosecutor on the team investigating the incident, wouldn't say when the captain warned the company and didn't know whether Shin made multiple warnings about stability. stability test report on January 24 from the Korean Register of Shipping showed the ferry became top-heavy and less stable after a

modification of the ship from October 2012 to February 2013 that involved adding more cabins in some of the ship's floors. This image from a video released yesterday shows passengers on the sinking South Korean ferry desperately trying to smash the windows to get to rescuers next to the ship The windows slip beneath the surface of the water as rescuers try to save other passengers from the ferry Senior prosecutor Ahn Sang-don, also part of the investigation team, said today that authorities detained two employees at Chonghaejin Marine Co. Ltd., the ferry's owner, on suspicions of accidental homicide stemming from professional negligence in connection with the sinking. Ahn wouldn't identify the employees. Elsewhere, family members of high school students killed in the sinking dismissed as insincere President Park Geun-hye's apology for the government's handling of the disaster. They called for the quick retrieval of the missing. Divers have so far recovered 212 bodies from the

They fought strong currents and floating debris inside the ship again Wednesday as they searched for 90 passengers still missing. South Korean President Park Geun-Hye pays her respects to those lost in the tragedy South Korean mourners wait in a line to pay tribute at the official memorial altar near to Seoul, South Korea A relative of missing passengers of the sunken ferry prays at a harbour in Jindo today A woman reacts as she lays flowers at the memorial for those who died Students rescued from the sunken ferry pay tribute to those who lost their lives After several days of sluggish search efforts because of bad weather, divers on Tuesday retrieved more than a dozen bodies from the ship, which lies on the ocean floor, triggering a fresh outpouring of emotions by family members waiting for the return of apologized Tuesday for the government's inept initial response to theHer apology came amid rising indignation over claims by the