150 years ago, the average American worker worked over 3000 hours annually. Today that number has dropped to around 1777 hours annually. South Korea is known for it's hard workers as South Korea has the longest working hours amongst the high-income OECD economies at just under 2400 hours annually. It seems idols in Korea fit this trend as they also work many hours annually.

"Are idols working all year long?"

This has been popping into the heads of many fans lately and it seems that there's enough evidence on the k-pop scene to support this thought. From the early 1990's to around 2002, it was rare to see idols work so much. When an idol group or singer ended their live promotions, it was difficult to see the artists until their next comeback. That is now obviously not the case with the proliferation of the internet and increase of technology. In addition, members from idol groups continue to stay in the media long after their promotions have ended. For example, Big Bang has been busy promoting like crazy in Japan and yet T.O.P found the time to star in the spy action drama IRIS. Now the group is in production for their comeback later this year and the fierce rapper is still acting as he will star in the film 71-Into the Fire. After closing their promotions, most idol groups make their comebacks within a month or two but The Brown Eyed Girls are one of the special cases as they've stayed low key since their last single Sign. Even so, both Ga-In and Narsha are keeping busy with reality programs We Got Married and Invincible Youth, respectively. Not to mention that both girls are busy in production for their solo debuts! 2AM is currently in the midst of live promotions but ssanti leader Jo Kwon has been appearing on the show We Got Married opposite of Ga-In as a fictional married couple. Seulong has also just begun his acting career through the new drama Personal Taste. 2PM is also busy with Taecyeon appearing on Family Outing as a regular and also starring on the new hit drama Cinderella's Sister. Wooyoung, Nichkhun and Chansung are also busy in the media. They also have a comeback coming soon as well. BEAST also had their fair share of hard working members as Doojoon was in Kenya with the Danbi team and Gi Kwang had starred in the hit sitcom High Kick Through The Roof. Of course these are only a few examples of idols in the media. Years ago, most idol groups had only 3 to 5 members. Now there's a growing trend where many have 7 or more members (ie. Super Junior, SNSD, U-KISS, After School etc.). Fans speculate that because there are so many members in a group, the companies compensate for the "impersonal feel" by having them appear on various programs. To get to know these idols better, all year long the idols appear on variety and reality programs and expand their careers from music into television and movie acting. But even through the craze of it all our favorite idols seem to keep on smiling and laughing, thankful for the opportunities that come their way. There's some with the mentality of "Hard Work Never Killed Anybody" and there's others with "Hard Work Never Killed Anybody... but why risk it?" What do you guys think, should the idols take it down a notch or continue to do as they do as long as they're happy?