The Korean Music Awards are the best summary of what music critics in Korea think is good (equivalent to the US Grammys) and there's not a lot of idol music on there. (See [link] )
This is from ridiculously way back, but I wanted to thank you for pointing me in this direction. When I got to the Dance/Electronic songs, I realised I have the winners from four years in a row! ...And not one of the winners in the Pop category. Which made me realise that for the most part, I'm not actually that keen on the straight-up pop oeuvre within K-pop. (I tend to like it when it includes retro elements or goes for a more mature sound, but otherwise my favourite songs tend to get into ballads, rock, electronica, jazz etc.