On October 27 KST, SM Entertainment announced the second member of Aespa, Yoo Jimin, now known as Karina. Korean netizens expressed disappointment in the girl's visuals, claiming she looks too similar to Winter, the first member to be revealed. They also slammed the girl for changing her stage name in light of her past controversies.
The second member to be revealed is Karina. Like Winter's teasers, Karina's is filled with shades of pink, purple hue. Unlike Winter, Karina dons her natural black hair and is seen wearing slightly grey contact lenses, captivating the viewer with her audience.
Though her teasers look just as ethereal as Winter's, Korean netizens slammed Karina, Aespa, and SM Entertainment for having members that look the same. People claim there is no diversity in their visuals and that they can't even tell the first two members apart.
Read their comments here:
"She looks exactly like the one who was revealed yesterday."
"I can't tell her apart from the member who was revealed yesterday."
"Why do all the members look alike?"
"No, but she really looks like the first member."
Other netizens, on the other hand, focused on her past rumors. Earlier this year, text messages leaked by a supposed friend of Karina shows the girl insulting Sungchan and Shotaro, the two newest NCT members. She says that the two are not handsome and that SM Entertainment is going downhill.
She continues by saying EXO is not as popular as they were before and that NCT is not doing that well. Karina is then allegedly seen complaining that she should have auditioned for Big Hit Entertainment or YG Entertainment.
However, when asked about wanting to go to Big Hit Entertainment because BTS is doing so well, Karina is seen allegedly telling her friend that she initially thought BTS was ugly. The friend affirms that Karina used to call RM and Jimin of BTS ugly. The text messages end with Karina telling her friend that if she does not want to listen, she can leave because she has more friends to replace her.
In the past, she was also accused of calling EXO member Kai ugly during a commercial photo shoot that they worked on together.
RELATED : Rumored SM Entertainment Trainee Jimin Receives Backlash for Allegedly Insulting K-Pop Idols
SM Entertainment released a statement saying that they will be taking legal action against those who spread malicious comments and fabricated stories about Karina and that they will make sure they are able to protect the image and honor of their artists and trainees.
Read also: SM Entertainment Protects Trainee Jimin Against False Rumors and Defamation: Here’s What Happened
When Korean netizens saw Yoo Jimin had changed her stage name to Karina, they accused the company of admitting the rumors by 'hiding' her identity. Read their comments here:
"Yoo Jimin's stage name is Karina?"
"Why did she change her stage name? I am much familiar with Yoo Jimin."
"SM Entertainment is so stupid... Aren't they admitting to the rumors?"
"SM, why did you change her stage name? You're admitting to the rumors?"
Aespa is set to debut in November 2020, and fans can expect more teasers for the rest of the lineup to drop in the upcoming days.
Are you excited for Aespa?
Owned by KpopStarz
Written by Alexa L.
