According to K-netizens, with the beauty and talent of THIS K-pop idol, she would have been super popular if she was not a foreigner. Who is she?

aespa NingNing Garners Admiration for Beauty

On September 10, aespa NingNing became the center of attention among netters and K-pop fans.

In particular, a heated discussion about her popularity sparked when an online user expressed curiosity as to why NingNing isn't well known among K-pop enthusiasts, despite her top-notch appearance.

The OP also shared photos of the idol from Instagram and explained that they saved them because of her mesmerizing beauty.

ALSO READ: Pop Reporter Explains Why aespa NingNing Is 'Hidden Gem,' Describes Idol's Vocals

Immediately, the post garnered attention from other web users and a lot of them agreed that NingNing is "underrated" despite the level of her visuals, skills and personality.

The female idol received rave reviews and regrets from netizens such as:

• "She's the best, but she was underrated."
• "I thought NingNing was really pretty when I first saw her, but I was more surprised that everyone says she got prettier during this promotion."

• "She's my visual type."
• "aespa has top visual members, but I think NingNing is the best among them."
• "NingNing is really pretty."

Why Is aespa NingNing 'Underrated'? Netizens Give 2 Reasons

On top of her visuals, the star also has impressive singing skills and a genuine personality that would contribute more to her popularity but still, fans wondered why she's not that well known, unlike other top 4th-gen idols.

Just then, netizens and fans highlighted two reasons NingNing didn't rise into popularity as much as other stars.

First, web users pointed out that NingNing's style in her early debut days failed to capture netizens' hearts. Initially, NingNing amassed much interest for being look-alikes of BLACKPINK Jennie and Red Velvet Joy, but fans think that her heavy makeup at the time wasn't the crowd's favorite.

However, when she started to dye her hair black, wore simple and light makeup as well as aligned her outfits to her body type, more people started recognizing her.

• "When she put on heavy makeup, it seems like her beauty wasn't properly caught by broadcast cameras. But when she posts on Instagram, I get surprised because she's too pretty and cute."
• "The initial makeup style didn't look good on her. Until recently, it was a style that emphasized her weak points and covered up her strengths, but her beauty stood out best when she lost weight and changed her makeup style during Spicy promotion."
• "She's prettier with something simple rather than heavy makeup."

However, netizens think that the main reason NingNing wasn't rising in popularity was because she's a foreigner, particularly a Chinese idol. In the past and up until now, a lot of Koreans have been showing antipathy and strong anti-Chinese sentiments.

Some comments were:

• "It's because she's Chinese. I don't think she would be ignored if she was a Korean."
• "She's good at singing, but since she's Chinese, people don't reall like it."
• "It's not like Koreans will promote Chinese."
• "I think she's been discriminated against a lot because of her nationality. But she's really pretty."

What are your thoughts on this?

READ MORE: aespa NingNing's 'True Beauty' Revealed in THESE Unedited Photos

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Written by Eunice Dawson.