Minji officially broke her silence regarding her "Kalguksu" controversy, which made buzz in the K-pop community.
Here's what happened.
NewJeans Minji Apologizes for 'Kalguksu' Controversy in Phoning: 'I learned a lot'
The "Super Shy" singer has apologized regarding the long-standing incident.
Earlier in December 2022, NewJeans' oldest member Minji revealed that she hadn't tried certain noodle dishes including "kalguksu," which is also called knife-cut noodle soup.
With the dish being common in South Korea and Minji's avoidance of food choices unknown to her, this eventually led to the criticism of netizens, who accused Minji of faking an "image" and dodging a food staple among "common citizens."
Netizens then relayed evidence to prove that Minji had allegedly lied about not trying the dish despite visiting a kalguksu restaurant in the past. In a separate incident, Minji was also criticized for her "immature" behavior and grammar skills upon bringing up the dish.
This inevitably created a rift between K-netz and international fans. The debate threaded on Minji's candid demeanor and tone, while others poked fun at the situation, saying how amusing it was seeing netizens get riled up because of an issue surrounding noodles.
On January 15, Minji messaged Bunnies on NewJeans' fan app Phoning and sincerely apologized for the issue at hand.
Read her full apology below:
"Hello. This is Minji.
Since my debut, so many people have shown interest and love, so I am grateful for my activities.
On January 2, during a live interaction with Bunnies, my tone and attitude caused discomfort to the viewers. I am truly sorry to the Bunnies, who must have been surprised and hurt with the bad attitude I showed during the broadcast where I communicated naturally and comfortably.
Last winter, I knew what kind of reaction I had when I said I didn't know what kalguksu was. I'm a picky eater and I've never tried kalguksu before. So I thought about the type and taste of kalguksu and before I knew it, I thought, what is kalguksu?
I ended up saying to myself, I didn't know that there might be a misunderstanding because I was talking to myself and I wanted to give a clear explanation, but I thought it felt like water had already been spilled and it would calm down over time.
However, more comments were made against my judgement over time, to the point that my relationship with the members was mentioned, and I received strange misunderstandings, which continued to harass me knowingly or unknowingly for a year.
So out of frustration, I put out an explanation, but I'm also reflecting on myself for disappointing you with my immature attitude. Through this incident, I thought about it during my vacation and talked to people about the responsibility of every word, and I learned a lot.
Once again, I would like to express my apologies to Bunnie, who must've felt uncomfortable and embarrassed while watching the livestream."
