On the morning of April 2, Korean media sites simultaneously reported the breakup of aespa’s Karina and actor Kim Jae-wook after more than 5 weeks of publicly dating. The agencies of both celebrities have since confirmed the news.
Karina’s “short-lived” romance, which was revealed by Dispatch and lasted for just over a month, caused a stir among netizens. In fact, after her dating news, Karina faced a wave of boycotts and malicious comments. The aespa member even had to publish an apology to fans, sparking fierce debates in the Kpop community.
However, the harshness of the K-pop industry towards dating news, especially that of female idols, is nothing new. In fact, before Karina, BLACKPINK’s Jennie experienced the same fate.
Top-tier female idols in both visuals and talents
Jennie and Karina actually share a lot of similarities: both are key members of 4-member girl groups, debuting under the K-pop “Big 3” agencies – YG and SM. The two stars also quickly became famous upon debut and are considered “top-tier” in K-pop. If Jennie is the number one “IT girl” in Korea, then Karina is the visual icon of the K-pop 4th generation.
In terms of talent, Jennie is recognized as an “all-rounder” with skills in rap, singing, and dancing. In the group lineup, Jennie serves as the main rapper and the “unofficial” center. Although the YG does not officially designate a leader or center role for BLACKPINK, based on Jennie’s contributions over the past 7 years, everyone acknowledges her as the group’s center.
Meanwhile, Karina is also the unofficial center of aespa, and is also often praised for her skills and well-recognized even outside of her group.
The “scapegoat” of netizens
Parallel to their popularity, Jennie and Karina often become “scapegoats” for netizens, who constantly target the 2 female idols – from spreading baseless rumors to writing malicious comments.
In fact, when she first debuted, Jennie was often called the “YG princess”, facing various accusations of “lazy dancing” and “preferential treatment”. Nowadays, Jennie would come under fire for her fashion style – which is daring, bold, and non-conforming to conservative perceptions.
Meanwhile, Karina also faced scrutiny from antis for being heavily promoted by SM. In any issues that arise within the group, Karina is always the first to be targeted by netizens.
For Jennie and Karina, taking the blame is an everyday thing – even when they have nothing to do with the controversies being discussed.
Short-lived romances
For the aforementioned reasons, when Jennie and Karina’s dating news was revealed, they had to face tremendous pressure from the public. Jennie’s first official romance was revealed in 2019 after Dispatch released photos of her dating EXO’s Kai. At that time, Jennie’s career was in full swing with a grand solo debut, and BLACKPINK was enjoying success with the global hit “DDU-DU DDU-DU.”
Amid accusations of “lazy dancing” and “preferential treatment”, Jennie became even more heavily criticized for dating. Under the immense public pressure, Kai and Jennie ended up separating after just 25 days of public dating, citing busy schedules, making for a short-lived romance.
Similar events have occurred with Karina, as the female idol splitted ways with Lee Jae-wook after 5 weeks. According to TenAsia, the main reason for their breakup was the malicious comments and the feeling of guilt towards fans.
Karina was criticized and boycotted throughout the time she publicly dated the male actor, and her apology letter also sparked debate, as people was baffled by her having to apologize for extremely normal feelings.
Nevertheless, Jennie has successfully overcome all challenges to reach her undisputable position of today. Hopefully, the same will also happen to Karina, who is also under excessive pressure due to her fame.
