As aespa’s Karina is a top female idol, fans are concerned that the dating rumors could negatively impact Karina’s career.
Dating rumors – a “taboo” issue for female idols, fans worry about Karina’s career
On the morning of February 27, Dispatch unexpectedly released photos of a date between the top gen 4 female idol Karina and rising actor Lee Jae-wook. The two stars first met at a fashion event on January 14th and have only been meeting for a month. Dispatch’s revelation caused a stir in the Asian social media community with the news of Karina and Lee Jae-wook’s relationship.
On Lee Jae-wook’s side, the actor, who is known for his talent, has shown quite a positive reaction to the budding relationship. His management company also confirmed the relationship, prior to SM Entertainment.
However, there are many concerns surrounding Karina. For female idols at the peak of their careers, being involved in dating rumors can have a significant negative impact on their reputation, even leading to a “ban” for some. Additionally, Karina is the first gen 4 female idol so far to confirm her dating status.
aespa is a group with a large fan base in both Korea and China. The primary markets for aespa share a common strict stance on idol dating issues. A notable example is the backlash faced by SEVENTEEN’s Joshua in August 2023.
At the time, the male idol faced heavy backlash from a portion of fans and protests demanding his departure from the group due to dating rumors. Although this dating was never confirmed by involved parties, this uproar lasted for a while and affected the spirit and work of the male idol.
As a female idol, the situation may be even more challenging for Karina. According to insiders, Karina and Lee Jae-wook “fell in love at first sight”. On Chinese social media, topics related to the hottest couple of the day are receiving immense interaction. In her fourth year of her career, many still cannot accept the truth of Karina dating. Especially when Karina is famous for her girl crush image, being the “dream girlfriend” of many fans – both male and female.
Additionally, as the group leader, Karina’s personal relationship also raises concerns about cooling down aespa’s popularity
As Karina is the group’s leader, her personal relationship also raises concerns about “hindering” aespa’s popularity. A similar aftermath has occurred with TWICE when leader Jihyo confirmed her relationship with Kang Daniel. At the time, many male fans of TWICE no longer felt connected to the group, and as TWICE becomes saddled with dating rumors later on, the group also faced a decline in popularity.
Meanwhile, if aespa’s upcoming release fails to maintain aespa’s momentum, Karina herself will be criticized by anti-fans for letting her dating rumors affect the group. On top of that, Karina is the representative visual of aespa’s concept, and stock price of SM Entertainment are already declining, showing a grim prospect.
A relationship that has just blossomed has been exposed, will Karina – Lee Jae-wook end up with a “tragic” ending like Jennie and EXO’s Kai?
In the cutthroat entertainment industry of South Korea, many relationships have ended due to public pressure. Back in 2019, when Dispatch revealed Jennie and Kai’s relationship, BLACKPINK’s rapper was under fire for a long time.
At the time, Jennie was caught up in dating rumors shortly after her solo promotion, which led to even more negative reactions. The two top stars were also known to have had only a short period of getting to know each other, with little public interaction before that, As a result, Kai and Jennie’s relationship ended shortly after being confirmed, only 25 days later.
In addition, when they were “exposed”, both stars had to face numerous negative comments, leading many to worry that history will repeat itself with Karina and Lee Jae-wook as their relationship, which has similarly just begun, has been publicly revealed.
With the current intensity of their work, many believe that Karina and Lee Jae-wook will find it difficult to balance love and career. The public pressure on female idols is not easy. And that’s not to mention Jennie and Karina share a common trait of being one of the most famous in their groups and often being “in the spotlight”.
Netizens are also criticizing Dispatch for releasing Karina and Lee Jae-wook’s dating news way to soon, and some are even expressing worries about “stalkerish” images that the news site have taken of Karina at night.
One the other hand, if viewed positively, audiences are reacting quite gently to Karina’s dating news, especially aespa’s fandom.
Many fans wish the couple happiness and are pleased that Karina’s partner is also a talented artist, making for a suitable match.
All in all, Karina is always highly regarded for her professionalism and diligent work, and audiences are gradually becoming more open to artists’ personal lives, hoping that idols will be happy while continuing to develop their careers brightly.
Source: K14
