BTOB’s Lee Min-hyuk Sparked Controversy Over Remark To Fans “Please Contribute to Korea’s Fertility Rate”

Lee Min-hyuk’s recent messages with fans spread around the online community and X (formerly known as Twitter) on March 10th, drawing criticism from Internet users.

A day before, Lee Min-hyuk left a message to his fans, sharing about going to his friend’s wedding, and said, “There are so many weddings these days,” “So you are all going to weddings too?,” and “Please contribute to the fertility rate, my friends.”

He continued the conversation comfortably, saying, “I have a close friend group since elementary school, and six out of eight people (including me), got married,” “Some of them already have three children,” and “They are great patriots.” It is worth noticing that Korea is the country with the lowest fertility rate in the world.

In the process of sharing light daily stories, his “fertility rate” remarks was seen as a lesson to fans, and some Internet users responded to it uncomfortably.

They showed negative reactions to Lee Min-hyuk’s remarks, leaving comments such as “He was too rude to fans,” “Why do you want to teach fans that,” “It was rude,” and “I’ve never seen an idol worried about the country’s birth rate before.”

On the other hand, fans are dismissing some of the criticism and misunderstanding, saying that Lee Min-hyuk did not make the remarks on the fertility rate to his fans, but to his friends. They seem to be showing concern and support, saying, “Why are you taking what he said to his friends sensitively?” and “It’s just his daily conversation, so unfair for him to be criticized because of it.”

To make matters worse, fans’ concerns seem to be growing as the controversy over Lee Min-hyuk’s remarks has even brought back rumors and controversies of other BTOB members, showing signs of division within the fandom.