Celebrity

It took 6 years for K-netizens to understand why SM added Yeri to Red Velvet

Looking at the pictures of Red Velvet’s Yeri in the past and present, netizens can see how smart SM Entertainment was when adding Yeri to the group.

Debuting in 2014, Red Velvet made a strong impression on the public thanks to their bright, energetic concept and refreshing visuals. The first songs of the 4 girls when they entered the industry were also unique and special compared to other rookies at that time. Less than a year after their debut, SM Entertainment, decided to add a new member – Yeri to the lineup, bringing the total number of members of Red Velvet to 5. Since then, Yeri has replaced Joy to become the group’s youngest member.

It took 6 years for K-netizens to understand why SM added Yeri to Red Velvet

When she first started her idol career as a member of an idol group that already gained some reputation, Yeri faced a lot of pressure from the public and malicious comments from anti-fans. Many netizens, especially fans who were familiar with Red Velvet‘s 4-member lineup, targeted Yeri with criticism. According to them, the female idol born in 1999 is not a great vocalist. Neither does she have main dancer nor main rapper material. Yeri is pretty but her appearance still can’t compare with Red Velvet’s visual Irene. Therefore, netizens found it difficult to understand and lashed out at the fact that Yeri became a part of Red Velvet

It took 6 years for K-netizens to understand why SM added Yeri to Red Velvet

However, over the years, fans have recognized and acknowledged Yeri‘s importance to Red Velvet‘s growth and success. Not only bringing youthfulness and lively energy, the female idol has also received many compliments for her persistent efforts in self-improvement, becoming more talented and professional through each comeback.

Recently, a topic on the online community Pann in Korea discussed Yeri‘s pre-debut visual. During a performance with other trainees of SM Rookie, she attracted much attention thanks to her radiant beauty at the age of 16.

“These photos were taken on the rookie stage. Thanks to this performance, there were dozens of articles talking about Yeri. Many people even praised her for having the perfect representative face for rookie female idols. Her look has been admirable since she was only 16. If I were Lee Sooman, I wouldn’t be able to wait any longer for her to make a debut.”  – The original poster of the Pann post wrote.

It took 6 years for K-netizens to understand why SM added Yeri to Red Velvet
It took 6 years for K-netizens to understand why SM added Yeri to Red Velvet
It took 6 years for K-netizens to understand why SM added Yeri to Red Velvet

In the comments section, most fans agreed that Lee Sooman‘s decision was absolutely right, “Me too, if I were Lee Sooman, I wouldn’t have to wait any longer. If SM had kept Yeri waiting to debut with the next group, she would have left SM long ago.”, “The person who filmed Yeri’s fancam originally went to the concert to see her bias.  But then the master shot Yeri because she stood out among the rookies”, etc.

Furthermore, a netizen had a fairly convincing analysis of her debut, claiming that Yeri‘s participation in Red Velvet was directly related to f(x)‘s situation at the time:

“Yeri was probably chosen to debut because f(x) has become a 4-member group. f(x) used to have five members, but Sulli decided to stop promoting after “Red Light”, so both f(x) and Red Velvet are now down to four members.  As a result, the images of the two groups will look the same. So they considered adding Yeri to the lineup.  Yeri and Goeun were the oldest among the trainees at that time, but Yeri practiced longer and was loved by Lee Sooman, so I guess that’s why they chose her.”

It took 6 years for K-netizens to understand why SM added Yeri to Red Velvet

This theory makes sense because both f(x) and Red Velvet had unique images, concepts, and music at the time. If both groups had the same number of members, the public would have easily confused or compared them. However, because f(x) had been active for several years at the time, it was not practical to add new members to the group. It could be argued that President Lee Sooman‘s decision to put Yeri in Red Velvet was a wise one in that situation.

It took 6 years for K-netizens to understand why SM added Yeri to Red Velvet

So far, SM Entertainment has never publicly stated the real reason why the company had to add Yeri to the group’s lineup. There are a lot of rumors about this. Some people believe that Yeri’s family is so powerful, and they put pressure on SM to allow her to make her debut. However, looking back at Yeri‘s self-changing journey over the past 6 years, fans believe that the female idol is completely deserving of her current position.

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