Knets raised discussion on the contradictory public reactions to the sudden marriage news of Bobby and Chen

How did Korean netizens react to Bobby (iKON) when he announced his marriage and the welcoming of a child?

On August 20, Bobby startled everyone by announcing that he would get married and become a dad. The male rapper posted a handwritten letter on his Instagram to explain the situation. In the letter, he shared that he had promised to marry the person he loves, and he is welcoming his first child this September.

In addition, Bobby also apologized for not delivering this news earlier. He said he was confused and worried. He decided to share the news after thinking about everything thoroughly. To end the letter, Bobby gave his apology to his fans for making them confused. He also promised his family, iKON members, and his fans that he would become a better man.

Getting married and having children is a normal thing for an adult. Therefore, it can be understood that Bobby is a responsible person. However, Bobby is a KPOP idol; he is young and still has a long journey ahead. As a result, this was still shocking news, and it would definitely raise controversies.

Typically, fans would feel more acceptable if their idol announces the dating news before getting married and having a child. However, there still existed cases that didn’t follow this procedure. The first case was Chen (EXO), and then there was Bobby. These 2 idols didn’t reveal anything about their dating relationship but suddenly uploaded their handwritten letters to announce their marriages and their child.

Looking back on the period when Chen first announced his marriage, he received many negative reactions from Korean fans and netizens. They criticized him for having a child before getting married and being irresponsible with EXO. Many Korean fans even created a hashtag and protested in front of SM’s building to demand Chen’s withdrawal from EXO.

However, when it came to Bobby’s news, netizens had accepted it with much more positive attitudes. It seems like they have got used to the situation since the case of Chen. Moreover, they also thought that an idol who took responsibility for his marriage is still better than those who caused scandals related to bad personalities.

Like what had happened with Chen, Bobby was mocked by a portion of Knets for announcing the incident so late. He sent a handwritten letter only when his fiancée was eight months pregnant. Many other Knets thought that such activities show that many Kpop idols do not genuinely respect fans or care about the image of the group. They were concerned that this might become a new trend in the future: marrying, having a baby, and then abruptly announcing the incident to fans.

• [+163, -3] Seeing Chen getting cursed at, he must’ve banged his head..ㅋㅋㅋ
• [+153, -4] He must’ve written it carefully after seeing Chen’s response
• [+133, -6] Anyways, both are dadsㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
• [+64, -2] A daddy and a father.. f*ck, they are soulmates
• [+25, 0] But why is Bobby’s handwriting like this? I write like this when I’m taking notes and dozing off in class
• [+98, -0] It’s just a difference in fandom size. Of course, the differences in each fandom cause different reactions, but anyway, Chen is a member of the top male idol group EXOㅋ
• Bobby was born in 1995, right?!
• Kpop universe is really crazy now!!
• I’ve been an iKON fan for 7 years, so I can understand how fans feel right now.
• In any case, this marriage announcement is far away from today’s celebrity controversies. In terms of humanity, this is nothing to be embarrassed about. Bobby is also responsible for the child.
• Please use condoms.
• Is it so sudden??? Reminds me of Chen.