LE SSERAFIM’s Chaewon joined HYBE to challenge herself, netizens questioned what challenges she could possibly have

A recent interview of LE SSERAFIM’s Chaewon has been receiving mixed feelings from Korean netizens. 

After her old group IZ*ONE disbanded, Kim Chaewon returned to the stage as a member of HYBE’s new girl group LE SSERAFIM. The female idol recently talked about her upcoming journey in an interview with Weverse Magazine. 

In particular, when asked about her decision to join HYBE and re-debut after the disbandment of IZ*ONE, the idol said: 

“I wrapped up my time with IZ*ONE last year but then I became worried and uncertain about what I should do going forward. Two and a half years isn’t very long to be in a group, after all. I wanted to be in a group again because I still had a lot of dreams of things I wanted to achieve as part of a group and because I really regretted all the things I never got a chance to show off.

That’s when SOURCE MUSIC told me they were making a new group and made me an offer, and the people at my previous label supported me and respected my decision, and that’s how I ended up making a fresh start somewhere new.”

She also added that by joining HYBE, she’s challenging herself with a completely new role, saying: “It’s not easy changing labels, being a trainee again and having to start everything over from the beginning. But I thought I would have regretted it if I didn’t do it. It’s not every day that you have an opportunity to debut with a group again, and I wanted to challenge myself, rather than take the safe way and keep myself from the things I want to do. I decided to follow my heart in the end.”

Unfortunately, these sharings are inducing mixed reactions from Korean netizens, who believe that joining HYBE is not a means for self-challenge, but instead a huge opportunity. According to them, instead of betting it all to debut under a small company, it’s better to join a company as stable as HYBE. Since the company’s pillar group BTS is soaring to new heights, HYBE, and by extension Chaewon and LE SSERAFIM, won’t be facing any worthy difficulties anytime soon. 

Therefore, by joining her new agency, Chaewon is obviously playing it safe instead of challenging herself, these netizens said. 

Some comments from netizens: 

• Personally I think she picked the safe choice
• What is she even saying? How is it challenging to join Source Music, which is under HYBE? What will she possibly face?
• If she wants challenges, she’d debut as a soloist under Woollim
• If joining HYBE is challenging then I wonder what’s safe to her…
• How is joining a big company difficult by any  means?
• It’s like you quitted a small startup to start working at Samsung
• Woollim have supported Chaewon whole-heartedly but to her HYBE is the better choice 
• HYBE’s new girl group will be an automatic success… “Challenge myself”, she said. 
• Say anything you want but I’d do the same. 
• Why are the comments like this, she is just picking the best option.