Han So-hee Takes Legal Action, Karina Apologizes, Are Fans Going Too Far with Criticism Regarding Private Matters?

The news of a romantic relationship between aespa’s Karina and actor Lee Jae-wook broke out on February 27th. Later on the same day, their agencies confirmed that they were getting to know each other. 

Remaining silent for 8 days after publicizing her romance with Lee Jae-wook, Karina eventually wrote a letter to directly express her feelings as many people had requested an apology from her in various ways, such as malicious comments, rumors, and protest trucks in front of SM building. Eventually, Karina uploaded a handwritten letter on Instagram on March 5th, saying “I’m sorry for surprising my fans and causing concern to you all”, adding “I’m aware of your sadness, and deeply feel regret and apologize for any hurt feelings that I’ve caused.”

However, netizens continue to show divided reactions even after reading Karina’s handwritten letter of apology, claiming that the female idol was trying to achieve both love with Lee Jae-wook and work with support from fans who have been showering her with unconditional love. 

Some netizens defended Karina, saying “Is love a crime? Is it something to apologize for?”, “It’s natural for a woman in her 20s to develop feelings and date someone”, “Idols are also humans and dating shouldn’t be considered a problem in her job”, “How can they be considered real fans if they abandon and criticize idols for dating?”, “She should receive congratulations for dating. There’s no reason for her to apologize?”, etc.

On the other hand, some argue that dating may affect the performance of the group and the company negatively because personal relationships are considered private issues. Right after Karina admitted to dating Lee Jae-wook, SM’s market capitalization evaporated by more than 66 billion won. As the leader of aespa, Karina was criticized for being irresponsible and decreasing the competitiveness of the team with her romance.

Some fans recently expressed frustration by sending protest trucks to SM’s office building with messages, such as “Karina, is fans’ love not enough for you?”, “Why did you decide to betray fans? Please apologize”, “If you don’t apologize, we’ll let you see the drops in album sales and empty seats at concerts”, etc.

On the other hand, the dating news of actors Han So-hee and Ryu Jun-yeol has become a hot topic. It is not simply because the two actors met, however, as suspicions of a “transit love” involving Ryu Jun-yeol’s ex-girlfriend Hyeri attracts attention.

In particular, Ryu Jun-yeol broke up with Hyeri, with whom he had been in a public relationship for 8 years, and recently began dating Han So-hee, which led to suspicions that they had been dating before the breakup. Additionally, Hyeri ignited the fire by posting an Instagram story with the caption, “It’s interesting”, as well as unfollowing Ryu Jun-yeol.

In the end, Han So-hee and Ryu Jun-yeol receive negative comments from netizens, to the point their agencies hinted at legal action, saying, “We will take strong actions against the perpetrator and spreader for any actions that tarnish or damage the reputation.”

As the controversy grew, Hyeri updated her SNS on March 18, saying, “I sincerely apologize for the speculations and controversies that arose due to my personal feelings over the past few days. I had no idea what ramifications each of my minor actions would have. I sincerely apologize to anyone who was harmed by me”.

In both case, a question prevail: Did the celebrities really do something wrong to the extent of receiving excessive amounts of malicious comments from fans?

First of all, Karina had no reason to be criticized. Unless she is an AI singer, how can she hide her feelings of love? True fans should support their favorite idols’ happiness.

In the case of Ryu Jun-yeol and Han So-hee, if they really had a transit relationship, they could be criticized in terms of morality and trustworthiness. Even so, this is strictly the actors’ private life, so whether or not there is a problem during the breakup process, it is something that can be resolved between the involved parties. 

In fact, it seems somewhat inappropriate for fans to come forward and force the celebrities to explain or apologize.

It is true that celebrities have to endure malicious comments to some extent. However, it is also necessary for fans to refrain from indiscriminate criticism.

Looking at the recent situation, fans’ tendency to interfere in the private life of celebrities seem to be somewhat excessive. Even though being a celebrity is a profession that relies on the public’s popularity and attention, care must be taken not to infringe on the minimal boundaries of privacy, especially before someone gets hurt again and makes an irreversible choice.

Source: Daum