"We apologize": iMBC News releases statement addressing their now-deleted post allegedly mocking NewJeans' Minji

On Sunday, January 21, following the departure of NewJeans' Minji for the Paris Fashion Week, several news articles reported on the same, including pictures of the idol looking stunning, as ever, at the airport. One of the reporters was iMBC News, one of Korea's major media broadcast companies, and fans weren't happy with the article written about the idol.

Recently, the idol was tangled up in a Kalguksu controversy, where she was heavily criticized for not knowing what the famous Korean noodle dish was. However, in a recent apology letter, the idol explained that she's a picky eater, and her sentence meant that she was trying to think of how the dish would taste as she's never eaten it before.

While the controversy settled after that, iMBC News' headline for NewJeans' Minji about her departure to Paris Fashion Week was criticized for allegedly mocking the idol for the controversy. The first syllables of three words they used to describe how the idol looked at the airport spelled Kalguksu, and since many felt that the sentence structure looked forced, fans were angered at journalist Go Dae-hyun's unnecessary hit at the same time.

However, iMBC News soon released an apology statement addressing the same.

"We apologize to the related artists and company who were hurt by it."

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iMBC News under fire for its alleged mockery towards NewJeans' Minji in their recent article

iMBC News' recent article headline angered fans. NewJeans' Minji, as a Chanel ambassador, was seen departing to the Paris Fashion Week for the Chanel Haute Couture on January 21.

As iMBC News reported an article on the same, they used the headline,

"NewJeans Minji, Sharp Beauty, Global, Elegance."

While the translated version seems unproblematic, the Korean words and the starting syllables of the three words used to describe Minji are what caused the controversy. Sharp is spelled Kal-gak, Global is spelled Guk-jejeok, and Elegance is spelled Su-ryeoham. The first syllables of these three words, which are rarely seen put together, spell Kalguksu, and fans couldn't help but notice the shade that the journalist threw at the idol.

Additionally, another article related to Minji's departure was also seen making a wordplay about the Kalguksu controversy. The article that stated that the idol was processing the boarding for her international flight at the right time immediately caught fans' attention for its awkward phrasing. The sentence's first syllables were once again spelled Kalguksu, Kal-gati (sharp on time) Guk-je-seon Chool-guk (boarding International flight) Su-hang (processing).

Fans were naturally angered at the media and netizens' consistent revisit of the Kalguksu controversy, especially since Minji expressed her displeasure over the consistent criticism she received for the same. As fans continued to call out iMBC News for their disrespectful article title, the news agency soon released an apology statement. Here's what the statement read:

"This is a notice. iMBC knows very well about the importance of artists’ IPs. Recently, the title of one of our photo articles related to NewJeans has come under controversy, and we immediately deleted it. Even so, we apologize to the related artists and company who were hurt by it. iMBC promises that we will put full effort into managing our content so that such matters do not happen again in the future."

This controversy saw its start in 2022. NewJeans' Minji, during a live broadcast with her fellow members and the streamer ChimChakMan, was criticized for asking herself what Kalguksu was. Since it's a famous and renowned Korean dish, Minji was criticized for not knowing what Kalguksu was, and netizens even called her out for being a rich and luxurious kid from overseas.

In a recent livestream on January 2, the idol addressed the issue in an almost passive-aggressive manner, saying that she obviously knew what Kalguksu was and calling out netizens for the harsh criticism. However, when the criticism grew as people pointed out her alleged bad attitude, she released an apology letter, thoroughly explaining the situation and apologizing for lashing out on the livestream.

The translation of the above video:

"Everyone, do you think I wouldn’t know what Kalguksu is? So, what’s Kalguksu mean, like… Would I not know, everyone? Think about it twice. That’s right. I didn’t know, that’s why I said I didn’t. Do you all know how many types of Kalguksu there are, and the ingredients that go into it?"

Fans, on the other hand, continued to defend the idol for the controversy, saying she's allowed to be a picky eater and didn't need to apologize for not having tried a particular dish.

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While fans still felt that they should've been more careful about their article and its representation of the idols, they were glad to learn that the posts were deleted and were appreciative of the apology letter.