Other industry veterans agreed.
Yet another senior idol highlighted the change in greeting culture among younger idols, and this time it is The girls’ generation Hyoyeon taking shots.
On November 29, Hyoyeon appeared as a special guest on SBS PowerFM’s Cultwo Show, alongside veteran idols such as Coyote‘S Baekga AND HEAT‘S Jaewon. During the episode they talked about the greeting culture among idols, noting how it has changed drastically over the years.
Recalling her rookie day, Hyoyeon boasted that she and her peers used to “arc with an angle of 90 degrees” even while receiving food deliveries. He added: “When I took out the plates, I cleaned up all the food so it looked like I washed them,” explaining that she felt obligated to be respectful towards the people who delivered food to her every day.
Later in the episode, the topic of greeting came up again, and Hyoyeon directly called out the new greeting culture among idols, calling it disappointing. Although he said his preferences were a bit “old fashioned”, Baekga and Kim Taegyun agree with his criticism, saying that this is basic behavior that everyone should pay attention to.
When Jaewon asked her if guys still greeted her at broadcast stations, Hyoyeon surprisingly revealed, “These days they don’t greet us at all. Baekga then shared his experience on how things have changed lately.
“Every year we go to the stations to promote our albums, right? But let’s not let others come and say goodbye.” Baekga explained, adding that they felt bad seeing the kids lining up and waiting to greet them. He said that while in his rookie years, idols would line up to greet seniors, now TV producers come to their waiting rooms to greet them personally. “It seems strange to me.” he added.
Hyoyeon responded by saying that she also felt uncomfortable being greeted that way. “But when we pass each other in the hallway, they should at least make eye contact or nod,” he added. Hyoyeon noticed that nowadays guys can barely make eye contact and so don’t even bother saying hello.
Meanwhile, Hyoyeon isn’t the first senior idol to shed light on this changing greeting culture. OH MY GIRL‘S Seunghee he also expressed his strict position on this issue. Read more here.
