On August 1, a shocking accusation of the school aimed at Wonhee of Illit emerged online, quickly becoming viral through X (previously Twitter). The long post said that Wonhee has b
“This was not easy rice, but I’m gathering courage to Rite this because I think many people have the right to know the truth behind his two -faced image”, The post read in Korean structured in broken English.
But while the Netizen Koreans examined the most closely post, they quickly started to notice something suspicious, not only in the request itself, but in the language in which it was written. The used Korean was embarrassing, unnatural and full of grammatical inconsistencies. After translating it into English, everything suddenly made sense: the most likely that the post was probably written in English and then is performed through Google Translate.
Shortly thereafter, fans started digging on the account background. What they found has caused the narration drastically the passage.
“Girl, you are Melissa. A beat of Indonesian eyelashes using f*cking google translate”, A user commented, exposing the accuser’s alleged identity. Others have derived the deception attempt with memes and republishing, accusing it of “Korean bait”, a term used when someone pretends to be Korean to attract credibility or attention in the K-pop spaces.
The recourse was quick and hard. What was to be a serious accusation against a k-pop idol has been transformed into a scandal on social media on the manipulation of fans, on the false identity and false narratives in the online K-pop community.
As K-pop grows more and more global, more and more international fans participate in conversations that were once limited to Korean speakers. But this also gives rise to problematic behaviors, such as using the broken Korean to appear more “authentic” or posing as insiders from Korean works to earn deceptions or push narratives.
“Are you a foreigner, what are you doing?” A Korean user asked in no uncertain terms, reflecting the general feeling of disbelief and frustration.
While no formal response has been issued YOUThe Hybe or Belift Lab agency, many fans urge them to protect Wonhee from false voices. Others ask for platforms that act against users who arm the cultural identity to spread unsolicited statements.
Sources: Koreaboo
