Aespa's Karina Slips In June Brand Reputation Ranking After Controversial Photo
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The top five idols on the list in June are BLACKPINK's Jennie, IVE's Jang Won Young, IVE's An Yu Jin, aespa's Winter and BLACKPINK's Rose.
Singer and rapper Karina, one-fourth of the popular girl group aespa, is bearing the brunt of a recent political controversy. The 25-year-old, who is considered one of the top and most reputable idols in the industry, saw a significant dip in her brand reputation ranking for the month of June because of the controversy. According to the latest data released by the Korean Business Research Institute, Karina fell from fourth place all the way down to 26th in the June girl group member brand reputation ranking list.
The top five on the list are: BLACKPINK's Jennie, IVE's Jang Won Young, IVE's An Yu Jin, aespa's Winter and BLACKPINK's Rose. People on the internet were quick to notice such a dip in her reputation ranking and blamed her recent political controversy for the reason behind it. As reported by AllKpop, Karina's Korean fans took to the social media platform Pann Nate and shared their views on the latest brand reputation rankings.
One fan said, 'So does this mean Giselle is more popular than Karina now? Lol. Brand reputation rankings are just reference material. They don't define your level." Another added, 'If there were really damage from the controversy, her ad deals would've been pulled. But she's still got plenty of major campaigns."
'I've never seen any idol get this much buzz online because her brand reputation went down. Lol," added a different fan.
What is the controversy related to Aespa's Karina?
Karina got embroiled in an unexpected controversy over a picture that she posted on her personal Instagram account on May 27. In it, she was seen wearing a red and black varsity-style jacket with the number 2 printed on it. Karina captioned the post simply with a red rose emoji.
While the post at first seemed like just any other harmless update on social media, and it did not immediately raise any red flags, many Korean fans of the idol believed that there was a hidden political message. This post was shared at a time when South Korea was preparing for its 21st presidential Election.
Aespa's Karina is facing backlash from netizens for wearing the colors associated with a conservative political party and including the party's number and emoji in her Instagram caption.For international fans this is equivalent of being a trumpie pic.twitter.com/T2p7hOKlhy
— Flop Kpop (@TheFlopKpop) May 28, 2025
In South Korea, the colour red is often associated with the People Power Party. The number 2 represents Kim Moon Soo, who was a candidate for the election. Many took to social media to express their frustration, accusing the aespa member of indirectly supporting a political candidate, even though she did not hint about it anywhere in the post. Following the backlash, SM Entertainment and the idol herself apologised to the public, clearing out all the misunderstandings.
First Published:
June 24, 2025, 10:39 IST
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