I’ll share my opinion first. I do think this situation is quite overblown because it’s Wonyoung-related. It definitely wouldn’t have garnered this much attention had it been another idol. But Korea, like many other countries deeply influenced by Confucian values, tends to place a lot of importance on etiquette and social manners. As a result, even small displays of attitude or behavior can get dissected under a microscope when a famous celebrity is involved.
For those who aren’t aware, someone online posted a clip of Wonyoung at the airport getting her passport checked. This CLIP alone has nearly 50 million views in just a day (which is bonkers), and if you combine all the reposts, tweets, Shorts, and Reels that came from it, I’d guess it’s accumulated well over 100 million views across platforms in just over a day. There is also a full clip of it from a different angle but what you see is essentially the same as the other one.
Anyway, what you’re seeing in the clip is Wonyoung going through passport control. The officer checks her passport and asks her to reveal her face since she’s wearing a mask. Wonyoung slightly lowers her mask, the officer confirms her identity, and then hands the passport back to her.
There are a few different angles people have been discussing from this interaction. Some think that barely revealing her face during a routine identity verification process isn’t appropriate. Technically, people are asked to fully remove hats and masks for this procedure. At the same time, I can understand the reluctance some idols may have when it comes to revealing their entire face in public for various reasons. They’re constantly under scrutiny, and even the most unreasonable antis are always looking for something to nitpick about their appearance.
The part that’s really at the center of this controversy, however, is her attitude during the interaction. After the officer checks her face, Wonyoung keeps her arms crossed. When the officer hands her passport back, she takes it back with one hand while maintaining the other arm crossed and then walks away without any visible gesture of acknowledgment or bowing.
Now, this may not seem like a big deal to many people outside Korea. But in Korea, there are a lot of social nuances and nonverbal cues that come into play when interacting with others, especially someone older or someone you don’t know in a formal setting. I think what made this look worse to some people is that Gaeul, the oldest member of the group, appears in the same clip right after Wonyoung. She bows her head, accepts the passport with both hands, and leaves a very different impression, which naturally invited a stark comparison.
Not long after the clip started going viral, someone who is supposedly a Sullyoon (NMIXX) akgae posted this clip of Sullyoon in a similar situation at the airport. The OP’s intention was pretty obvious: adding even more fuel to the fire. In the clip, Sullyoon appears very polite, smiling after removing her mask and accepting her passport with both hands and bowing her head to the officer.
This clip also went super viral and has around 10 million views from that tweet alone. From what I’ve seen, many NMIXX fans have been calling out OP (the akgae) and asking for it to be taken down because it could cause more harm than good, potentially starting a fanwar. That’s totally understandable since Wonyoung does have a massive fandom and comparisons would only end up with emotionally charged fans to dogpile and attack Sullyoon.
Unfortunately, many fans’ concerns ended up becoming a reality, with some Wonyoung fans going after Sullyoon, calling her “untalented” and “10000 times more flopper than Wonyoung,” which I assume is just another way of saying she’ll never be as successful. On the other hand, a ton of people have used the comparison to criticize Wonyoung even more, calling her rude and elitist.
My opinion is that, I do think Wonyoung came across as impolite in that moment. Feel free to disagree, but as someone who’s very familiar with Korean culture, those are the kinds of mannerisms that are generally frowned upon when done by anyone. But if a celebrity, especially someone as big as Wonyoung, does it, it’s almost guaranteed to spark discussions about their attitude. So I’m not surprised by just how viral it’s become.
This is the type of issue that’s especially sensitive in Korea due to the cultural norms and social expectations surrounding it. But yeah, I was curious how international fans would view this situation.
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