IVE’s Jang Wonyoung Criticized for “Lackluster Attitude” in China? Defended by Fans

Recently, girl group IVE made their highly-anticipated comeback with the new EP “IVE SWITCH” and the MV for one of the title track, “HEYA”. 

The “HEYA” MV made a deep impression with its dazzling oriental elements, only to draw heavy criticisms from Chinese people, who accused IVE of “stealing their culture”. This controversy has escalated to the extent that a large portion of mainland fans “unfollowed” IVE, at the same time declared a boycott for IVE’s return. 

As IVE’s most popular member in China, Jang Wonyoung was greatly affected. 

In particular, a previously devoted fan recently published a post, accusing Jang Wonyoung of having a lackluster attitude during fan calls. As fans have to buy a large number of albums and pay a hefty amount to be selected for fancalls, the “fancall winners” are often some of the most passionate people. 

However, such a fan announced their departure from the fandom due to Jang Wonyoung’s “lackluster attitude” drawing immense attention. The fan’s post revealed they have been supporting IVE for 2 years and spent over 11,000 USD on IVE’s albums and goods, drawing over 100 thousand reads on Chinese SNS Weibo and sparking lively discussions. 

Under the comments section, netizens also made strict remarks about Jang Wonyoung’s attitude. Below are some comments from Chinese fans: 

• Watching the video, her attitude does seem quite indifferent.
• Fans spend money and have a bad fan call experience, so they leave the fandom. Why do some people, who haven’t spent any money, curse so loudly?
• Truly a lot of money… For us, it’s just a short minute of video. For Jang Wonyoung, it’s just one of countless tasks. But for that other fan, it’s fervent passion
• Is it true that idols don’t know how much money fans spend to participate in fancall events? No matter how tired they are, they should still do their job well

Overall, many people agree with the fan leaving the fandom and criticized Jang Wonyoung, claiming that her indifference during fan calls shows a lack of respect. 

However, many also defend Jang Wonyoung, pointing out that the female idol has always been cautious in her communication, controlling her expressions. Therefore, any misunderstanding about Jang Wonyoung’s indifference is understandable. 

In fact, Korean netizens have always deem Jang Wonyoung to be a “professional idol” who strives to do her best with the “idol persona”, and even admire Wonyoung’s mindset.

Source: K14, Weibo