The debut of A2O LITE has already drawn heavy criticism over the ages of its members, the youngest of whom are just 13 years old. Now a resurfaced video of Lee Soo Man, the founder of SM Entertainment, has poured fuel on the fire, with netizens calling his past remarks about debuting young idols “disgusting.”
A2O LITE (Credits: Koreaboo)
The controversy around A2O LITE began with the group’s young lineup and only intensified when fans took issue with the nature of one of the youngest member’s outfits, described by critics as resembling underwear. Amid the ongoing discourse, attention turned to a video of Lee Soo Man speaking with BoA, in which he laid out his philosophy on idol debut ages.
What Lee Soo Man said about debuting underage idols
In the video, Lee Soo Man explained that, in his view, idols needed to debut between the ages of 13 and 15 so they could hit their peak success between 16 and 18. To do that, he said, trainees were selected between the ages of 10 and 12, adding that “we thought even 9 or 7-year-olds were fine.”
Netizens were disgusted by how nonchalantly he said it on camera. The comments labeled the practice a form of “grooming,” arguing that training and debuting children that young is the reason idols end up exploited. One widely shared reaction read, “How was he so comfortable saying this out loud on camera,” while others pointed to the pressure of working to exhaustion under the weight of being judged ready, or dropped, before turning 18.
The A2O LITE debut backlash keeps growing
The backlash lands in a week already full of A2O LITE controversies: their young ages, the youngest member’s outfit, and accusations about stage behavior have all been under the microscope since debut. Lee Soo Man’s comments, which resurfaced independently of the group, have become a lightning rod for a much larger conversation about how young the K-pop system starts.
Also Read: A2O LITE’s Aijing Accused of Bad Attitude After Allegedly Blocking Member Ayune in Group Photos | A2O LITE’s Live Encore Shuts Down ‘AI Voice’ Doubters as Fans Say Rookies Out-Sang the Industry
Source: Koreaboo — read the full story there.