The agency ADOR, which NewJeans belongs to, has issued a clarification regarding the rumors that the company has prevented Hanni, a Vietnamese-Australian member, from learning Korean. The agency ADOR released a lengthy statement on their official SNS, calling it "a statement regarding the protection of NewJeans members' private lives."
ADOR states: "Recently, the topic discussed by Hanni in a live broadcast about the company not allowing Korean language study is completely untrue. Due to the excessive speculation and false rumors spreading online, we aim to clarify the company's stance by explaining the actual facts."
ADOR continued to explain, "Regarding language education for the members, the company hires instructors and arranges educational sessions based on the individual needs of each member. Recently, we also conducted language education tailored to Hanni's needs, and the same applies to Korean language education. However, since the education system and basic privacy matters are very important to the individual, the company seeks consent from the members and their parents before proceeding with the educational tasks."
On one hand, the affiliated company provided additional clarification: "The company has always done its utmost to support the members in every aspect necessary, and is determined to fulfill its responsibilities to the fullest. Therefore, we earnestly hope that the public refrains from indiscriminate speculation and overinterpretation regarding incidents related to the privacy of the members."
As soon as the company's statement was released, it sparked discussions on Korean internet forums. Most netizens were not convinced by the contents of the statement, with many expressing, "What does learning a language have to do with privacy?" and "You can't possibly use the excuse that her imperfect pronunciation is endearing as a selling point."
Some netizens pointed out: "Of course, initially, her non-standard pronunciation and her stuttering can seem cute, but if she could speak Korean well, everyone would grow even fonder of her." "I can't understand why she wouldn't actively learn Korean? Since she's living in Korea, wouldn't it be inconvenient if she doesn't speak the language?"
However, as the controversy escalated, Hanni directly expressed through the fan communication platform, "It seems that some misunderstanding has arisen from a joke. The matter of learning Korean was something I mentioned to my manager a year ago. At the time, he responded very casually, so I also took it as a joke and shared the whole thing as something fun with my fans. But I am sorry for the misunderstanding it has caused."
The apology letter from Hanni only served to further infuriate netizens, with comments like, "The company that claimed to protect member privacy now has members apologizing for this kind of thing?" and "Why does Hanni have to apologize?" It seems the company's statement has failed to quench the anger of fans and netizens.
