Dawon (다원), a member of the South Korean girl group WJSN (우주소녀), made her solo debut last year, nine years after her group debut, with the digital single “gonna love me, right?”. Following the release of her new music video and promotional stages, she shed her previous cute image from the group, adopting a sexy and powerful “Hot Girl” concept that captivated fans. Beyond her enhanced stage presence, her stable vocal performance also garnered attention, successfully reigniting buzz as a solo artist.
However, as Dawon's solo activities have progressed, her increasingly provocative stage style has sparked ongoing discussions. Recently, she performed at Hanyang University's festival, where a close interaction with students in the audience unexpectedly ignited controversy. The related video quickly spread online, prompting heated debate among South Korean netizens.
During her performance, Dawon descended from the stage to interact with students. One clip shows her directly sitting on a male student's lap, performing and interacting with him, and finally embracing him. After the footage emerged, some netizens focused on the male student's hand movements, suggesting that his hand appeared to touch Dawon's bare abdomen in the video, leading many to exclaim that the interaction was too intimate.
In addition to the male student's actions, some netizens questioned why Dawon would include such an intimate segment in her performance, suggesting that this kind of “fan service” seemed to exceed the typical boundaries of idol-fan interaction.
In fact, this isn't the first time Dawon has faced controversy over similar stage interactions. As she has been active as a solo artist recently, her stage style has distinctly diverged from her WJSN era, surprising some fans and even leaving them puzzled by her choice of performance.
One netizen commented, “Is she still doing this? She did it in the spring too and was criticized because everyone asked, ‘Why are you doing this?’ Dancing on someone’s lap is called a ‘lap dance,’ which is usually performed by strippers…”
Others found the footage of the male student allegedly touching Dawon's abdomen particularly striking, with comments like, “Touching her stomach is definitely the most outrageous part, but what female idol does this kind of thing now…?” Some even bluntly stated, “She’s completely devaluing herself;;” while another lamented, “Sigh… why does it have to go this far?”
However, some netizens argued against blaming stylists or agencies whenever a female idol adopts such a style. One stated, “It’s really funny how everyone blames the stylist or company every time a female idol comes out with this concept. If she’s a solo artist and has been in the industry for so many years, it’s clearly the direction she wants to go, haha.”
Despite this, some netizens still could not accept whether such interaction counts as “fan service,” exclaiming, “Ugh~~ Is this even called fan service?”
