Well, Dispatch’s annual tradition of exposing celebrity couples on January 1st might go
old-fashioned soon, because after Song Joong Ki, Lee Jong Suk might pretty much admit dating
IU himself if Dispatch took action just a little later than December 31 :))
So things all started when on the MBC awards stage, when receiving his Daesang, Lee Jong
Suk couldn’t hide his excitement to reveal that he had been admiring “a person” for
a long time, who helped him to think positively and become a better person:
"After completing my military service, I went through a lot of anxiety, fear and suffering,
then she helped me in having a better orientation and positive thinking.
On this occasion, I have something to tell her.
I want to tell her, 'Thank you for always being so wonderful, I've liked you so so much
for so long, and I really ADMIRE you”.
This immediately drew everyone’s attention, making people have a busy time guessing all
the possible names, such as Lee Na Young because Jong Suk once mentioned she was his ideal
type; Kwon Nara, who was once rumored to marry him; and finally Yoona, as she had a successful
collab with Jong Suk in Big Mouth and they even won Best Couple award at the MBC Drama
Awards 2022, along with lots of chemistry moments.
But turns out, “the person” that Jong Suk lovingly mentioned was no other than IU,
who first met him 10 years ago and he didn’t even like her that much back then, just because
she made him wear the Peter Pan costume when they co-hosted for Inkigayo in 2012.
Well, this starts to sound exactly like a Kdrama doesn’t it?
So according to Dispatch, IU and Jong Suk already started dating 4 months ago.
The couple were then spotted spending time together during Christmas at a luxury resort
in Nagoya, Japan.
Lee Jong Suk went to Osaka on December 20 to hold a fan meeting.
After that, he flew to Tokyo on December 23 and to Nagoya on December 24.
Meanwhile, IU secretly flew directly to Nagoya on the same day.
It is known that Lee Jong Suk personally arranged this vacation without management's support,
including resort booking and picking up IU.
It can be seen that the actor is extremely thoughtful and attentive toward his girlfriend.
The two's families have also acknowledged their relationship and said that they have
a very positive influence on each other.
Though the dating news between IU and Jong Suk still came as a shock to many, because
the two had always talked about each other as friends, but in fact, when putting Lee
Jong Suk's expressions over the past few months together, it wasn’t a surprise at all because
Lee Jong Suk once described his ideal wife exactly the same as IU.
Specifically, when being interviewed about his ideal type with ELLE Korea back in February
this year, Jong Suk said: "I really think about these things when I'm older.
In the past, when I was asked about an ideal model, I often gave a very vague answer.
But now I can answer this question clearly about the type of person I want to marry.
I want it to be someone who is wise, consistent, someone I can respect, admire, and above all,
someone who is cute.”
Well, aren't those all IU's qualities?
A small girl with a fragile and sweet appearance, but inside of her, there is a resilient personality
and relentless efforts.
IU was rejected by 20 entertainment agencies and had to join LOEN, an anonymous company
at the time, but look at her now, she’s no doubt one of the best soloists in Kpop.
Moreover, Lee Jong Suk also introduced IU's song 'Winter Sleep' as a song he often listens
to.
Undoubtedly, the "ideal wife" that Lee Jong Suk mentioned is a reference to IU.
It seems that the actor has made up his mind that IU will be his life partner, so lately
he constantly mentioned the topic of marriage and family.
In the same interview with ELLE Korea, when asked: "What would you do if you could rest
for a long time", Lee Jong Suk answered: "I will learn to be a husband".
Specifically, he wants to take some cooking or massage classes in order to take care of
his future wife.
Well, with this situation, high chances are this year, we will witness one of the biggest
weddings in the whole Korean entertainment industry.
I really can’t wait for it to happen soon!
So after only 1 day, Baby Monster has already become the fastest Kpop group to reach 100,000
and 200,000 subs on Youtube, by January 2, it has reached 300,000.
Congratulations to the girls!
Looks like everyone is really looking forward to this newest girl group as YG’s stock
price has also skyrocketed right after the announcement of Baby Monster’s debut, and
also G-Dragon’s solo comeback confirmation.
However, with such high expectations, apparently the girls will also have to face all kinds
of scrutiny before debuting.
The first thing netizens complain about is the members themselves.
Baby Monster has 7 members, and 3 out of them are from foreign countries: Chikita and Prita
are from Thailand, Asa and Mirin are from Japan.
Many people think 3 foreign
idols are too many for a 7-member group.
Not only that, the members’ visual is also said to be not outstanding compared to other
gen 4 girl groups.
Except for Ahyeon, who is praised to be a mix of Jennie and Kim Garam, the rest of the
girls are said to be not impressive.
Though it is widely known that YG often picks talents over beauty, this is still a minus
point for Baby Monster, and the girls will have to prove they are exceptionally talented
to make up for their visual.
Personally, I think the girls are just too young for their beauty to blossom.
Baby Monster’s eldest member is Rora, born in 2004, and the youngest member Chikita is
literally an 09-liner, which means she’s only 13 as of 2022, and the rest were born
between 2005 to 2008.
Upon this, netizens questioned: Is the debut age of Kpop idols just getting lower and lower
every year?
It seems like the K-community have yet to get used to idols their nieces’ age debuting.
In NewJeans we got Hyein, in Lesserafim it’s Eunchae, and in the Up To You program girl
group, there’s literally an 11 year-old!
Aren’t these minors being manufactured to become Kpop idols?
They’re literal kids and who will take responsibilities if they grow up and suddenly realize they
don’t want to be Kpop idols?
Another controversy surrounding Baby Monster is about Yang Hyun Suk himself.
Many people are irritated with him being the producer and directly working with the group.
It is because back in 2019, Yang got involved in multiple legal investigations for gambling,
prostituting, evading taxes, and threatening Han Seo Hee.
Combined with the “Burning Sun Scandal” that shocked the whole nation, Yang stepped
down from his position of YG Entertainment’s CEO.
Between 2021 to 2022, though, Yang had all of his cases closed with him being found not
guilty.
Now being freed of all charges, he has returned to YG Entertainment and become its executive
producer.
Regardless, Koreans believe his previous troubling controversies make him especially inappropriate
to be working with the Baby Monster members.
On online K-Pop communities like theqoo, people got heated over Yang’s appearance in the
teaser.
Still, many others believe that with Yang’s capability and experience, especially when
he’s the one behind the success of Blackpink, it is still necessary to have him leading
Baby Monster to the same victory.
Well, that is all for today’s discussion.
Do you think that Baby Monster will be able to blow the Kpop world away like what NewJeans
is doing?
Will IU and Lee Jong Suk have a wedding in 2023?