The first domestic stage after notifying their agency Adore of the termination of their exclusive contract. New Jeans ‘Didn‘t even mention the name New Jeans.’

The five members who ‘greeted with their own names’ while singing New Jeans songs didn’t seem to care much about the commotion among some of the audience members who watched.

New Jeans appeared as guests at the concert of top J-pop group Yoa So B in Korea held at Incheon Inspire Arena on the night of the 7th. This was their ‘first domestic stage’ after announcing the termination of their exclusive contract with their agency Adore.

The five members appeared on the center of the stage during the ‘blackout’ in the middle of the heated performance of the main character Yoasobi that day and performed ‘How Sweet’, which was a mega hit in the first half of the year, followed by ‘RIGHT NOW’. After the ‘How Sweet’ stage, the five members caught the attention of the audience who came to the Yoasobi concert by greeting them by their individual names, Minzy, Hani, Daniel, Haerin, and Hyein, without saying the group name.

In line with this, the group name logo and other things that are usually displayed on the large screen of the stage were not revealed at all.
In the middle of the congratulatory performance, Yoa So-bi came up on stage and called them ‘New Jeans’, but that was it.

In this way, the ‘real situation’ that New Jeans is not ‘self-proclaiming’ is being spread to the general public through various SNS, and various arguments were held among the fandom on the entertainment bulletin board on the night of the 7th when the performance was held.

Some netizens compared it to the words in the official statement released by the Korea Entertainment Producers Association, a powerful domestic entertainment organization, saying, ‘(New Jeans) created a sad and funny scene’, while another netizen called out the English expression ‘A.KA’(Also Known as, known as ~), which is very familiar to global pop fans. ‘Should we call them A.KA New Jeans?’ Some sighed.

Some are also paying close attention to whether the five members will ‘stick to this style in the future, given the considerable schedule they have to handle as New Jeans. Starting with the guest incident that night, where they seemed to replace the group name with their own names, many inside and outside of K-pop predict that the five members will likely maintain this style for the time being.

Meanwhile, regarding the notice of termination of New Jeans‘ exclusive contract, influential organizations in the domestic entertainment industry have issued statements one after another, requesting ‘withdrawal of the declaration’. Following the Korea Management Association, the Korea Entertainment Producers Association also issued a statement on the 6th, urging “New Jeans should withdraw their irresponsible claims and return to normal activities.”


Reporter Heo Min-nyeong mignon@donga.com