On the morning of January 21st, Minji left Incheon International Airport to attend a fashion show for a luxury brand in Paris, France. On that day, MBC’s news website posted a photo of Minji at the airport with the caption: “NewJeans Minji, international beauty, elegance.”
However, Korean fans quickly noticed the phrase “Kal-Guk-Su” embedded in the caption. Therefore, many people believe that MBC’s reporter intended to mock Minji’s recent controversy.
Earlier, on January 16, Minji published an apology for her “kalguksu incident” . The female idol explained the reason for her remarks and actions in the incident, and expressed that she is reflecting on her “immature attitude” .
Accordingly, the “kalguksu incident” stemmed from kalguksu, a traditional Korean dish of knife-cut noodles, which is often eaten in the summer and can be found almost everywhere in Korea. Many people questioning how come Minji has never heard of kalguksu after Minji suddenly said to herself “What is kalguksu?” in Korean during a live broadcast. This led to a big controversy on SNS.
Numerous netizens have spoken out to criticize this reporter and demand an apology to Minji: