Starship Entertainment is catching flack after netizens saw the one of the youngest members of the upcoming girl group KiiiKiii.
According to the information currently revealed about the group’s members, Jiyu was born December 18, 2010. This would make her only 14 years old in international age.
International fans voiced their displeasure on social media with companies debuting minors at such a young age.
oh HELL no. send her back to middleschool https://t.co/fiPj52Tldc
—
Raven
(@raven_ism) February 11, 2025
Meanwhile, Korean netizens have varying opinions on the issue. Some felt that the because the photos were from her past, it made her appear younger than she actually is.
- Isn’t that a childhood photo? She probably doesn’t look like that now.
- Well… the one on the right does look like a kid, but isn’t it a photo from a few years ago? If you only look at the one on the left, she just seems like an idol who debuted at a young age.
- It’s just a childhood photo.
- Are both of these recent photos? Kids grow up fast, so her vibe might be different now.
Meanwhile, others found in inappropriate and cited the history of idols debuting at a young age.
- She looks like such a baby…
- At least let her finish middle school before debuting… Even if 16-year-old debuts aren’t new, it’s still too young
- Isn’t it an old photo??? The teaser photos haven’t been released yet, right?
- Honestly, since the main content of idols is selling a “pseudo-relationship” experience, I feel like they should debut at least at 18.
- She’s in 9th grade. Wonder Girls‘ Sohee, HyunA, Sunmi, and SHINee’s Taemin all debuted at that age (I’m a 2nd-gen fan, so I don’t know much about newer idols). Even back then, people said they were too young.
- Not long ago, there was an idol who still had baby teeth, and people freaked out. Overseas fans are even more sensitive about this. It’d be better if they debuted a bit later.
There are varying opinions when it comes to which age is appropriate for companies to start training and debuting idols.
Source: theqoo
