mimiirose successfully debuted on September 16, 2022. Showcasing the members’ impressive skills and visuals, the debut music video “Rose” quickly gained 1.1M+ views after its reveal.
Unfortunately though, according to a report from the Korean media outlet Hankyung, “successful” and “impressive” were not the first things that came to mind when K-Pop fans thought of mimiirose at the time. The group’s producer and veteran vocalist Im Chang Jung (also known as Lim Chang Jung) faced public criticism.
As the head producer of YES IM Entertainment, Im Chang Jung was ceaseless in his promotion of mimiirose, dating back to before the group’s debut.
I’m sorry the debut has been postponed so long. On September 16, mimiirose will get to debut and finally see the light! You all are the world’s most beautiful and gorgeous flowers.
— Im Chang Jung on Instagram
Rather than highlighting the members, however, Im Chang Jung focused on sharing the fact that producing the group cost him a fortune. In an episode of Radio Star, Im Chang Jung revealed that he “sold off ₩20.0 billion KRW (about $ 14.0 million USD) worth of land and copyrights” to develop and support the group.
It costs a lot of money to produce a girl group. So I had to sell much of my land. I also sold the copyrights for about 160 of my songs, including the hit ‘Soju Hanjan.’ The members accumulated a lot of skills, while I accumulated a lot of debt.
— Im Chang Jung on “Radio Star”
Even after mimiirose’s debut, Im Chang Jung continued “sadfishing” the fans in a YouTube series by 1theK—reminding not only the viewers but also the members that “a lot of money went into producing” the group.
Fans felt that his “playing the victim” was not doing the girl group any good.
Wouldn’t it have been better for Im Chang Jung to wait until mimiirose debuted and garnered enough attention on their own before he revealed that he produced them with all of his life savings? That piece of background information would have highlighted the group in a much more positive light, had he gone with something like, ‘These members are so unique and so talented that I really didn’t mind selling off my land and my music to support.’ It’s too bad he decided to taint their debut with his sob story about being ₩20.0 billion KRW (about $ 14.0 million USD) down.
— Hankyung Reporter Woo Bin
Following the Hankyung report, some netizens criticized the producer for “framing” mimiirose as a “debt-dol” when, as the head producer, he should have been promoting the positive aspects of the members—especially when mimiirose is an attractive, well-rounded, funny, and talented group.
- “Oh, bummer. He could’ve simply mentioned that he produced a girl group and let them shine in their own way. If he really wanted to talk about his investment, he should’ve waited until after the group debuted and made a name for themselves… Both Im Chang Jung and RAIN should stick to what they know how to do. Like, producing a whole idol group is an entirely different thing, sigh.”
- “Seriously, though. Back off, man… The members seem quite talented. Just step away and watch quietly.”
- “I agree. He shouldn’t have framed a newly-debuted rookie girl group as the reason of his debt. He needs to stop blabbering.”
- “I heard from the people who watched Same Bed, Different Dreams that his wife is much better at handling business… which seems to be the case, haha. His wife needs to take the wheel. I think that might be the best thing to do for the business.”
- “It’s not like Im Chang Jung himself comes with a reputation of being fresh or trendsetting. So if he keeps promoting the group by playing the victim, he’s basically labeling them as ‘debt-dols’ even before they get a chance to earn a name for themselves. What is his problem? Besides, it has been ages since sadfishing went out of style on the marketing front…”
On November 22, 2023, mimiirose announced their departure from YES IM Entertainment. They plan to continue releasing music under different management.
