Sunmi’s “Gashina” Takes The Spotlight In The Feud Between Two Top Choreographer’s On “Street Woman Fighter 2”

Mnet‘s dance competition program Street Woman Fighter is back with a second season where eight crews will fiercely fight against one another for the winning title. This season’s cast boasts multiple big-name contestants, including two popular K-Pop choreographers Lia Kim and Mina Myoung.

Lia Kim | @liakimhappy/Instagram Mina Myoung | @minamyoung/Instagram

Some of Lia Kim’s notable works include BoA‘s “Fox,” MAMAMOO Hwasa‘s “Maria,” and TWICE‘s “TT.” On the other hand, Mina Myoung is the mastermind behind the choreographies of MAMAMOO’s “GOGOBEBE,” Suzy‘s “Yes No Maybe,” and Jessi‘s “Gucci.”

The two dancers were known to be very close as former crewmates at 1MILLION Dance Studio. While Lia Kim is the founder, Mina Myoung worked with her for a decade before calling it quits and starting her own crew Deep n Dap. But their fans didn’t know that their relationship has now turned sour. In the very first episode of Street Woman Fighter 2, Myoung and Kim aired their dirty laundry in a heated fight.

Lia Kim and Mina Myoung, when they were younger

During the episode, Mina Myoung expressed her annoyance at the tag of being a former 1MILLION dancer still being attached to her. Talking about her bad blood with Kim, she explained that though she saw Kim as her own family, her demand for a pay raise for creating choreography drafts was never respected.

I thought she was my family. I loved her so much. But I wasn’t treated that much. The only thing I wanted from her, the choreography draft. I wanted to have a bit higher payment that draft but it was not applied.

— Mina Myoung

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In response, Lia Kim said that the choreography fee was always divided equally between them, and she never took a larger share.

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Apart from this issue, Mina Myoung also suggested that Lia Kim hadn’t credited her crewmates properly for creating significant portions of the choreographies that are tagged as her creations only.

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Lia Kim responded by saying that clients usually request for her to be the choreography director, and so she found the accusations of her “stealing opportunities” from her crewmates unfair.

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I participate as the director. It means that I play the role as controlling the quality. Is this choregraphy good? Or do they need any changes? I check these things out. Does this mean nothing?

— Lia Kim

When Myoung questioned why Kim’s name is mentioned as a choreographer, too, even though she just directed the performance, Kim argued that she puts her name because she participates in creating the choreographies as well.

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This back-and-forth argument between the two dancers had created a divided opinion among viewers. Some felt that Myoung’s complaints were legitimate, while others felt that Kim’s actions were fair too. But a lot of the public’s opinion swayed to one side after 1MILLION made some edits in the description of Sunmi‘s “Gashina” choreography video after the episode was aired.

“Gashina,” arguably still the biggest hit of Sunmi, gained a lot of its popularity thanks to its unique and catchy choreography. Lia Kim was credited as the sole creator of the dance on 1MILLION’s YouTube channel. But a netizen recently noticed that the credits have added Tina Boo‘s name as the assistant choreographer.

| Instiz

During the episode of Street Woman Fighter 2, Mina Myoung specifically pointed out the choreography of “Gashina” and stated that Tina Boo had created the hook step, suggesting that Lia Kim had falsely claimed it all as her own. Tina Boo is still a part of the 1MILLION crew.

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The fact that Tina Boo got credited six years after the song’s release is being considered by viewers as evidence in favor of Mina Myoung’s accusations.

Well turns out what Mina Myoung was telling the truth. Lia Kim added Tina Boo’s name to Sunmi Gashina choreography after 6 years.

— Palette (@foreveryoung968) August 24, 2023

Lia Kim so wrong for that. The Gashina dance was huge. I can’t imagine how many opportunities Tina Boo missed out on from not receiving proper credit.

— LunarSkye (@LunarSkye) August 25, 2023

it’s a very weak argument imo. i think it’s obvious why they eventually put tina boo’s name on the gashina video after this aired. but now all those popular dances have come into question. how many of those did she credit herself as a choreographer for bc she did a quality check?

— bon (@bambinotame) August 25, 2023

Some also defended Lia Kim, pointing out that she acknowledged Tina Boo’s contribution in a past video.

#sunmi's dance teacher, helped lia kim choreograph lalalay&gashina
tina: i was having a hard time & i texted her how she was doing. she said good hbu? i didnt say anything & she texted something going on w u? that day i hinted nothing but as soon as i read that i burst into tears pic.twitter.com/Vph99HXsFc

— moodydemon (@moodydemon) September 12, 2021

A third opinion on this situation is that Mnet, which is infamous for its “evil editing,” would certainly use this situation to drive viewership, and hence audiences should take everything they see on the screen with a grain of salt.

The whole drama surround Lia Kim & Mina Myoung is soo worthy lots of buzz but let’s not get too involved. It’s Mnet who’s famous for evil editing. Funny bec my fav Minny Park is on Mina Myoung team but she’s still with 1 Million Dance Studio. pic.twitter.com/KAMeuib7Tr

— MAYA (@MayaxAru) August 23, 2023

I just know MNET will MILK tf out of this LIA KIM x MINA MYOUNG drama. pic.twitter.com/CAIC51h4Vg

— jungiesworld (@jungkrsten) August 16, 2023

What are your thoughts on this?