WAKEONE Ridiculed For Their “Clueless” Response To ZEROBASEONE Kim Jiwoong’s Attitude Controversy

Amid the backlash that ZEROBASEONE‘s Kim Jiwoong is facing for the alleged “attitude“ problem captured after a video call with a fan…

…the management, WAKEONE, and their latest response to the situation are not being so well-received by Korean K-Pop fans.

WAKEONE Responds To ZEROBASEONE Kim Jiwoong’s Videocall Attitude Controversy

In addition to firmly denying the accusations currently pitched against the idol, based on multiple clips from the video call event, WAKEONE threatened to take legal action—specifically through a “digital forensic team.”

We checked with Kim Jiwoong himself and confirmed that the accusations are not true. Other administrative and interpreting staff also confirmed, too. For an even more accurate and unbiased analysis of what happened, we’ll work with a digital media forensic team and other professional methods to unveil the truth. We’re going to do everything we can to protect the artist under our management.

— WAKEONE

Korean K-Pop fans, via online communities like theqoo, have since begun ridiculing WAKEONE’s response for being vague and “clueless.” Some are calling out the lack of explanation backing up the denial, while others are mocking the mention of “forensics.”

Digital forensics is the process of retrieving, storing, analyzing and preserving electronic data that could be useful in an investigation. This includes information from computers hard drives, mobile phones, smart appliances, vehicle navigation systems, electronic door locks and other digital devices. The goal of the process is to gather, analyze and preserve evidence.

— Techopedia

The news of WAKEONE’s response garnered hundreds of comments since being shared.

• “Turning this into a much bigger deal…”
• “Forensics? What forensics? LOL. I don’t care too much about his attitude, TBH. But let’s be real. You can hear the word loud and clear. I wonder what made him curse like that. He must’ve thought the call was over-over. If ‘ssibal’ isn’t what he said, tell us what he did say.”
• “WAKEONE is so frickin’ clueless, OMG… They should’ve included what he did say! LMAO.”
• “What are the chances of a fan, who spent tons of money to be on that call, recording the call and then using an AI program to alter the clip? Compared to the chances of Kim Jiwoong having cursed?”
• “Reminds me of the Korean President’s hot mic moment.”
• “And what exactly are the digital media forensic investigators going to look at? Their devices? The fan’s device? How will they obtain the fan’s device? It’s not like they have a warrant.”
• “Leave the fan alone, LOL. We all heard him sigh, too.”

• “HAHAHA.”
• “I highly doubt that ‘digital media forensics’ will be involved. Or do I not know what digital media foresics is?”
• “Shooting themselves in the foot, I see… The member knows the truth. If he said what people are accusing of him, he should just admit it and apologize. Even if he didn’t, he could apologize for not trying harder. And move on. There’s no need to turn this into such a big deal. Also… It takes a lot of money to be on those calls. I don’t think the fan would’ve used AI or whatever to manipulate the clips. What are the chances?”
• “Should’ve said it was out of excitement, or something. You know, like, how some people curse when they’re happy? I feel like people might’ve bought that.”
• “Or he could’ve said it wasn’t him, but his manager.”
• “I think the first statement about legal action was supposed to be about the other members. But with what had happened, WAKEONE wanted to make do with just one response.”
• “I think they meant that they’ll get the audio analyzed. Not get a forensics team involved. LMAO. Also, I don’t think the clip was altered. So… It just looks like WAKEONE is trying to threaten their way out of this. It’d be funny if it worked. Why watch comedy when everyday is a circus?”
• “So…? Then, what did he say? Why doesn’t this response talk about what he did say? How are people supposed to believe it? They can’t just insist that something is not true without some sort of backing evidence. They need to explain what did really happen, if they want people to believe that Kim Jiwoong didn’t curse.”

• “What did he say, then?”
• “IDK. The clip caught it quite loud and clear. Haha.”
• “I mean, at least tell us what he was trying to say, then. So that we can at least try to believe you.”
• “But I can still hear his sassy-a*s ‘ssi-bal.’“
• “Oh. I was expecting them to blame one of the staff members because the clip caught the curse word pretty loud and clear. Haha. He better not end up blaming someone else for it.”
• “So what, he’s going to sue the fan for sharing the clip? And have the fan’s mobile device go through digital media forensics?”
• “Well, that’s not how it works. He can sue… But it’s not that simple to get the forensics involved. He won’t even be able to obtain the fan’s phone. LMAO. WAKEONE is attempting to threaten the fan with big words. Just bullying her into deleting the clip and shutting up about it forever.”
• “President Yoon of K-Pop.”
• “For real. His ‘ssibal’ was the sassiest of them all.”
• “I’m sure the management recorded the calls, too. They can look into those.”

On the other hand, international K-Pop fans are stepping up to defend Kim Jiwoong from the criticism that he’s facing in Korea.

Fans Defend ZEROBASEONE’s Kim Jiwoong Over Videocall Attitude Controversy