Male 3rd Generation K-Pop Idol Under Fire For Comments About Korea’s Declining Birth Rate

BTOB‘s Minhyuk is under fire for messages sent on a fan chatting platform.

On the Fromm fan messaging platform, Minhyuk sent messages about attending a friend’s wedding and reassuring fans about his energy levels. After sending multiple messages about this, the idol mentioned that many of his friends had gotten married and sent a message saying, “please contribute to the birth rate, my friends.”

Minhyuk: There have been so many weddings.
Minhyuk: Everyone is getting married.
Minhyuk: Please contribute to the birthrate, my friends.
Minhyuk: It’s a concern for our country.
Minhyuk: …although, I’m sure they’ll figure it out themselves.

He continued to talk about the topic, mentioning a friend who now had 3 children, calling them a “patriot.”

Minhyuk: Among the group, one of them already has three kids.
Minhyuk: Yes, a patriot.
Minhyuk: It’s impressive.
Minhyuk: LOL that’s funny.
Minhyuk: “A person taking care of a child, a person watching an idol, a person being an idol.” (A play on the Korean word “ayi” (child) and “idol”)

Across the world, headlines about Korea’s declining birthrate have been a topic and only increased as it drops further. Recently, it was announced that it fell to 0.72, meaning that for every 100 women, 72 children are born.

This stat is well below the average 2.1 needed to maintain the population.

Almost Half Of Kindergartens In South Korea Expected To Close Due To Low Birthrate

While the government has spent billions to address the issue, many young Korean women have stated that the issues go beyond childcare costs and include job security, living costs, and (sometimes violent) misogyny.

Because carrying the child falls is the woman’s responsibility (and childcare in the current society falls heavily on women), many felt Minhyuk’s comments were not appropriate for a man to make and were sexist. Even further, many felt it was wrong for the idol to send the messages to fans.

아니 대체 애도 못낳는 사람이 남한테 출산율에 기여하라는말 쉽게하는겨?
출산이 뭐 뚝딱되는줄아나
낳는 여자는 뭐 사람도 아닌가. https://t.co/7YkO4lLNpr

— 하네스 연성하면 저 태그 부탁드립니다 여러분 감사합니다 (@HyeonWol_all) March 9, 2024

너가 낳던가 쟨 또 뭐야 여팬 가득한 버블에 출산율 높여달란말은 왜해 니가 낳을거니? 네가 낳을수 있어도 그렇게 말할거니? https://t.co/jmzVSctnyv

— 돌양 (@dolyang_) March 9, 2024

아 제발 애낳으라마라하는 남자새끼들 ㅈㄴ싫음 https://t.co/qwjLHTta4L

— 숙희 (@ouveaxxu) March 9, 2024

드러누워서 키보드 토독치면서 이딴 말 지껄이지말고 니나 아이돌 관두고 장가나 가라 https://t.co/GkoisiJcZS

— 쌉 (@z_ssap) March 9, 2024

가르치려는 말투라 존나 어이없음 그리고 팬들 애 낳으면 애키우느라 다 떠날텐데 제정신인가 https://t.co/Y9Lv05Rhzg

— 양도계 & 덕질계 (@z94uxjcihqk6ztm) March 9, 2024

이런 샹 진짜,,, 나한테 왜그러냐,,, 내가 직장 상사들한테나 듣던 고나리질 은근한 성희롱 같던 그 말을 지금 내가 덕질하려고 하던 아이돌한테 듣기? 진짜 짜친다,,, 아 어이없어,,, 시발,,, 처음으로 팬콘 가보고 콘서트도 나중에 가보려고 했더니 응 안가 평생 갠덕이나 해야지 썅 https://t.co/uBLdY4WQFA

— #그림쟁이 Koseo님 (@Bang_Koseo) March 9, 2024

• “Why is this man, who cannot give birth, telling others to contribute to the birth rate as if birthing is that simple? Does he think childbirth is easy? Are women who give birth not human beings?”
• “Why don’t you give birth, then? What’s with him? Why are you even talking about increasing the birth rate in a Bubble full of female fans? Are you going to give birth? Even if you could give birth, why would you say that?”
• “Oh, please.  I really dislike men who tell others to have children.”
• “Quit lying down and typing nonsense on the keyboard. Instead, you should quit being an idol and get married already.”
• “It blows my mind even more because his tone is so preachy. Also, suggesting that fans should go have children? Then they’ll all leave because they’ll be busy raising kids. Are you in your right mind?”
• “F*cking unbelievable… Why would you do this to me? This is the same subtle harassment I used to hear from my superiors at work, which felt like sexual harassment. Now I’m hearing from the boy group I was beginning to be a fan of? It’s really infuriating… Oh, unbelievable… Damn it… I was planning to go to my first fan concert and even attend their tour later, but now I don’t want to go anymore. I guess I’ll have to stick to stanning just individual stars for the rest of my life. Damn it.”

Around the world, people about to bear children have reacted negatively to being told what to do with their bodies, and this seems to be another instance of this.