Aespa’s Edited Photos Spark Massive Debate Surrounding “Whitewashing” In K-Pop

On April 10, a post titled “This Is The Reason Why Foreigners Criticize Korean Editing” went viral.

In the post, the author first uploads photos of aespa’s Karina, NingNing, and Winter at a New York Yankees game. In the photos, the idols are seen in their natural skin tones.

Karina (left) NingNing (center) Winter (right) | Nate Nate Nate

The author of the post then uploads edited photos of the idols. In the edited photos, the idols are seen with much paler skin.

Nate

The author then writes that the edited photos are problematic for creating unrealistic beauty standards.

Koreans edit the photos to make their skin really white and unrealistic. I think this is a real problem… It isn’t good to make distorted beauty standards.

— Netizen

Netizens reacted to the photo with mixed reactions. While some agreed with the author, many felt that the international community shouldn’t try to influence what Koreans find beautiful.

• “Who cares if they like it or not? East Asians like pale skin, so what? Should we change our beauty standards to match them? Lol.”
• “The author is bringing preview photos and claiming they are edited.”
• “I am shocked to see that idols are usually darker since they are paler in photos. I thought most idols were pale, but most of them are darker.”
• “Eh? The photo you uploaded as unedited makes them look darker than they really are. Winter and Karina are pale, especially Winter, who is pale AF. Wtf is this?”
• “Who cares if the international fans curse at us?”
• “Aside from this, I really hate the way Koreans edit (pale skin and red lips).”

What are your thoughts?