Gone Too Far? Korean YouTuber Mocking ZEROBASEONE’s Kim Jiwoong With Past Scandal Sparks Massive Backlash
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Toward the end of March 2024, a new YouTube channel—Sabotage Girl—was founded.
| @Sabotagegirl_Ent/YouTube Referring to itself as a “virtual idol music production group,” the channel shared videos of “official MVs” as K-Pop idol channels do.
| @Sabotagegirl_Ent/YouTube The “artist” under management, though, is an obvious dig at ZEROBASEONE member Kim Jiwoong‘s recent scandal over his alleged attitude in a video call with a fan.
ZEROBASEONE’s Kim Jiwoong | MHN The said artist’s name is Ang Tak Jung, or “앙딱정,” which stems from Kim Jiwoong’s response to the scandal. After his management, WAKEONE, issued an official statement claiming the idol’s non-involvement in the situation in question, Kim Jiwoong took to Dear U. Bubble and messaged his fans.
ZEROBASEONE Kim Jiwoong’s New Status Message Gains Attention
In his messages, Kim Jiwoong uses the phrase, “앙 딱 정리들어갈게” to mean, “Yep, I’m taking care of [the situation] now.” Now, the abbreviated form of his message is recognized by most Korean K-Pop fans to be 100% mocking the scandal and the idol.
| Dear U. Bubble Kim Jiwoong: Yes, thank you. Hehe. Yep. I’m not ashamed of how I’ve led my life up to this point.
Kim Jiwoong: Don’t worry, hehe. Just focus on good things only. OK?
Kim Jiwoong: Thank you. Hehe.
Kim Jiwoong: Do you want photos?
Kim Jiwoong: Yep. I’m taking care of it right now. I didn’t say it, so no worries.
Kim Jiwoong: [Photo]
The artist’s “releases,” too, are digs at Kim Jiwoong. One of the most viewed videos, called “Look At Me, Look At Me [Full Ver. Audio],” is a song comprised of all the phrases that Kim Jiwoong used in his previous messages to the fans.
At first, Koreans “got a good laugh” out of the channel and its content poking fun at the idol. However, Sabotage Girl‘s latest update has K-Pop fans feeling uncomfortable.
| @Sabotagegirl_Ent/YouTube - “The words are f*cking gibberish. This is hilarious.”
- “LMAO.”
- “How is it such an easy-listening bop, though?”
- “I’m not even lying when I say this goes harder than most boy group songs.”
- “I’m going to use this as my alarm.”
- “LOL. Some of these songs are legit.”
- “Totally agree, haha.”
Under the channel’s “Community” tab, the YouTuber announced new “official merchandise” of Ang Tak Jung’s logo-printed T-shirts, photocards, and stickers. While claiming a 10% of the profits will go to charitable organizations, the YouTuber priced the shirt at ₩20,000 KRW (about $14.60 USD).
| @Sabotagegirl_Ent/YouTube And the full-blown scale of the channel’s dedication is starting to creep the internet out. K-Pop fans have flocked to online communities to call out the YouTuber “taking things too far” with the mocking.
| theqoo - “It’s true what he did was wrong. But I’m starting to feel bad for him at this point. Like, he has had enough. His spirit’s probably shattered… There has been enough mockery, IMO. People have taken things way too far, way too long. This makes me feel so uncomfortable.”
- “I’m sorry, but making shirts as official merchandise is over the line, for real.”
- “This has gone too far…”
- “Taking it way too far, seriously.”
- “Wait, this isn’t a joke? The shirts are real? I can’t believe people can make money of mocking celebrities… Do people actually want to buy the shirt? I hope whoever buys the shirt wears it out, too, so I can avoid.”
- “Is this OK…?”
- “[WAKEONE] should sue.”
- [Deleted]
- “WTF? Haha. This is out of line, now. People don’t know when to stop.”
- “What’s wrong with this person? This is way over the line.”
- “I can’t believe there’s official merchandise for this, LMAO. How did this person even come up with the idea of making shirts out of idol mockery?! I’m not impressed, I’m just curious as to how f*cked up a person’s mind needs to be to even think of sh*t like this. I’m not even a ZEROBASEONE fan and this is upsetting. People don’t know when to quit.”
- “I’m sorry, is this real? The shirts are actually on sale? WTF?”
- “This has gone way too far and for way too long… I hope WAKEONE sues this person.”
The update has since been removed, though criticism remains fierce.
Read more about what Dispatch vs. fan union had to share about the scandal below:
Dispatch Reveals Analytic Results of ZEROBASEONE Kim Jiwoong’s Controversial Video Call
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