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Fans of NewJeans call out Min Hee-jin for the ‘questionable direction’ of group’s newest concept for song ‘ETA’

The ‘coincidences’ don’t seem like coincidences anymore.

On June 26, 2023, at 12 M.N. KST, ADOR revealed a teaser for “ETA,” a track in NewJeans’ upcoming 2nd EP, “Get Up.” The EP is set for release on July 21, 2023, and is about more than 6 months since their 1st single album, “OMG.”

While Bunnies all around the world have been hyping up the monster rookie girl group’s comeback, others felt completely uncomfortable with the NewJeans’ concept for the music video of “ETA,” especially after the ending showing the names “Eva,” “Mikel,” and “Maria,” and the date of the music video’s release, July 21.

While “ETA” is short for “Estimated Time of Arrival” and the teaser was supported with fictional flight details showing a flight number, “NJ721” and their destination at SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium—a.k.a. details for their upcoming fan meeting titled “Bunnies Camp” on July 1-2, 2023, the coincidences of everything felt troubling for most fans, especially Spanish fans.

TL:DR, “ETA” was a name of the armed Basque nationalist and far left separatist group from the Basque Country (northern Spain and southwestern France). And the teaser with the car? It was almost like a reference to one of the ETA’s most infamous attacks—the assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco, which resulted in the death of 3 people.

Fans of NewJeans have been calling out Min Hee-jin, ADOR’s CEO, for the distasteful concept she envisioned for one of NewJeans’ music videos. They have also made it clear that they were not hating on NewJeans themselves, but on Min Hee-jin’s problematic concepts.

This was not the first time fans were accusing Min Hee-jin for her “inspiration”—they have noted her past works with f(x) and SHINee, as well as NewJeans’ Lolita-inspired concepts during their debut.

Are these all coincidences? What do you think?

 

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