During a recent live stream, aespa‘s Ningning reflects about the pressure of being ‘perfect‘ in the K-Pop industry, expressing her gratitude but also the negative side of being an idol.
On July 17th KST, the K-pop idol went live through Instagram to interact with fans by answering some of their questions about online criticism, her position on the LGBTQ+ community and the truth about being an idol.
When she read a fan asking, “Ningning, do you love being a K-pop idol?” she spoke with honesty about having another side of her hidden with the intention of keeping a perfect image in front of fans due to the industry demands.
“I mean, yes. I’m very grateful, and I’m always thankful that I have the opportunity to show you guys this side of me, but I also have a lot of sides to show you guys, so if one day I show you guys the real, real me, don’t be too shocked, okay? Because I really want to be myself. But sometimes, you know, being a K-pop idol, you have to always be cute and always be perfect, but I’m not a perfect person. So, judge me. Come on.”
“ningning do you love being kpop idol”
🦋: I mean yes…im really grateful and always thankful that I have the opportunity to show you guys this side of me but I also have a lot of sides to show u guys so..if one day I show u guys the real real me dont be too shock coz I really… pic.twitter.com/6c4QVaUZm6
— 👽💋 (@icurina) July 16, 2026
Ningning concluded by emphasising her gratitude for this opportunity of following her dreams with the members. “I mean yes. I’m very grateful. If I’m not in this company, in this label, and I’m not in aespa, this group, I wouldn’t be here. So yeah.”
