A2O LITE, the new girl group under A2O Entertainment, is facing heated reactions over the young ages of several of its members just days ahead of its debut.
The group marks Lee Soo Man’s return to K-pop. A2O Entertainment is the label the SM Entertainment founder established after his three-year non-compete agreement, tied to selling his SM shares to HYBE, expired. The label also houses the new boy group A2O SOUL.
The lineup has become the wrong kind of talking point. Three of the members, OA, Aijing, and Ayune, are believed to have been born in 2013, making them 12 to 13 years old. Even the group’s oldest member, known as Even, is said to have been born in 2008, making her just 17 or 18. The group was reportedly trained by Girls’ Generation’s Sunny, which had raised anticipation before the age details surfaced.
The reaction online has been brutal. “This is disgusting,” one viral post read, while others said they refuse to support the group, criticizing the agency for debuting minors this young.
A2O LITE is set to debut on October 13 with the digital single “Neon” and make its first music show appearance on Mnet’s M Countdown next week. No official statement was available from the agency, and it remains to be seen whether the controversy will overshadow the group’s debut week.
