Lee Yong Jin’s “Rude” Comments To LE SSERAFIM’s Chaewon About Marriage And Birthrate Earn Scathing Criticism
Recently, LE SSERAFIM‘s Chaewon appeared on Lee Yong Jin‘s “Yong Tarot,” where she received a tarot card reading from the host.
Following a discussion about her ideal type, the topic turned to marriage, with Lee Yong Jin saying that Chaewon would do even better after getting married like him. He adds that he believes she’ll be “even happier” than she is now and that she seems like the type to be a “devoted wife.”
When Chaewon seems to laugh at this, he mimics her surprise.
The next portion of the reading says that Chaewon will likely be the leader of the household, which leads him into a rant, first mentioning that “birthrates are dropping and marriage is changing a lot.” He then curses, saying, “Shibal, that f*cking pisses me off a lot,” before apologizing for the rant.
After mentioning that an elementary school recently only had one student enroll, he says the rant has “nothing to do” with Chaewon, just that it “makes him mad.”
Lee Yong Jin apologizes again before giving a synopsis of her reading, mentioning she would be successful after marriage. However, the topic comes up again with the host saying, “But the most important thing, the low birthrates — it’s just frustrating.”
He then seems to talk to the viewers, mentioning how great marriage is and how much happier it is now when Chaewon asks.
Korea’s low birthrate has been an ongoing issue of discussion with many solutions being researched and offered. However, many young Korean women have stated that the issues go beyond childcare costs and include job security, living costs, and (sometimes violent) misogyny.
Men commenting on the birthrate is often not well-received as most do not carry the children themselves, a point brought up in the criticism commented by netizens.
- “They deleted all the comments from fans calling them out, but I guess they can’t defend it anymore. So it was about marriage, huh? Just because the kid was curious, you decided to air it—got it, lol. But didn’t Chaewon just say she might want to get married someday? Did she ever say she wanted to have kids?
What’s with the sudden birthrate talk, and why are you swearing to her face? Do you think Chaewon’s an easy target or something?” - “If you’re going to suddenly rant about Korea’s low birthrate, swear at someone, and then release that as content without any sense of what’s wrong with it—just turning it into something to laugh at — then yeah, this society doesn’t need a higher birthrate.”
- 12:09 — I’m seriously speechless, lol. First the random birthrate comment, and now suddenly swearing? Mister, then you go have the babies. What the hell are you doing, sitting there in front of a female idol like that?”
- “If you’re so unhappy about the birthrate, go have kids yourself. You act like you’re the head of a household with 15 sons and 12 daughters or something.”
Korea’s birthrate actually rose for the first time in nearly a decade, which you can read more about below.
