A Soon-to-debut Boy Group Changes Group Name Following Racial Slur Concerns

IST Entertainment's upcoming boy group has officially announced a team name change, in response to fans' racial slur concerns.

Previously, the seven finalists of MBN's survival audition program 'The Origin - A, B, Or What?' were chosen to debut as IST Entertainment's new boy group.
The agency announced the 7-member boy group will be called 'ABO (stylized as ABØ)', which stands for 'At the Beginning of Originality'.

Shortly after the group name announcement, however, international fans raised concerns as the term ABO could be interpreted as a highly offensive racial slur in Australia.

They pointed out that ABO is a commonly-known racial slur towards Aboriginal Australians, the group of people who were the first people to live in Australia in the early 20th century.
In response to the concerns, IST Entertainment issued an official statement on the agency's social media in multiple languages; announcing the group's name change to 'ATBO'.

IST Entertainment stated, "We fully understand the international fans' concerns over how the name 'ABO' may be mistaken for the wrong meaning in certain regions, and after internal discussions, we have decided to change the name of the team."

Meanwhile, the seven ATBO members―Jeong Seunghwan, Oh Junseok, Seok Rakwon, Ryu Junmin, Bae Hyunjun, Yang Donghwa, and Kim Yeonkyu―are currently preparing to make their debut in the latter half of this year.

You can read the agency's full statement in English below.
(Credit= 'THEORIGIN_AorB' Twitter)

(SBS Star)