Chinese member AIJING (13) of rookie girl group A2O LITE, produced by Lee Soo-man, has become embroiled in a controversy regarding her parents' unpaid wages. AIJING has been drawing attention with the debut track "NEON" topping Melon's TOP100 and earning the nickname "the next BoA," particularly for her powerful opening dance.
Local Chinese media outlets reported that an educational company in Beijing operated by AIJING's parents failed to pay employee wages. The court-ordered compulsory enforcement amount confirmed under the names of the company and the parents reportedly reaches approximately 3.45 million yuan (around 690 million won).
As the controversy grew, an individual identifying as AIJING's mother posted an apology on social media on October 14. Acknowledging that debt disputes arose due to deteriorating business conditions, the individual stated, "Regardless of any objective reasons, failing to pay on time is a wrongdoing that must be faced and taken responsibility for."
She continued, "I will not evade responsibility and will take responsibility until the end when all problems are resolved." Regarding her daughter, she appealed, "The child has nothing to do with the business I operated in the past and the related disputes."
However, criticism in China continued. On October 17, a hashtag alleging that they supported their daughter's debut while withholding employee wages rose to No. 1 on Weibo's real-time trending searches. Chinese media pointed out that rather than stopping at an apology, the unpaid wages must be repaid first.
On October 18, a post by an online user claiming to have worked at the company spread across Chinese social media. This user claimed that they requested their back pay to hold their father's funeral, but received only 1,000 yuan (around 200,000 won).
Born in 2013, AIJING won the youth division of World of Dance (WOD) China in 2024 and garnered attention for her dancing skills following her debut.
Agency A2O Entertainment has not released an official statement regarding the controversy.
