From left, Kim Ji-min and Park Hee-seon. Photo = screenshots from their Instagram accounts.

Influencer Kim Ji-min, from ‘Heart Signal 4’, apologized for the controversy over leaked social media posts, but public sentiment does not seem to be calming easily. In particular, she is drawing continued criticism from netizens for mentioning Park Hee-seon from ‘Single’s Inferno 5’.

On the 6th, Kim Ji-min stated on her social media, “I sincerely apologize for causing concern to many people due to posts written in my personal space over the past few days.”

She added, “I sincerely apologize to artist Park Hee-seon, as well as to her agency staff and fans, for the unintended harm and hurt caused by images related to ‘Ju Club’ that I had mentioned privately, the factual basis of which had not been clearly verified.”

Earlier, on online communities and social media, a private story post that Kim Ji-min had shared only with a handful of acquaintances spread widely. The post included text expressing political views that defended martial law and criticized the current administration as communist, and also shared sponsor rumors about female influencers and dating-reality cast members, including Park Hee-seon.

Despite the sensational nature of the sponsor rumors, online reaction has been cold toward Kim Ji-min for taking aim at Park Hee-seon.

Born in 2003, Park Hee-seon studied in Canada during her school years, scored 1,530 on the SAT (a perfect score in math), and is majoring in Information Systems at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in the United States. She is currently attending Seoul National University as an exchange student. From the time of the broadcast, she drew attention for her stellar academic record, affluent family background, and looks reminiscent of IVE’s Jang Won-young, and was labeled a so-called ‘gold-spoon contestant’. She now has more than 1.57 million followers on social media.

By contrast, born in 2000, Kim Ji-min came to public attention by appearing on Channel A’s ‘Heart Signal 4’ in 2023. She graduated from girls’ middle school, girls’ high school, and a women’s university in Korea, and spent two years studying in India as a child. She currently has around 330,000 followers on social media.

In response, online users have been comparing the two women’s backgrounds and influence. Some commented, “I do not understand why she would share such rumors about Park Hee-seon, who already has it allacademic pedigree, looks, and buzz,” “Was it needless inferiority?” and “The biggest victim is Park Hee-seon,” criticizing Kim Ji-min.

In her apology, Kim Ji-min acknowledged writing some of the posts but explained, “I did not personally write all of the content that was circulated.” She also stated that she is considering legal action over the spread of false information and unauthorized leaks concerning herself and her family.

However, as it has been confirmed that she shared groundless rumors about Park Hee-seon, the fallout from the controversy appears likely to continue for the time being.