Promoted to Ambassador with "Geoje Yahoo," but Civil Petition Erupts... Lesenne's Wonyi Faces Ilbe Controversy over "Museobno" with Calls for Official Statement

Political Circles and University Professors Join the Debate After Producer's Criticism
Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Director Claims "Ilbe-style Expression" and Issues Apology

While the Ilbe-related controversy continues over a comment made by Lesenne member Wonyi, who said "Museobno" ("I'm scared" in dialect) on her personal YouTube channel, a civil petition has even been filed with Geoje City, Wonyi's hometown and the city that appointed Lesenne as its promotional ambassador, requesting an official statement regarding the issue.

Risene. Provided by The Muse Entertainment

According to Geoje City on July 10, a civil petition was recently received through the e-People platform, asking for the city’s official stance on how it interprets Wonyi’s use of the phrase "Museobno" after being appointed a promotional ambassador. Geoje City, which officially registered the petition, stated that "a comprehensive review of the current situation is underway."

Previously, Wonyi, who graduated from elementary, middle, and high school in Geoje, freely used her native dialect on her YouTube channel and promoted her hometown by visiting Geoje City with fellow member Minami.

In particular, the phrase "Geoje Yahoo," casually spoken by Minami, a fellow member and also from Geoje, became a viral meme online, which led the city to appoint Lesenne as its promotional ambassador.

Girl group Lesenne appointed as promotional ambassador for Geoje City. Geoje City, Gyeongnam Province.

The "Ilbe labeling" controversy surrounding Wonyi was sparked by a post from Kim Hyunji, a producer at Gyeongnam MBC, on her personal social media account after Wonyi recently visited Minami's home in Japan for a video. In the video, Wonyi entered the room of Minami's younger sibling, softly lit, and said "Museobno." Kim, the producer, argued that this was "an Ilbe-style expression," and the controversy escalated into the political arena when former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk added, "The '-no' ending is used to mock the late former President Roh Moo-hyun."

Lee Junseok, head of the Reform Party, countered on Facebook, saying, "A 22-year-old idol from Geoje was branded with the Ilbe label just for saying 'Museobno' in her hometown dialect," highlighting the ongoing, unproductive debate.

Meanwhile, academics argue that using the '-no' ending in expressions of emotion or exclamations, as in Wonyi's "Museobno," is neither grammatically incorrect nor evidence of Ilbe-style usage.

Shin Ji-young, professor at the Department of Korean Language and Literature at Korea University, said on YTN Radio’s “YTN Hae! Bopsida” on July 8, "In the Gyeongsang dialect, the '-o' ending is used for exclamatory sentences. Compared to Seoul speech, where '-ne' (as in 'Museobne') is used, in Gyeongsang dialect, '-o' is used for exclamations."

According to a regional language research project by the National Institute of Korean Language, there are also cases where '-no' is used in sentences without interrogatives. Materials submitted by the National Institute of Korean Language to People Power Party lawmaker Park Sumin noted that, in a 2006 survey, a 72-year-old speaker from Changnyeong, Gyeongnam, used the phrase "Han osip nyeon neomeotno" (It’s been over fifty years) in Gyeongsang dialect, corresponding to the standard Korean "Han osip nyeon neomeotda." The fact that the Institute holds this as an example shows that the '-no' ending has been genuinely used as a Gyeongsang dialect form, even in non-interrogative sentences.

Meanwhile, Kim, the producer who pointed out Wonyi’s comment, has since closed her social media account.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.