I-DIT’s Kim Min-jae Denies Ilbe Allegations…Claims It Was a Filming Mistake with No Hidden Intent

Kim Min-jae, a member of the rookie idol group I-DIT, faced accusations from far-right online communities after uploading a video in reverse and using the expression “iya,” but his agency firmly denied these claims. Starship Entertainment, his management company, repeatedly explained that it was an error caused by inexperience in filming and that there was no specific intention behind it.

On the 17th, Kim Min-jae uploaded a video to the lifestyle-sharing app Setlog in reverse. The video displayed the subtitle “19:00,” which refers to 7 p.m., and he posted the message “Iya!!” (meaning “That’s great!”) on a platform for communicating with fans. Online, some speculated that Kim Min-jae might have used an expression commonly found on Ilbe to mock former President Roh Moo-hyun.

On the 30th of last month, the agency stated through its official fan platform Veriz, “The interpretations circulating online regarding Kim Min-jae’s Setlog content released on the 17th are not true.” Starship Entertainment clarified, “The specific allegations being raised online are false, and we want to make it clear that there was no such intention at all.”

Regarding the video filmed in reverse, the agency explained, “Kim Min-jae was not familiar with the new filming method, so he confused the direction during shooting and submitted the video upside down to the staff.” It added, “The subtitles and text in the video were also inserted backwards during editing to match the reversed format; they were not created with any specific meaning or intent. The time ‘19:00’ shown in the video was the actual time when the performance ended.”

As for the message “Iya” posted in the fan community, the agency described it as a common expression of admiration. They said Kim Min-jae used it without realizing it was an expression associated with a certain website, emphasizing that it has nothing to do with the specific interpretations circulating online.

Starship Entertainment explained that the content was produced through the company’s standard workflow, not edited or uploaded directly by the member. The agency promised, “We will conduct more thorough checks and internal reviews throughout the content creation and uploading process in the future to prevent similar misunderstandings.”