New K-pop girl group Aespa features human and virtual members, and comes from Red Velvet managers SM Entertainment
- The group of human and virtual members heralds ‘the beginning of the future of entertainment’, SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man says
- The news of Aespa’s launch comes days after Red Velvet’s Irene was accused of bullying a stylist, followed by the cancellation of a Red Velvet appearance
A new era for K-pop arrives this week with the introduction of Aespa, a South Korean girl group made up of both human and virtual members. The outfit are K-pop company SM Entertainment’s first new all-female act since Red Velvet, who made their debut in 2014.
Fittingly, the act’s name, which is stylised in lower case as æspa, is a combination of the words “avatar”, “experience” and “aspect”. SM said the group would explore the theme of “experiencing a new world via the encounter of the ‘avatar’, your other self”.
Winter, the first member of Aespa, was revealed through a series of promotional photos on social media the following day. Last night, member Karina was introduced appearing in a similar futuristic, wonderland-esque setting.
At today’s World Cultural Industry Forum in Seoul, SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man said Aespa represented the launch of the SM Culture Universe (SMCU) and would feature both real-world members and digital avatars that would interact in various real-life and digital environments. According to Lee, Aespa heralded “the beginning of the future of entertainment”.
