A video of IVE’s Jang Wonyoung filmed while she was departing through Gimpo International Airport ignited controversy and triggered civil complaints to the Korea Airports Corporation.
On the 15th, a netizen submitted a complaint on an online community, saying, "If there are security procedures that passengers must actually follow at the airport, official guidance should make them intuitive and easy for any passenger to understand," urging Gimpo Airport to clarify its ID verification standards and rewrite its official guidance to be more user-friendly.
The complaint was filed with the Security Management Department of the Gimpo Airport Operations Division and the Korea Airports Corporation, and it is scheduled to be processed by the 23rd.
This came after a video of Jang Wonyoung began to spread. She departed through Gimpo International Airport on May 30, and when she briefly lowered her mask, some netizens criticized her as being insincere. Although Jang lifted her cap and briefly lowered her mask at the request of the screening staff, the moment still sparked an "attitude" controversy.
However, footage from another angle later showed Jang cooperating diligently with security procedures, and the controversy cooled. The detail that "Jang Wonyoung politely handed her passport to the airport staff with both hands" also helped defuse the backlash.
Still, the complainant argued that "security screening standards must not be relaxed or applied differently for politicians, business figures, or high-profile celebrities," calling out the lack of transparency in airport security rules.
Meanwhile, IVE, the group Jang belongs to, released their second full-length album 'REVIVE+' in February.