"Fire those useless bodyguards": Netizens angered following a fan's alleged disrespectful actions towards aespa's NingNing at the airport

On Thursday, May 8, aespa's NingNing and her fellow K-pop girl group members were spotted at the Incheon International Airport for an overseas concert as part of SMTOWN. During the same, as NingNing was making her way through the airport, two fans walked across her while one of them pushed past the idol.

When this video landed on the internet, many netizens noticed that the two girls were allegedly smiling and giggling while executing their action. As a result, many were angered by the incident due to the disrespect that was directed towards the aespa member.

Additionally, fans also criticized the bodyguards of aespa for their lack of action during that incident. People also expressed that the situation could have been worse since people were able to get very close the aespa members, and the therefore called out the security guards for not protecting the members properly. Here are a few fan reactions on the incident that occured at the airport:

"Where are her bodyguards and managers to let something like this happen? What if they hurt Ning ning? Obviously they did it on purpose, this has happened so many times, fire those useless bodyguards," one fan said.

"Really right in front of her? when there’s a plenty of space to walk around also the girl didn’t even apologize, and aespa’s bodyguards are so useless," stated a fan on X.

"That woman stared at ningning but bumped into nn. and her nearby friend was still laughing at seeing nn hit, and after the collision, they didn't apologize, they walked together holding hands. what would happen if that woman had a knife? what is the aespa bodyguard doing?" added another fan.

"This is clearly intentional! What are SM's staff and bodyguards doing? Protect your artist properly!" commented a netizen.

More fans and netizens expressed their frustration over the issue, and pointed out SM Entertainment bodyguards' alleged faults with regards to the incident.

"Your bodyguards are so f*cking useless!! Thankfully nothing happened to ningning, what if she had any dangerous intentions towards ningning wouldn't it have hit ningning directly, pls do your job properly bcs it's really not safe!! @SMTOWNGLOBAL," stated a fan.

"I need sm to get real like, where is the security?? What a joke of a company, NingNing deserves much better," added an X user.

"This is clearly intentional... where are the bodyguards???? much worse could have happened so take this seriously and prioritize their safety!!!" said a netizen.

"Where are the bodyguards??? they didn't prevent nor even make the blonde girl apologize to nn wtf they get paid for being useless," commented another X user.

All you need to know about NingNing and her recent activities with aespa

aespa's NingNing or Ning Yizhuo is Chinese singer based in South Korea, who debuted under SM Entertainment in 2020 alongside her fellow K-pop girl group members. The idol was scouted by the agency following her appearance on the Chinese singing TV show, Let's Sing Kids, and was introducted as a SM Rookie in 2016.

Following the same, she participated in several shows such as Rookies Princess: Who's The Best? and Shining Star during her time in the pre-debut training team. After about four years of training, the idol made her debut into aespa, and the group rolled out their first digital single, Black Mamba. The group soon gained recognition for their experimental and unique music releases.

Some of the group's famous tracks include, Savage, Next Level, Supernova, Whiplash, and more. On the other hand, NingNing has also participated in OSTs for K-dramas such as Once Again for Our Blues with aespa's Winter, Count On Me for The Midnight Studio, and more. Around July 2023, she also released a single with Jay Park called WYA, a collaboration for the TV show, The Next 2023.

The idol stands as the global brand ambassador for Versace, and was the face of Versace's Kleio Bag Campaign and the brand's holiday campaign in August and November 2024. She was also appointed as the North and Southeast Asia brand ambassador for Maybelline New York. Lastly, she put forth a solo track, titled Bored!, a part of aespa's solo EP called Synk: Parallel Line.

Most recently, the K-pop girl group, aespa, concluded their world tour SYNK : PARALLEL LINE, which began on June 2024 and ended in March 2025.

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