When appearing on the program Running Man, female idol singer Asa of Baby Monster shocked everyone with the sharing: "I just graduated from kindergarten. I started as a trainee when I was in elementary school.
Asa's speech became a hot topic of debate. There were many opinions disagreeing with Asa's family's orientation towards her, and at the same time questioned the management company YG Entertainment about training young idols.
idols debuting at high school age are not uncommon in the Kpop industry. Many idols became trainees in Kpop companies when they were just in elementary school.
But then, they are given the opportunity to continue studying directly at school, or online learning, studying at home to complete the high school program (level 3), or at least finish high school (level 2).
Therefore, an idol who comes from a big company like Asa but only graduated from kindergarten is considered rare. The female idol was mocked for being the idol with the "lowest education in Kpop".
After the program Running Man aired and Asa's education problems caused controversy, on the evening of July 7, the female idol spoke up to explain on the Weverse platform.
According to Asa, this was her first time participating in an entertainment show as an individual, so she was very nervous.
Regarding his kindergarten graduation statement, Asa shared: Many people were surprised when I said kindergarten graduation in the program. I have dreamed of becoming an artist since I was in elementary school and started practicing.
I keep traveling constantly between school and practice, so I feel like the time to study properly is just a kindergarten apartment.
I intended to say that in a humorous way, but because it was too short, I could not explain clearly.
I felt that I was still immature and had a lot to learn, so I told myself to try harder.
However, many opinions said that Asa was "anhymatically entertaining". According to Asa, the audience understands that she is still in elementary school while practicing as an exchange student. However, the female singer did not confirm whether she had graduated from high school or not.
Therefore, Asa's education level is likely to be a "kindergarten graduate" and not yet complete the entire primary school program.
In the video about Asa posted by YG, there is a scene where Asa once introduced himself: "I am 12 years old and in grade 6" ( primary school in Japan and Korea is from grade 1 to grade6). The audience suspected that the female idol was chosen as a trainee of YG in 2018 (12 years old), so she left her primary school program in Japan to go to Korea to pursue her dream of becoming an idol.
Asa was born in 2006, not the youngest member of Baby Monster. New member Chiquita is the youngest member of the group, born in 2009, from Thailand and debuted at the age of 14 (2023).
Like Asa, Chiquita also became a YG trainee at the age of 12. It is reported that she is still studying at the secondary school program through online learning.
