Korean netizens have recently slammed popular dancer Lee Jung for her choreography of aespa's "Rich Man."
Some Korean netizens have expressed disappointment over aespa’s performance of "Rich Man," praising the track and its empowering message but criticizing the choreography for not doing the song justice.
"Rich Man" celebrates female empowerment, inspired by a 1996 quote from Cher during an interview with Kat Penny. Cher recounted how her mother advised her to “settle down and marry a rich man,” to which she famously replied, “Mom, I am a rich man,” emphasizing her own financial independence and self-worth.
Many fans appreciated the song’s meaning but took issue with Lee Jung’s choreography after a recent video of her explaining the dance went viral. A particular point of criticism is the finger-tapping move. While many assumed it represented counting money, Lee Jung said it was meant to celebrate nail art.
She explained, “Recently, I participated in Street Woman Fighter, and the foreign audience and members were all clapping their fingers together. I realized nail art is a huge accessory. So I thought I should also get my nails done the next time I perform. I went to get them done and had to sit there for three hours - it was so hard. So I thought, ‘Oh! That finger clapping is a celebration of the nails,’ and it has meaning that we invested so much in these nails.” She added, “When I received the song, I thought this theme would be a good fit. It’s to celebrate myself for putting so much detailed care even into these nails… that I’m really rich in that way.”
Netizens responded critically, saying, “The person who rearranged the original song, the person who changed the lyrics, the choreographer, the singer—none of them understood the meaning or concept of the original song, so this is how it turned into a mess…”
Other netizens agreed and commented:
"Interesting lol. If a choreographer makes a mistake in a dance, you should blame the choreographer. Somehow everything ends up blaming aespa—so weird."
"Celebrating nails? Yikes."
"Oh... just money counting would've been better."
"Seems like no one actually understood the interpretation properly..."
"Whoa, didn’t expect the nails to pop out like that. Looking at it, there’s basically nothing you can call choreography."
"She didn’t think about the meaning of the song at all."
"Most importantly, Lee Jung shouldn’t have included that hand movement if she didn’t know exactly what it meant... foreign audiences don’t clap like that… oh dear."
"This is exactly like a school group project that everyone failed to understand."
"The beginning of the song says, ‘I’m already a capable woman, I don’t need a man,’ but the dance and vocals are sticky and flailing, chest-sweeping, nail-bragging—what does it even feel like as a song? If the concept is a woman entering male-dominated jobs in the MV, then follow through with that. Instead, it’s all over the place without any focus."
"In my view, if Lee Jung’s interpretation is all over the place, the interpretations in the comments are also just random wording meant to criticize."
"Having to stay still for three hours to do nails? Such a useless waste of time."
"Now I understand why the choreography sucks."
"Lol, aespa also seems to have interpreted it as money-counting."
"This is truly a failed group project… This is why you need someone who properly understands the assignment."
"This really makes me scratch my head. lol."
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments below.
SEE ALSO: aespa wins with “Rich Man” on ‘Inkigayo’ + performances from DAYOUNG, Hearts2Hearts, and more!
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