K-netizens react to Indonesian K-pop fans’ excitement over the first Indonesian idol to debut at SM

New SM girl group Hearts2Hearts made waves with their reveal earlier this year—not only for their refreshing and youthful concept, but also for featuring the first ever Indonesian idol to debut at SM Entertainment. Member Carmen (Nyoman Ayu Carmenita) is an 18-year-old girl from Bali, Indonesia, and was reportedly a trainee at SM for about 2 years before debuting with Hearts2Hearts.

Carmen’s reveal sparked excitement among many K-pop fans, particularly Indonesian fans, who were happy to see representation in one of the “Big 3” K-pop companies. Indonesian fans quickly took to social media to discuss their excitement for the upcoming group debut.

"So she got into SMNGG, not SMTR25, right? And she's been a trainee for a long time? That's crazy, I'm so proud that she made it into a Big 3 company"

"So cool, Indonesia finally has someone who made it to the Big 3"

"Maybe I'll be called overproud but I don't care, I'm just so proud that an Indonesian trainee gets to debut in a Big 3 company"

"Proud of her, it turns out that she made it into the debut lineup, and for SM Entertainment which is no joke. At SM, even an all-rounder would fail if they didn't have the right visuals. Carmen is amazing for making it into SM"

"This time, we should really be proud. It's really hard to get into a big agency like this. I can't even imagine how much effort it took for Carmen to beat so many SM trainees"

Now, K-netizens are reacting to this new wave of excitement for Carmen’s debut, with overall mixed reactions and some prejudiced remarks in response to the buzz on social media.

“I’m already tired just looking at all this…”

“It looks like the Hearts2Hearts fandom is already no joke, what’s going to happen ㅠㅠ It’s good that the group has already started gaining popularity in Indonesia, but…”

“Carmen is very pretty. I think the group will do well”

“This makes me already tired of them and they haven’t even debuted yet..”

“There used to be a time when only Koreans knew about K-pop”

“All their comments are positive right now but once they debut, what will happen.. If Carmen only has good visuals but poor skills, she’ll receive a lot of hate”

“Everyone is complaining but what’s wrong with this? People can be proud that an Indonesian is debuting in a major company for the first time.. I don’t understand what the problem is”

“I thought there were multiple foreign members, but Carmen is the only one with a different nationality? If that's the case, there's going to be a lot of problems… How did the group’s composition end up like this?”

"They should have made an all-Korean group instead"

“But if there was a Korean who debuted first in a major company in the US or another country, I think our country's reaction would be similar to this...?”

“Carmen is so cute. It's amazing that she's the first Indonesian to debut in a major K-pop company”