Kim Jaejoong’s Group SAY MY NAME’s Huge Age Gap Sparks Major Criticism

Kim Jaejoong is set to debut his new girl group called SAY MY NAME.

Kim Jaejoong | @jj_1986_jj/Instagram

All of the seven members have now been released, but there are some concerns regarding the members’ ages.

The youngest is Seungjoo who seems to be born in 2010, which is very young even by K-Pop standards.

SAYMYNAME(세이마이네임) TRAILER#승주 #SEUNGJOOhttps://t.co/l8ZM00KO8l#SAYMYNAME #세이마이네임 #SMN pic.twitter.com/6sv0DI1TWh

— SAY MY NAME (@sa2m2nam3) September 11, 2024

While the age of Seungjoo was always “questionable” for netizens, it was made even worse after the reveal of the final member. On September 13, it was revealed that former AKB48 and IZ*ONE member Hitomi would be debuting, who is born in 2001.

SAYMYNAME(세이마이네임) TRAILER#히토미 #HITOMIhttps://t.co/yUS0YQd54j#SAYMYNAME #세이마이네임 #SMN pic.twitter.com/hOpqwvP9YW

— SAY MY NAME (@sa2m2nam3) September 13, 2024

When netizens noticed that there was a 9-year age gap between the oldest and youngest members, many started to share concerns.

saymyname i will stan bc of hitomi but in seriously side eyeing bc seungjoo is like 14-15

— ori loves TAEYEOB! 🍉 (@taeyeobliker) September 13, 2024

Well, not sure how I feel about this one… and just what the age gap with whoever is the oldest will be… I guess I wish them all the best but this group may not be for me after all, she's not even 14 yet… 😅 Of course, concept is good but still…#SAYMYNAME

— glacie ❄ (@glaciem__draco) September 11, 2024

I love hiichan for saymyname! maybe they should've gotten a group of people around her age instead of a literal 14 year old

— naomi 🦋🌴💎 JX FLOW (@p3t4l) September 13, 2024

Say my name has a 2010 liner please end kpop

— Assigned Dive by Spotify (@lesbiansun) September 13, 2024

What processes you to put a 22 year old with a 13 year old…. Not even a 15/16 year old straight up a new teenager… Seungjoo is talented but she shouldn’t have been the first grade1 to debut

— ‎ً (@DrMeowMeowJr) September 13, 2024

say my name looks really cute but i heard one of them is 2010 liner?

— lain (@rikpilled) September 13, 2024

apparently the age range of the say my name girls is 2006-2010 💀 they making hitomi babysit omfg

— kae 🍳 (@faeryzuha) September 13, 2024

The issue of young idols debuting has always been a hot topic, but it seems more emphasized considering the age difference between the oldest and youngest members of SAY MY NAME.