DJ and Comedian Yoon Sung Ho has recently found himself under fire after incorporating the name “NewJeansNim” (뉴진스님), or “NewJeans Monk,” into his comedy.
Known for his monk character, Yoon Sung Ho recently introduced a new twist: "NewJeans Monk," a hip, modern version of his classic monk persona.
His NewJeans Monk character initially garnered positive attention with netizens brushing it off as light humor. But now, Korean netizens are debating whether the comedian has taken the persona too far with his recent announcement of new merchandise.
The merchandise includes a backpack, pants, T-shirt, phone case, AirPods case, keyrings, stickers, and ball cap that have the "NewJeansNim" logo on them.
Korean netizens argue that by creating and selling products tied to NewJeans, Yoon Sung Ho has blurred the lines between homage and commercial exploitation.
Korean netizens commented:
"I thought he was some kind of real monk who was eccentric but he's just a comedian."
"He needs to back off trying to ride off NewJeans."
"I hate these kinds of humor. I thought he was a real monk at first."
"I think he was banned in some Asian country because he's not a real monk but uses it as his gag content."
"Who would buy his merch."
"It's funny to a certain point."
"He's ruining the image of Buddhism."
"He's just using NewJeans."
"I still don't get if he became a real monk or it's his gag persona."
"He's so weird."
"Trying to make money using NewJeans. That's low."
"What is he doing?"
"He looks like a creep."
"He really needs to stop."
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