From K-pop debut to scandal: A2O Lite's Aijing plagued by accusations against mother

BEIJING — A meteoric rise to K-pop stardom has quickly given way to controversy for 13-year-old Chinese singer Aijing of new K-pop girl group A2O Lite, whose parents face allegations that they failed to pay their employees in Beijing.

The dispute has drawn widespread attention in China, where it topped Weibo's real-time trending searches on Saturday.

The allegations first surfaced on Monday, when Aijing made her debut, after a Chinese social media user accused her mother's company of failing to pay its employees. Media reports in the country indicate that Beijing Xiaofeishou, an education technology company run by her mother, has withheld wages since 2024.

The company agreed to repay the unpaid wages in installments after labor arbitration but failed to honor the agreement just three months later. Courts have reportedly ordered the enforcement of claims totaling 3.45 million yuan ($515,600).

Two days after the allegations surfaced, a Weibo account purportedly belonging to Aijing's mother issued an apology on Wednesday. The statement attributed the mounting debt disputes to financial troubles with her business and promised to work with creditors to "take full responsibility."

It also sought to distance Aijing from the controversy and noted that the teenager had "no connection whatsoever" to the past business dealings or disputes. Her agency, A2O Entertainment, had not yet commented publicly as of Sunday.

The controversy has drawn mounting criticism from Chinese social media users, who have questioned how Aijing’s parents could afford to support her budding career while their company struggled to pay its workers.

Aijing, nicknamed "Little BoA," after the famed K-pop soloist who broke through in the early 2000s, had already won the junior division of the World of Dance competition in China by the time the wage dispute emerged. When she traveled to the United States for the world championships last year, the company had again failed to honor its repayment agreement.

"They can afford to have their daughter debut, but they can't afford to pay back what they owe?" critics wrote online.

Public anger has spilled onto Weibo's trending charts. A hashtag of "Aijing's mother apologizes" ranked eighth with 97.1 million views on Wednesday. By Saturday, "Did they bankroll their daughter's rise to stardom with their employees' hard-earned wages?" had drawn more than 100 million views and climbed to No. 1.

The criticism has extended to China's state-run media.

“Wages that should have gone to employees on time were instead turned into stage lights, overseas training and professional lessons,” a Shanghai-based news outlet reported Friday night.

"Until the 3.45 million yuan is repaid, the star's brilliance onstage will remain eclipsed by the shadow of workers' blood, sweat and toil,” the Chinese media said.

A2O Lite is a rookie girl group developed by Lee Soo-man, the former chief producer of SM Entertainment and a pioneer of K-pop. All nine members are minors, with an average age of 15, and three are Chinese. Their debut single, "Neon," topped Melon's music chart just 29 hours after its release, the fastest a debut song by a rookie group has reached No. 1.

Such intense targeting of a Chinese teenager in a Korean idol group comes at a delicate moment for K-pop in China. McDonald's billboards featuring G-Dragon have recently appeared across major Chinese cities, which raised hopes that China may ease its unofficial restrictions on Korean cultural content.

BY SHIN KYUNG-JIN [[email protected]]