“Truly bizarre.”
Koreaboo
NewJeans has become the center of heated debate after picking up a major trophy at the 2025 Korea Grand Music Awards. Korean netizens questioned how the group qualified for the recognition at all.
At this year’s KGMA, NewJeans received the “Trend of the Year” award in the K-Pop Group category. The category is determined by aggregating monthly winners selected through fan voting across different genres. Organizers stated that the prize reflects consistent influence and interest.
🏆 Congratulations NewJeans for winning “Trend of the Year – K-pop Group” at the 2025 Korea Grand Music Awards.
— Kpop Charts (@kchartsmaster) November 14, 2025
However, the reaction online has been overwhelmingly negative. Much of the criticism stems from the fact that NewJeans had nearly no official activities in 2025, largely due to their prolonged legal conflict with ADOR.
The group released no new music this year, and their public presence has been minimal outside of legal statements, court appearances, and the eventual announcement that all five members were returning to the label.
Despite this, the ceremony praised NewJeans’ lasting impact on charts and noted that several of their past hits continue to perform well domestically and overseas. Fans of the group welcomed the recognition, but general public sentiment on major Korean forums was not friendly.
- “What did they even do this year? All they did was grab other idols by the hair and drag them into a national audit.”
- “What did they do this year?”
- “Truly bizarre.”
- “This place just hands awards to HYBE. They’re basically sucking up to get them to attend.”
- “What did they do…?”
- “They didn’t even promote this year.”
As NewJeans prepares to resume activities under ADOR and the public opinion on the group remains sharply divided, everyone is waiting to see how their next comeback will perform.