Karina (aespa) Profile, Bio, & Facts

Karina (카리나) is a South Korean singer and a member of the girl group aespa under SM Entertainment. She is also a member of “Girls On Top” and the unit “GOT the beat”.

Karina (aespa) Profile

Karina (aespa) Facts

Early Life

– Karina was born in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
– She went to Seongnam Shingi Elementary School and Jeongja Middle School.
– She dropped out from Hansol High School and passed her GED.
– She was scouted in the first year of high school and dropped out of high school before her sophomore year.
– She was active in the dance club in her middle and high school.

Personal Life

– Her family consists of her parents and older sister born in 1995.
– Her mother and older sister works as a nurse.
– Karina revealed that her older sister’s colleagues don’t know that Karina is her younger sister.
– Her initial impression of Winter was that she was very small and upon meeting Giselle, both of them felt quite shy but managed to greet each other.
– She possesses a large collection of pink and red lipsticks.
– She wants to experiment with red wine and platinum blonde hair colors.(Pop magazine)
– Her belief in Santa Claus was shattered when she saw a man dressed up as Santa in the waiting room during kindergarten. (MerrY MerrY aespa #2)
– She has a great relationship with her older sister and they have never had a fight, according to her.
– Fashion is an important component of her self-expression. (Glass Magazine)
– Karina has expressed that if she were to be born again and debut as an aespa member, she would prefer to be the maknae (youngest member) rather than the leader.
– Her journey in the K-pop industry began when an SM Entertainment staff member sent her a Direct Message on her Instagram, offering her an audition. She successfully passed the audition and became a trainee. (Knowing Bros)
– She shares a room with NingNing.
– When listening to music, she tends to focus more on the melody and arrangement rather than the lyrics.
– ‘Caramel Maple Corn’ is her mom’s favorite snack. (First We Feast)
– She likes to spend her days off by walking outside, visiting family members and sometimes staying in the dorm watching variety shows and eating. (Vivi)
Official Symbol: Heart ❤
– She avoids watching scary or brutal movies. It’s been said that she and Giselle tend to disappear in the middle of horror movies when watching with the other aespa members.
– Official Animal: Whale
– She suffers from insomnia. (ELLE KOREA)
– When Karina first met Ningning, she noticed that Ningning used formal language for almost three weeks because she thought the other three members were older than her.
– Karina is most likely to pull pranks. (MTV UK)
– Karina once slept for 18 hours, which was her longest sleeping duration.
– Her ideal type is a kind-hearted guy who only has eyes for her, has a beautiful nose, and is taller than 180cm (5’11”).
– Kendall Jenner is her role model when it comes to visuals.
– Her official number is 24 in the group.
– Before deciding on “Karina” as her stage name, she considered using Woo!Ah!, Jasmine, or Zion.
– She likes 4G Cube Chain Bag (small)  by Givenchy because she prefers to carry  small and simple bags. (VOGUE KOREA)
– She loves to write a lot. (MTV News interview)
– The first concert she attended was Girls’ Generation’s concert, which she saw when she was already a trainee at SM Entertainment.
– If she were not an idol, she would have chosen to be a flight attendant. (Billboard Interview)
– Her religion is Catholicism.

Career

– Karina is the leader, main dancer, lead rapper, sub vocalist, visual, and center in the group “aespa”.
– Her stage name “Karina” is derived from her baptismal name, “Katarina.”
– Karina was revealed as the second member of the group “aespa”.
– She attended BORN Star Training Center before joining SM Entertainment.
– Before her debut, she gained recognition as an ulzzang (a term for someone known for their good looks).
– She made a cameo appearance in Taemin’s music video for “Want.”
– In 2020, she participated in a virtual showcase collaboration between Hyundai Motor Company and SM Entertainment alongside Kai from EXO.
– Her training period lasted for 4 years.
– At the Hansol Festival in 2016, Karina performed cover dances of BLACKPINK‘s “Boombayah” and HyunA’s “Bubble Pop.” She took on Jennie’s parts in the “Boombayah” cover.
– Karina and Winter are members of SM Entertainment’s “Girls on Top”.

Likes & Dislikes

– Karina has a fondness for small and cute things, particularly cats.
– She likes visiting the sea.
– She can imitate Jjanggu’s vocal cords and her favorite character is Oath.
– She likes the blue color and her favorite season is spring.
– Cute, bbuing, and uing are among Karina’s favorite words.
– Her favorite gadget is her phone. (aespa x intel interview)
– Karina’s favorite Christmas carol is “White Christmas” by Michael Bublé. (MerrY MerrY aespa)
– Cats, dogs, tigers, crocodiles, and sharks are her favorite animals.
– “Rapunzel” and “Frozen” are her favorite movies.
– She is a self-proclaimed anime otaku and has seen almost everything as of 2023. She has a particular fondness for One Piece.
– She likes casual and hip hop fashion styles. (Source)
– She commonly uses emoticons such as 🥰, 🥺, and 😎.
– She considers roses and her flower, Polemonium as her favorite flowers.
– Among her favorite female artists are f(x), Taeyeon, IU, and Park Soojin.
– She likes wearing light lipstick. (ELLE)

Food Preferences

– Karina prefers cream puff taiyaki over red bean taiyaki.
– When visiting Indonesia, her top choice for food to try is satay.
– Her favorite snacks include baebae and caramel corn maple. (First We Feast)
– She chose rice over snacks.
– She also eating Jellies and Pink Pringles.
– She likes green tea and barley tea.
– Tonkatsu (pork cutlets), carbonated drinks, and jelly are among her favorite foods.
– Karina enjoys drinking Starbucks Grapefruit Honey Black Tea and peach jelly iced tea.
– While she likes chocolate, she doesn’t enjoy chocolate-flavored foods like chocolate donuts or chocolate cake.
– She prefers “Ice Americano” over hot Americano in winter.
– She likes eating mint chocolate and pineapple pizza.
– Karina’s preferred choice at Gong Cha is adding aloe pearls or white pearls to mango yogurt.

Nicknames

– Karina has several nicknames including “Tomie”, “Karomi”, “Qualina”, “Jim Manbo” (Jimin + Sleepover), “Karina Leader”.
– She is nicknamed “more AI than AI” because of her unreal looks.

Abilities

– Karina has a severe phobia of birds.
– She is known for taking the best selfies among the members.
– She is skilled at playing the piano and guitar.
– She is good in swimming and has mastered freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly, but her strongest swimming style is dog paddle.
– She has reached the highest possible level (9926) on the game Gardenscapes, ranking number one on the Korean player chart.
– Both Karina and Giselle cannot ride roller coasters.
– She seems to have a good understanding of Chinese and can comprehend everything Ningning says.
– She considers being extremely shy and having a poor memory as her weakness. (MY time, aespa)
– She has a talent for catching objects with her feet.
– She is bad at mobile games like PUBG.
– She is skilled in taekwondo.

Personality & Habits

– Karina has a habit of tightly closing her mouth, leading her fans to call her “Mouth Cuckoo.”
– Before going to sleep, she follows a routine of applying a sleeping pack and then putting Vaseline on her lips.
– To relieve stress, she likes to indulge in good food and shopping.
– She prefers reading in a quiet environment.
– She has a habit of cracking her knuckles frequently.
– On significant occasions, Karina always wears her rosary ring.
– She has a habit of biting her lips. (BuzzFeed Celeb)

Controversies

Backlash from Chinese Netizens

– Karina faced backlash from Chinese netizens for recommending ‘My Hero Academia’ which is banned in China.
– The anime had a character named Ujiko with the real name Maruta Shiga, resembling the controversial historical event of Unit 731. Unit 731, a unit of the Imperial Japanese Army, conducted inhumane medical experiments on prisoners. The connection between the character and the historical event sparked widespread criticism and led to the alteration of the character’s name.
– Karina’s social media accounts were targeted by online harassment as a result.

Viral Marketing Controversy

– In a post from 2020, a netizen claiming to be Karina’s uncle announced that she would debut with the group aespa and release the track “BLACK MAMBA” on the show “Music Bank.” This post gained significant attention and went viral.
– However, Karina later clarified on the show “TheKStarNextDoor 3” that she was embarrassed by the post and revealed that she had never met the person claiming to be her uncle.
– She explained that she asked her dad about the situation and discovered that the person was a relative she was not familiar with. She expressed her desire to meet this relative at least once.

Bullying Rumors

– Before her debut with aespa, Karina faced rumors of being a bully and mocking various SM Entertainment artists, as well as mistreating her juniors.
– In 2020, photos alleged to be a conversation between Karina and her friend were shared by a netizen. In the conversation, she was accused of insulting SM artists by mocking their appearances and talents. However, the authenticity of the messages was not proven, leading SM Entertainment to take legal action against the netizen responsible for spreading the rumor. Later, the rumours came out to be false.

Plastic Surgery Rumors

– Karina has been accused of undergoing plastic surgery, but there is no confirmed evidence of any surgical procedures. However, according to a plastic surgeon’s opinion, she may have had eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty, and facial bone surgery.

Social Media Handles
Instagram: katarinabluu

Streaming Platform Links
Genie | Bugs | Melon

Karina (aespa) Photos

NOTE: How did you get to know Karina? Mention your story in the comments section and also share more facts with us if you know!

SYNK, KARINA: