Actress Cha Joo Young is clearing up rumors about her wealthy background!

On the February 19th episode of tvN’s You Quiz on the Block (Episode 281), Cha Joo Young appeared as a guest and addressed speculation that she comes from a privileged financial family.

She firmly denied the claims, saying, “Not at all.” When the hosts suggested that her studies in Malaysia and the U.S. may have sparked the rumors, she explained, “It’s true that my father works in finance. Most of my relatives are also in the financial sector, so I naturally thought I’d end up in finance too.”

Cha Joo Young then shared that studying abroad wasn’t even her choice! “I was doing ballet, but then I was suddenly told I had to go abroad. Within a week, I was sent off. At first, I thought I was going to the U.S., but then they told me, ‘You’re going to Malaysia.’"

She continued, "I asked, ‘Why?’ but the next thing I knew, I was already there.” She added that her father wanted her to experience different markets before attending college in the U.S. or U.K.

Hearing her story, Yoo Jae Suk jokingly said, “If you hadn’t become an actress, you might have been on the news as a fund manager or analyst, and you’d still end up on You Quiz that way,” making everyone laugh.

Meanwhile, Cha Joo Young studied business at the University of Utah. However, she clarified in a previous Allure Korea YouTube interview that she originally attended Utah State University, transferred to the University of Utah, but later returned to Utah State University to graduate because of her father’s insistence.

What do you think about Cha Joo Young’s explanation? Let us know in the comments!

Source: [1]

Sunmi is caught up in controversy after the NFT project she promoted made billions of KRW—only to lose most of its value, leaving investors frustrated.

According to Kyunghyang Shinmun on February 21, Sunmi, her agency, and a KOSDAQ-listed company launched the NFT collection Sunmiya Club in February 2022.

The project used blockchain technology to verify ownership of digital assets, turning illustrations inspired by Sunmi’s career into NFTs. Buyers were promised exclusive services to increase their investment value.

Thanks to Sunmi’s strong promotion, the NFTs were a huge success at first, selling out and making billions of KRW.

However, things took a turn when the NFT market crashed due to the Terra-Luna crisis and the bankruptcy of the U.S. crypto exchange FTX in late 2022.

By 2023, Sunmiya Club had stalled, and the once high-value NFTs dropped to just tens of thousands of KRW.

As investors faced major losses, some turned their frustration toward Sunmi. In response, the company behind the project stated, “We have fully followed the roadmap announced at the beginning and have continued operations.

The funds raised from the NFTs were used for operational costs and investments in a new platform launched last year.”

Despite the company’s defense, many are still questioning what went wrong and whether Sunmi will address the backlash.

Source: [1]