'Espo?!?' Karina’s speech slip sparks laughter at ASEA 2025 show

Karina of girl group aespa drew attention at an awards ceremony after making a lighthearted slip of the tongue during her acceptance speech, which led to an unexpected moment of laughter and left her unable to continue.

On Wednesday, the Asia Star Entertainer Awards 2025 (ASEA 2025) took place at K-Arena Yokohama in Yokohama, Japan.

Aespa took home three awards, winning the main The Platinum award, as well as Song of the Year and Artist of the Year.

The event also marked Karina’s first official appearance since she apologized for a political controversy, which arose after she posted a photo of herself in a red jacket with the number "2" on her personal channel, sparking debate ahead of the national election.

During the ceremony, aespa sparked laughter when delivering their acceptance speech for The Platinum award. Karina said, "I’m so thankful to our fans for this meaningful award. We’ll be back with a great album this year, so please look forward to it." She then stumbled, saying, "We’ll continue to be... Espo? Espo?" — accidentally mispronouncing the group’s name. The slip caused Karina to burst into laughter.

Turning to fellow member Winter for help, Karina found little relief as Winter also struggled to contain her laughter, stammering, "We’ll continue to... thank you so much," before breaking into giggles herself. All four members were seen turning their backs to the camera, trying to hold back their laughter. NingNing eventually managed to step in and save the moment, saying in Japanese, "Please continue to support aespa. Thank you."

Fans reacted warmly to the mishap, with comments like, "Laughter that even cancels the acceptance speech," "Only aespa could deliver an acceptance speech like this," and "They’re just like high school girls, it’s adorable."

Karina recently faced criticism after posting a photo of herself wearing a red jacket emblazoned with the number "2," which some interpreted as a political statement. SM Entertainment later issued an official statement saying, "Karina simply posted a casual, personal photo on social media with no other purpose or intention. After realizing that the post could cause misunderstanding, she immediately deleted it. We sincerely apologize for any concern this may have caused."

Karina also directly addressed fans through the fan platform, saying, "I’m truly sorry for making MY (the fandom) worry. I had no intention of causing such misunderstanding, but as it has grown, I felt I had to speak directly."

This article from Xportsnews is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.