HYBE Seemingly Changing LE SSERAFIM Sakura’s Stage Name To Favor New Girl Group
HYBE appears to be quietly changing LE SSERAFIM Sakura‘s official English stage name from “SAKURA” to “MIYAWAKI SAKURA,” and fans have noticed.
The change seems to have been triggered by the debut of SAINT SATINE, HYBE’s new girl group, which includes a Japanese member also going by Sakura. With two artists sharing the same name under one company, the agency’s apparent solution is to differentiate them by adding Sakura’s surname to her existing English name.
It appears HYBE is in the process of changing the existing Sakura’s English stage name from SAKURA → MIYAWAKI SAKURA
— Viral post on Pann
The change has sparked massive reactions online, with fans not happy.
「Sakura Fancam」 →「Miyawaki Sakura Fancam」 🙃 pic.twitter.com/PfplsIrzRN
— センちゃん³⁹💐 (@sakuchan_0812) May 23, 2026
Sakura has been active for years under that name, and a massive amount of content, posts, and tags have been built up under that name. Many argue that changing it now makes searching harder and muddies the water around her existing social media presence.
HYBE’s New Girl Group Sparks Controversy Related To LE SSERAFIM
What’s also raising eyebrows is who got the name change. Normally, you’d expect the newer artist to adjust. Instead, HYBE is changing the senior artist’s established name.
Unexpectedly, Korean netizens weren’t particularly sympathetic.
- “HYBE literally ran the audition and handpicked her themselves, so of course the new girl gets the royal treatment lol”
- “You were fine with HYBE taking things from other artists, but somehow thought you’d be exempt? What exactly are you so hard done by about?”
- “Lol, what’s so wrong with a right-winger feeling aggrieved? Right-wingers deserve to live their lives having things taken from them and feeling bitter about it.”
- “Oh… seeing it written out as the full name makes it even more obvious”
- “Looks like HYBE switched out their princess. Both debuted with HYBE going all out on the hype machine lol”
