Red Velvet's Irene Speaks Up About Kim Jong Un Being Her Alleged #1 Fan

When Red Velvet visited North Korea to perform for a special concert, Irene became a hot issue when she was spotted in the center standing next to the dictator, Kim Jong Un, far away from her members.

Many speculations arose from the photo. Some claimed that Kim Jong Un was a big fan of Irene. A North Korean escapee said he placed her there on purpose to show that he know the current trends in South Korea.

But Irene says it’s all false rumors.

“It’s not true.”

— Irene

She gave the inside details on how that photo came to be. After the concert, the artists were asked to gather together for a surprise photo with Kim Jong Un.

“After the concert, they asked us to gather together for a moment. And [Kim Jong Un] came. We then took a photo.”

— Irene

And in a hurry, the artists all scurried to find a place for the photo and Irene just happened to end up standing next to Kim Jong Un. Even more surprisingly, she didn’t know she was standing next to him at the time!

“But it happened suddenly, so we were all scurrying to pose for the photo. We all found a spot, took a photo, and I found out afterwards that [I was standing next to him].

When you’re taking a photo, you don’t really know where you’re supposed to stand. You find out afterwards who you were standing near.”

— Irene

She honestly doesn’t know how she ended up in the center next to Kim Jong Un. She didn’t even realize that she stood next to him until she came back to Seoul and saw the photos!

“We just posed and I happened there. I’m not sure why I happened to be there either.

We didn’t know how the picture turned out either since there’s no internet. We found out through the news reports after we came back to Seoul.”

— Irene

Skeptical, Kang Ho Dong jokingly asked if someone purposefully pushed her towards the center with another motive like the rumors mentioned before. Irene laughed at the ridiculous question as she denied anyone pushing her.

“I just didn’t know what was going on. We weren’t originally planned to meet him. They asked the artists to gather for a moment. We went, and he came.”

— Irene

There you have it! The secrets revealed about Kim Jong Un and Irene’s famous photo!