Korea University professor says idol's dialect phrase 'museopno' is not hate speech, criticizes those who fanned controversy

A linguistics expert has weighed in on the swirling allegations that Le Sserafim member Wonii (22, real name Jeong Won-i) used speech patterns associated with the far-right online community Ilbe — saying the expression in question is simply a regional dialect, not hate speech.

Shin Ji-young, a professor in the Korean language and literature department at Korea University, appeared on YTN Radio's "YTN Hae! Bopsida" on Wednesday and said that "museopno," as used in the clip, functions as an exclamatory expression rather than a question. "In the Gyeongsang dialect, the '-o' ending is used as an exclamatory form," she said, adding that it is a natural expression among dialect speakers equivalent to the standard Korean ending "-ne" (museopne).

Wonii spent her school years in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province.

According to Shin, the Gyeongsang dialect preserves the 15th-century Korean verb-ending system, and the suffix "-no" at the end of a sentence is widely used not only in questions but also in soliloquies and exclamatory monologues.

Shin said the debate had grown so heated that she found herself thinking, "Is this really something worth arguing about?"

She pointed to the context of the YouTube video as the source of the misunderstanding.

In the clip, a YouTube content producer said "museopno," and Wonii echoed the phrase, saying, "Museopno. Even the lighting is scary."

Kim Hyun-ji, a producer at MBC Gyeongnam, then raised the issue, claiming that appending "no" to the end of a question was an "Ilbe-style expression."

"If you watch the video where the controversial remark was made, the producer on set said 'museopno' first," Shin said. "That producer does not appear to actually be a dialect speaker."

In other words, a non-dialect-speaking producer had picked up the expression from Wonii during earlier filming and used it himself, and Wonii simply responded naturally — yet those who misread the context went on to make unfounded accusations.

Shin also criticized Kim Hyun-ji, the MBC Gyeongnam producer who first raised the issue, as well as political figures including former party leader Cho Kuk, saying they had amplified the controversy.

"The person who raised this issue is herself a Gyeongsang dialect speaker, and then politicians — who are also dialect speakers — poured fuel on the fire," Shin said. "If they realized their observation was wrong, wouldn't it take courage to simply say, 'I got that wrong'?"

Shin said she felt saddened, asking why people had chosen to attack Wonii — a young and vulnerable person — by accusing her of using hate speech she never actually used.