A2O LITE Aijing’s Mother Apologizes For Her Unpaid Wages Controversy

A2O LITE Aijing‘s mother has apologized for her controversy, maintaining that Aijing herself had no involvement.

A2O Entertainment, led by SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo Man, made their debut showcase on October 12. There, Lee Soo Man revealed his 9-membered girl group A2O LITE and his 15-membered boy group A2O SOUL.

While A2O Lite received lots of praise for their old-school style visuals and sound, controversy brewed on the internet after allegations were raised about a company managed by Aijing’s parents. The allegations claimed Aijing’s parents operated a education-based company in Beijing, China’s capital, with her mother as the legal representative and her father as the auditor. Employees at the company have claimed the business was in financial trouble as far back as 2024, and after agreeing to a payment plan to make sure the employees would get paid, Aijing’s parents only paid their employees for three months, with no further payments paid out. The employee claimed around ¥40,000 CNY ($5,977 USD) in unpaid wages. Legal documents also showed the company owed around ¥3.45 million CNY ($515,529 USD).

In response to the backlash, Aijing’s mother released a statement clarifying the situation, accepting responsibility, and emphasizing Aijing herself had no involvement.

Hello, this is Aijing’s mother.

I sincerely apologize for causing concern with my personal matters.

I previously ran an education-based company but as operations deteriorated quickly, the company ran into severe financial hardship and that let to debt disputes.

Regardless of what happened, my failure to pay [my employees] on time was a mistake that I must accept and take responsibility for. I sincerely apologize to everyone who has been hurt from my actions.

I have continued to make efforts to resolve this matter as quickly as possible. However, following the company’s financial crisis, further changes to the education industry continued to complicate the situation, and thus I could not resolve this as quickly as anticipated. I am currently in contatc with the individuals involed to discuss possible solutions. I will not hide from my responsibility and will continue to see this through to the end.

Responsibility for this lies with us, the parents, and it is our problem to resolve. Aijing has absolutely no involvement in the business or disputes.

Once again, I sincerely apologiez to everyone who was hurt. I will continue to do everythign I can to resolve the issue and fulfill my responsibilities.

— Aijing’s mother