aespa’s Karina had a hilarious and unexpected moment at the Asia Star Entertainer Awards 2025 (ASEA 2025), where she accidentally said the group’s name wrong during their award speech — leaving everyone in stitches on stage.
On May 28, the 2nd ASEA was held at the K-Arena Yokohama in Japan, hosted by The Boyz’s Ju Yeon and IVE’s Rei.
That night, aespa took home The Platinum Award, and the members stepped on stage to thank their fans.
Karina began her speech confidently, saying, “We’re so thankful to our fans for this meaningful award. We worked hard on our album last year, and we’ll be back with another great one this year, so please look forward to it.”
But things took a funny turn when she added, “And for the future of Espo…” — mispronouncing aespa’s name.
The slip-up instantly made everyone laugh. Karina burst out laughing and covered her mouth, unable to continue.
Winter quickly stepped in to help but also got the giggles, saying, “In the future, aespa will… please support us,” before cracking up too.
The two couldn’t stop laughing and hugged each other as they tried to calm down. Finally, Ningning stepped up to wrap it all up professionally, saying, “Please give aespa lots of love from now on. Arigatou gozaimasu.”
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Fans at the event and online found the moment heartwarming and funny, especially as it showed the group’s real personalities.
Source: [1]
