Sandara Park draws mixed reactions after revealing she lied about her age to date a 14-year-old boy

2NE1’s Sandara Park recently drew mixed reactions after a video resurfaced where she recounted dating someone underage.

In the resurfaced clip from one of her Philippine visit vlogs eight months ago, Sandara recalled how her “love story” with a 14-year-old boy started just before her TV debut at 19.

“I was a naive and innocent student, so I didn’t have any dating experience,” she began in Korean, as translated by YouTube, adding a “cute guy” approached her when she was playing at an arcade in a mall with her friends.

“In malls, you know there’s an arcade, I’d play games there, I’d go there every weekend with my friends. A cute guy suddenly asked me for my number,” Sandara told her co-2NE1 member Minzy.

“He was so cute that I gave him my number, he was 14 years old, I was 19, just before my debut,” she said. “But I lied, it was the only chance I had. I was like, ‘I’m 16!’” she added, it isn’t clear whether she was referring to Korean age.

In case you didn't know, Koreans traditionally followed three age systems, one was the "Korean age" which starts counting age on the day they are born, including the time when they are in the womb. Another was "calendar age," a system that adds an age every Jan. 1, which means a person born on Dec. 31 will be one year old and will turn two the next day on Jan. 1. Lastly, the international age, a widely used system around the globe that starts zero on birth.

This means that if Sandara referred to Korean age, she was 18 years old at the time, while the guy was 13 years old. 

In 2023, the government signed a law that scrapped the two aging systems, leaving out the international age to use to avoid "unnecessary social and economic costs" per President Yoon Suk Yeol, as reported by BBC.

Sandara shared that they went on a few dates, like playing arcade games, basketball games, and watching movies. Their relationship ended when she joined ABS-CBN's talent show Star Circle Quest. 

“Then I suddenly made my debut. It was on TV: ‘Sandara Park, 19 years old.’ I stopped reaching out after that. After I was on TV, I became a star overnight, there was no way he didn’t know,” Sandara added. 

The revelation sparked mixed reactions from social media users, with others pointing out how inappropriate it was, especially since she lied about her age to date a minor.  

“The age difference is weird on its own, but the fact that she lied about being younger is a new level of disturbing. She was an adult lying about her age because she wanted to date a minor. How come no one has a problem with that to the point that it became a fun story to share?” a Reddit user wrote. 

“Nothing about this is cute or funny btw,” an X user wrote. 

“[D]ating a 14yo when you’re 19 is crazy but lying about your age to him [because] you know he wouldn’t date you otherwise is sick and twisted,” another X user commented. 

“[R]ecounting this like it's something to be proud of, it's the tone-deaf behaviour for me,” another Reddit user wrote. 

Meanwhile, others came to her defense, saying it was an “innocent date.” 

“Not to defend or anything, but I think at that age they are more [immature], both, and may not have thought about that clear,” a Facebook user wrote 

“What's wrong about that? It's already in the past those haters acting like they didn't experience that kind of thing when they're not fully matured. Acting like they are perfect again and this vlog was last year. Please move on,” another one commented. 

“[I]t was just an innocent date, [it’s] not as if they moved-in together. plus, [it’s] a thing of the past. [it's] not even a crime in their country,” another Facebook user commented. 

Sandara and her entertainment agency, Abyss Company, have yet to address the issue as of writing.