As one of the sexiest women in K-Pop, 4Minute’s HyunA is frequently the target of scrutiny.

HyunA debuted in February 2007 as part of the wholesome R&B group Wonder Girls. She departed from the group and its label, JYP Entertainment, in July 2007 after experiencing several fainting spells and other health complications. In 2008, she signed with Cube Entertainment and joined the girl group 4Minute.

4Minute embraced a party-girl marketing concept but ironically received backlash from the Korean TV network KBS for the lyrics to their song “Won’t Give You” from their 2009 debut album “For Muzik.” KBS did not take issue with their costumes or music video but was concerned with the lyrics “starting from today, I won’t give myself to you. Now, I will never give you my entire heart. Now, I won’t ever give myself to you.” KBS deemed the song to be too sexual for broadcast even though the content was about a woman refusing to have sex with someone she did not have romantic feelings towards.

In November 2011, Cube Entertainment paired HyunA with her label mate Hyunseung for the unit project Trouble Maker. As a member of the duo Trouble Maker, HyunA has been able to display more sexy charisma and branch out from her girl group image. Sexy charisma is a frequently used item in Korean culture to describe the lascivious and coy personas often used on stage by K-Pop idols. Trouble Maker debuted at the 2011 Mnet Asian Music Awards with an open-mouthed French kiss that was a far cry from the aegyo or relatively manufactured cute image used to market bubblegum pop girl groups in Korea prior to 2014.

2014 has been the year of the sexy female concept: some of the most striking concepts have been Stellar’s “Marionette” and AOA’s “Miniskirt.” Stellar costumed themselves in fetishistic suspender tights for “Stellar” while AOA embraced miniskirts which would have made Korean womenswear pioneer Nora Noh proud. Nora Noh introduced Twiggy’s sheath dresses and miniskirts to Korea during the 1960s and almost single-handedly helped the nation’s women abandon their traditional hanboks for practical clothing including pants.

HyunA has not had the most sexually charged stage concepts for a female artist in 2014, yet she has received the most negative criticism. This could be due to attention she received as the hip swiveling “sexy lady” in PSY’s “Gangnam Style.” Mainstream media first took notice of HyunA following her appearance in “Gangnam Style,” making her one of the few K-Pop artists who is consistently covered by Western outlets. What is interesting is that HyunA is often singled out as being too sexy for K-Pop.

Like Madonna or Britney Spears, HyunA does not apologize for cultivating a sexy image. HyunA addressed her critics in a recent an interview with the Korean media outlet Enews. She said, “There are people who would not like me no matter what I do. I used to be hurt by that before. But I started thinking differently. There’s nothing I can do except to do my best.”

Most recently, she came under fire from a male journalist at Daum for her “RED” stage costume for SBS MTV “The Show.” One article criticizes HyunA for wearing shorts that are of an improper length for an idol. The article which has since been removed from Daum carried the headline: HyunA’s clothes that are so short, you can see her undershorts.

However, her costume is consistent with 1950s pinup outfits which were only considered controversial in the Cold War era. The issue may have less to do with the length of the shorts and more to do with who is wearing them.

While many netizens (a term used for Korean internet commenters) supported the reporter’s stance on HyunA’s costume, there are those who questioned the fact that the outfit in question was even an issue. One of the harshest comments on the Daum article stated, “Those are not even underpants but panties, right?”

One YouTube commenter on the 2Hyunsupport channel pointed out, “Too much skin? I see more skin than this at the beach.” Another commenter states, “ Her outfit isn’t even that revealing. Other K-Pop idols have had worse [on].”

The sexy concept has become a staple in marketing K-Pop girl groups but companies often shy away from depicting female solo artists in the same manner. Korean girl groups once adhered to maintaining images which ranged from infantilization to girl-next-door. Steadfast groups like Girls’ Generation have yet to make the leap into full-fledged sexuality but have started to announce that they are dating. For HyunA, the challenge is staying relevant in a market which is challenging female artists to be sexual but not overly so.

Hyuna’s newest release “A Talk” demonstrates her ability to maintain this sexiness but not at the cost of her music. Unlike many female artists in K-Pop, she exudes an image where she owns her sexuality. As K-Pop continues to move towards racier concepts, HyunA may continue to be an easy fall person for audiences and critics who are uncomfortable with the changing image of the genre.