NewJeans' start in Korea is impressive. However, some fans do fear that NewJeans would become domestic, stuck in Korea. In early 2016, GFriend and Twice were at a par. However, Cheer Up began to get attention in Japan, which reflected back to Korea. GFriend could not do anything against it since it had no foreign members and its tiny company was not suited for any kind of foreign activities. (LeSserafim is not a Junior of GFriend. GFriend is NOT the Senior of LS. They are NOT related at all. The disgraced Kim Garam might be the only link between the GFriend era and now, but after her departure, there is no link between the old Source Music and the current Hybe subsidiary remaining.) GFriend is the last domestic only girl group which made a mark, and its end meant the end of Korea-only girl groups as a significant presence. (Brave Girls almost became such, but even Brave Brother knew it had to find a foreign base, which is why it toured USA , shunning the K-O-R-E-A-N fans.) People who fear NewJeans' reaching #1 in Melon appear to be afraid that because of its higher digitals it would be involved in more K-O-R-E-A-N activities, which will NOT help NJ in the long term. Ive is going to Japan. LS is going to Japan. If Min Heejin, who probably expected to create another Twice and probably not another GFriend, has the power to do so I think she will head NJ to foreign activities as soon as possible. With the changed dynamics, it might actually be harmful for an act to become dominant in K-O-R-E-A, because being dominant there won't really help an act to become more popular outside of it and actually hinder its international popularity. I have called for the divergence of KPop from K-O-R-E-A for a long time. Now it is happening, I am kind of glad about foreseeing the future. The cold truth is if an act wants to be popular around the world, K-O-R-E-A has to take a back seat.

An act becoming too popular in K-O-R-E-A - a concern which will dominate a lot of 4th generation girl group fandoms