Chuu
| Name: | Kim Ji-woo |
| Also Known As: | Chuu (stage name) |
| Occupation: | K-Pop idol and television personality |
| Medium: | Music |
| Works: | Soloist, LOONA, yyxy |
| Official Website(s): | Official Instagram, Personal Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Weverse, TikTok, Website, |
| Fan Website(s): | |
| On Fanlore: | Related pages |
Chuu (고원) is a K-Pop singer, television personality and former member of LOONA and its sub-unit yyxy. She was the tenth member revealed as part of LOONA. Her official representative animal is a penguin, her color is peach, and her fruit is a strawberry.
After leaving Blockberry Creative, she continued her career as a soloist. Her official fandom name is "KKOTI", with her first release being "Howl" in 2023.
Gay Fandom
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Chuu's debut solo under LOONA, "Heart Attack", was widely praised for its WLW representation, depicting Chuu having a crush on fellow member Yves. The music video, directed by Jaden Jeong, contained symbolism and references that many fans interpreted as conveying the theme of unrequited queer love. For example, fans theorized that the green apple represented Chuu's heart, and Yves shooting it with Cupid's arrow symbolized Chuu's romantic feelings.
The queer-coding in "Heart Attack" resonated with many LGBTQ+ fans, who saw it as a rare instance of queer representation in K-pop. The song is considered as a "gay anthem" by both international and Korean fans. It was even one of the main songs played at the 2018 Seoul Pride Parade.[2][3]
The music video also popularized the "Chuuves" (Chuu/Yves) ship, which became one of the most well-known real person slash (RPS) pairings in the fandom. "Heart Attack" remains one of LOONA's most streamed songs on Spotify as of May 2024.
Memes
Lesbian Korean Billionaires
![Tweet with the Lesbian Billionaires, text reads: "[BREAKING] Lesbian Korean Billionaires, Ha Soo Young and Kim Ji Woo, marry. With a combined net worth of $170 BILLION, this makes them the richest couple alive."](/wiki/File:Lesbian_Korean_Billionaires_(LOONA).png)
The "Lesbian Korean Billionaires" hoax is a viral meme, falsely announcing the marriage of Chuu and Yves and declaring them the richest couple alive. In 2019, an Orbit tweeted the following:
[BREAKING] Lesbian Korean Billionaires, Ha Soo Young and Kim Ji Woo, marry. With a combined net worth of $170 BILLION, this makes them the richest couple alive.
The tweet, intended as a joke to promote LOONA, went viral and fooled many. Some "locals" expressed amazement at the wealth. Others were inspired to become LOONA fans. A few celebrities were even duped by it.
The tweet was a play on a similar 2017 hoax tweet about WJSN members Mei Qi and Xuan Yi. The "Lesbian Billionaires" format has since become a popular meme for K-Pop fans to jokingly hype up their favorite idols and girl group ships.
Trojan Horse Chuu
Trojan Horse Chuu refers to a series of photoshopped images that include a red arrow pointing at a seemingly random area with a circled picture of Chuu, mimicking clickbait YouTube thumbnails.
Have You Seen This Woman?
In August 2022, Brazilian fans started a trend of printing and posting ironic "wanted" posters of Chuu at universities and public spaces across Brazil. The posters had her photo asking "Have you seen this woman? If you haven't seen it, now you have!" along with a Spotify QR code linking to her music. Chuu was also jokingly portrayed in some posters as a candidate in the 2022 Brazilian presidential election.
References
- ^ Tumblr post by hanavbara. 30th March 2023.
- ^ Tweet by savecHOErry
- ^ Tweet by archiveloons