aespa’s Karina recently sat down with ELLE Korea for a pictorial and interview!
In the interview, Karina spoke about aespa’s recent appearance at Lollapalooza 2026 in Chicago. She shared, “It was a performance we prepared for with a lot of dedication. Since it had been a while since we performed at a festival, all the members practiced late into the night to do their best in their respective roles. We also wanted to create an exciting performance by putting together a set list centered around songs we haven’t performed often before.”
Karina stated that she tends to get nervous on stage but went on to describe nervousness as an emotion that makes her feel “alive.” She explained, “Nervousness is also one of the precious emotions that humans can experience. When I’m nervous, I actually make fewer mistakes. It comes from thoughts like, ‘What if I make a mistake?’ or ‘What if I don’t live up to expectations?’ So I don’t think there’s necessarily anything bad about going on stage while feeling nervous.”
When asked what she is looking forward to as aespa continues its world tour “2026-27 aespa LIVE TOUR – SYNK : COMPLæXITY,” Karina said, “I usually like to leave the hotel and experience the city where the tour is being held for myself. Just as the word ‘tour’ also means ‘travel,’ I always look forward to visiting places I might never have gone to and experiencing things I might never have experienced if I weren’t doing this work.”
On what being strong means to her, Karina remarked, “I think it’s similar to having strong convictions. Having strong convictions means that your standards or values aren’t easily shaken. It means clearly knowing yourself and having a strong sense of self. That’s why I like being called strong.”
Karina’s full pictorial and interview can be found in the September issue of ELLE Korea.
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