An online post questioning the current ages of singer-actress YoonA and Red Velvet's Irene has sparked lively discussion among fans, highlighting how long the two SM Entertainment stars have been in the public eye. The post, shared on a popular Korean community forum, prompted fans to reflect on time passing and the enduring popularity of the veteran celebrity.

The discussion originated from a post titled "IF IRENE IS 35 NOW, YOONA IS NOW 36?" which circulated on Panchoa on Jan. 5, 2026.

The post was shocked that the two celebrities, who started their careers in different generations of K-pop, are now in their 30s. The short caption that went with the post summed up how many readers felt: "That's insane.."

As the topic got more attention, people started leaving comments that included both corrections of facts and emotional responses. One person who commented talked about how the two artists fit into the bigger picture of SM Entertainment.

The commenter started by talking about how the idols are often thought of in two very different ways, and then they wrote, "But both of them will be forever f*cking beauties...The representative cold beauty and warm beauty of SM."

Other fans stepped in to clear things up about the artists' ages, pointing out how important birthdays are in Korean conversations about age. One commenter wrote, "Irene is 36, YoonA is 36??" in response to the correction. But their birthdays haven't even come yet, so YoonA is now 35 and Irene is now 34. The clarification demonstrated the ease of confusion in age calculations, particularly when combining the Korean and international systems.

Nostalgia emerged as a significant topic of conversation. One user simply said, "Time flies ㅠㅠ," when they thought about how quickly time has passed since both idols first appeared. Longtime fans of Girls' Generation since 2007 and Red Velvet since 2014 felt the same way.

People also praised YoonA's lasting star power throughout the thread. One commenter wrote, "As expected from god-YoonA," in a short but strong comment. This is a long-standing nickname for the singer-actress that fans have given her.

Pann Nate later put together the conversation, which also talked about when new artists would debut at SM Entertainment. One commenter pointed out that Seohyun and Irene are the same age, but they debuted seven years apart. But for some reason, Irene looks younger.