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K-pop in 'Money Heist: Korea'? aespa fans recognize Nairobi as Black Mamba

Jang Yoon-ju, who plays Nairobi in ‘Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area’, is a TOP model, actress, and singer

After the success of the Spanish Netflix show ‘La Casa De Papel’ aka ‘Money Heist’ and the rise of K-dramas all over the globe, we got the Korean version of the crime drama. ‘Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area’ turned heads in the East and the West as Netflix Korea roped in Yunjin Kim from the iconic 2004 show ‘Lost’, Korean movie star Yoo Ji-Tae and Park Hae-soo who shot to new heights of fame with his role in ‘Squid Game’. Released on June 24, we got six episodes with a Korean spin on the critically acclaimed show. It also caught the eye of aespa and even BTS fans.

With K-pop playing a major role in defining South Korea's pop culture to the world, it wasn’t surprising that ‘Money Heist: Korea’ literally began with one of the main leads, Tokyo, dancing to BTS’ ‘DNA’. Older-gen fans also recognized Kim Ji-hoon who plays Denver as the actor who almost debuted with Super Junior and had passed the open auditions of SM Entertainment. Similarly, Lee Joo-bin who plays Mi-sun, the Korean counterpart of Stockholm, also almost debuted with the girl group Rainbow. But it is TOP model and actress Jang Yoon-ju playing Nairobi who is a familiar face among aespa fans for playing Black Mamba.

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Jang Yoon-ju is the human Black Mamba

SM’s newest girl group aespa had one of the most unique storylines and concepts for their debut, as they introduced their multiverse Kwangya and its antagonist Black Mamba. While aespa’s enemy, Black Mamba is a giant snake, it also has the power to take different forms as seen in their debut teaser. For Karina’s introduction, we had Jang Yoon-ju playing the human Black Mamba. The glamorous teaser had everyone excited as the ‘Money Heist: Korea’ star and Karina had sported crowns and gold outfits reminiscent of the viral Dolce Gabbana 2013 fashion show.

With Jang Yoon-ju looking completely different for her role as Nairobi wearing her hair short and flaunting tattoos, it did take a while for aespa fans to recognize her. While a lot of fans missed her K-pop connection during the ‘Money Heist: Korea’ teasers, they belatedly recognized her while binge-watching the show when Netflix finally dropped it. The actress is also a singer-songwriter and has released three albums.

‘That’s why Nairobi was super familiar’

One fan tweeted, “WTF THAT’S WHY NAIROBI WAS SUPER FAMILIAR SKSNSKSNJZNS SHE WAS THE BLACK MAMBA i’m so dumb, it took me hours before remembering. I’m in the last episode.” Another fan added, “Nairobi's daring character is still my type from being the Black Mamba in æspa MV to Nairobi in #MoneyHeistKorea.”

One added that they were watching the K-drama for her, “Its nairobi for me!! The black mamba.” Another was shocked, “Damn the black mamba girl plays nairobi.”