FEARNOT! You Are My Dododok

Origin

This meme comes from LE SSERAFIM's Seoul shows on August 12–13, 2023 at Jamsil Indoor Stadium, the opening dates of their first headlining tour, "2023 LE SSERAFIM TOUR FLAME RISES." Performing "Fire in the Belly" from their first full-length album UNFORGIVEN, Kim Chaewon was supposed to call out to the fandom FEARNOT with "Fearnot, become my comrade," but her tongue tangled and what came out sounded like "you, my do-do-dok." The circumstances are documented in Newsis's article "'Dododok'… Kim Chaewon's slip that became a meme."

On a Weverse live broadcast on September 17 she explained: "The timing was genuinely hard. I rushed, lost the timing, and my tongue got twisted." The choreography required her to deliver the line fast and immediately turn, leaving no room to recover. The joke lands on the gap: the line was a direct address to the fandom, and the earnest word "comrade" came out as an unidentifiable string of syllables.

Spread

It moved fast. A Shorts clip uploaded on August 14 passed 11.3 million views by late August, and similar clips each approached 5 million. A "dododok challenge" followed, imitating the moment across countless variations. Community boards began calling Kim Chaewon "Kim Dodok" and using "dododok" as a word for tripping over your own words.

It circulated inside the industry too. Fellow singers including Kwon Eunbi and Kim Sejeong referenced the moment on their own shows and content, and in an October 2023 interview Kim Chaewon said even Bang Si-hyuk had gotten in touch, adding that she was fine with it. On the web variety show Halmyungsoo on February 23, 2024 she recalled not realizing at the time that it was such a big deal. At a concert on April 20, 2025 she deliberately recreated the slip on stage for the crowd.

Usage

• Saying "dododok" when your tongue trips or your words come out mangled.
• Applying it to any attempt at a serious line that collapses into something ridiculous.
• Imitating the original line when trying to recruit someone as an ally.
• Citing it to laugh off a mistake caused by rushing during a performance or presentation.

Sources

• Newsis, "'Dododok'… Kim Chaewon's slip that became a meme," September 20, 2023 — confirms the concert dates and venue, the song, the Shorts view counts, the Weverse explanation, and the mentions by fellow artists
• Top Star News, "'Fearnot, you my dododok'… even BTS's Jungkook liked the clip of Kim Chaewon's concert slip" — the immediate reaction
• My Daily, "LE SSERAFIM's Kim Chaewon on the 'dododok' slip: 'Even Bang Si-hyuk contacted me… honestly it's fine'," October 8, 2023
• Sports Seoul, "'You my dododok'… Kim Chaewon recreated that meme at her concert," April 20, 2025 — the on-stage recreation