Netizens Vs Korean/ Japanese Artists On Crossing the Sentiments on Korea-Japan Relationship

The latest controversy comes from iKon’s Junhoe over his post on Instagram thanking Japanese Comedian Kitano Takeshi for his gift. The Netizens were furious after Junhoe replied to a fan comment stating not to order him what to do but later, he apologized. This is not the first instance of Netizens getting furious over idols extending support or admiration towards Japanese artists.

Korea and Japan have seen a long political and historical conflict with history noting the vicious reign of Japan over Korea. Even though it has been years since Korea attained liberation, there have been instances when Japanese artist have expressed hate comments toward Korea. Hence, Netizens are sensitive towards Korean idols and artist who speak in support of such Japanese artists.

Below is a list of instances of the bitter-bitter relationship of Netizens and Korean/ Japanese artists on being insensitive.

1.       Netizens Vs iKon Junhoe

On September 22, 2018 the iKon vocalist Junhoe posted a photo of a bag with KITANOBLUE written on it. It was a gift from Japanese Comedian and actor Kitano Takeshi from his online store by the name KITANOBLUE. The singer wrote, “Kitano Takeshi-san thank you. Please come to ikon concert”.

To this a fan replied that the Japanese Comedian had a history of hatred towards Korea. Junhoe took a stance against the fan and in support of Takeshi, which was not welcomed by the netizens. Leading to a lot of hate comments coming in response. This controversy has sparked ahead of a comeback by iKon with their new album ‘New Kids: The Final’ on October 10.

On September 26, 2018 Junhoe came out with an apology urging the fans to forgive him for his harsh comment and continue to extend their support to their upcoming album.

2.       Netizens Vs Twice (Momo, Sana and Mina)

On June 11, 2018 the Japanese members of Twice group did a Vlive were they started conversing with each other in Japanese instead of Korean. The pajama party soon became uncomfortable with most of the Vlive users being Korean, certain fans shared their disapproval of the girls choosing to speak in Japanese. This instances still sees the middle ground as most fans were not offended by these members speaking in Japanese and requested the other fans to calm down.

3.       Netizens Vs Tano Yuka

This is a classic case of being loud mouth. In early February 2018, Tano Yuka did Instagram live when a fan asked if she had plastic surgery done on her eyes. She denied it and went on to blurting comments like “Everyone who visits South Korea has undergone surgery. I hate those people who love Korea”. She also added, “I hate Japanese who like Korea. Like… I hate those people who try to be Korean”. She also spoke against wearing makeup in Korean way and also people using Korean on their social media profiles.

These remarks certainly did not set well with the Korean netizens who expressed their rage and hence, resulting in the singer of AKB48 apologising to the fans via twitter.

4.       Netizens Vs Sulli

On August 13, 2018 Korean singer Sulli posted an image of ‘Memorial Day For Japanese Forces’ Comfort Women’ which was to be celebrated on August 14. The day is to commemorate women who were forced to be sex slaves for Japanese army forces. The post was put up without any caption but the Japanese netizens were furious and left comments asking her to not visit Japan. While the Korean netizens stood in support of Sulli.

5.       Netizens Vs SNSD’s Tiffany

On August 15, 2016 which is celebrated as Korean Independence Day, SNSD vocalist Tiffany updated with an image of her being backstage during their ‘SM Town Live World Tour V’. The image was edited with the Rising Sun Flag and a heart for caption. This hurt the sentiments of the Korean netizens and Tiffany had to hear hateful comments regarding it. Though there was no apology from the idol, she did edit the post to remove the caption on the image.

6.       Netizens Vs Block B’s P.O.

On August 15, 2015 Block B performed at the 70^th Korean Independence Day celebration at Seoul. The band’s vocalist P.O’s outfit onstage caught the attention of the netizens as it had Japanese inscription stating “No Problem”. This was indirectly connoted as Japanese invasion Korea was not a problem. This sparked fumes of criticism from netizens leading to Seven Seasons (their record label) and P.O. both apologising to the fans.

7.       Netizens Vs Girls Day’s Hye Ri

In April, 2012 Girl’s day vocalist Hye Ri was seen wearing a t-shirt with the print- My t-shirt helps Japan, along with a the pattern of the Rising Sun Flag in a heart during a rehearsal in Korea. The t-shirt was gifted to her by an overseas fan for their free performance to aid after the earthquakes in Japan. After the images went viral, the singer had to face criticism resulting in Dream Tea Entertainment sending out a public apology.

8.       Netizens Vs BTS

BTS had recently released the tracklist on their upcoming Japanese album which included a song called ‘Bird’ that sparked controversy. The song was written by Akimoto Yasushi who is a prominent songwriter in Japan but also has the history of making outrageous comments against Korea regarding the colonization by Japan. After netizens threating to boycott the album, a revised tracklist was posted with ‘Bird’ being cut out of the list.

Well, this list clearly shows there is no immature approach to the event of Japanese occupation of Korea. The fans are sentimental towards the issue and any artist taking a light approach will have to face fire from netizens. I hope and urge all my reader to not spread hate comments against any country. Each of them have fought their way to attain freedom, hence we should respect the sentiments of their citizens.