Your country’s Day of Independence is a day that should be celebrated with much patriotism. With that in mind, one should also always be careful with what they choose to post on social media on that specific special day as it could be seen as disrespectful and could potentially tarnish their image.
Yesterday (Thursday, 15th August), Korea celebrated its Liberation Day, a day that commemorates the day when the country was liberated from 35 years of Japanese colonial rule by the Allies. Sadly, a simple act of carelessness has gotten these K-pop idols into trouble as they have posted Japanese-related content on their social media.
1. Choi Yeonjun (연준) (Tomorrow X Together)
MOAs have always looked forward to TXT’s Yeonjun’s posts on Instagram as he always serves the best visuals in his carousels of photos. However, the rapper made the mistake of posting his recent trip to Japan on the Liberation Day of Korea. Although the post was immediately deleted as soon as it was published, some still managed to screenshot the photos.
Shortly after, the idol issued an apology saying, “I was careless in uploading the picture, failing to respect the historical meaning and significance of Liberation Day. I apologise to anyone who was hurt by my actions. I’ve learned from my mistakes and will be more careful to prevent this from happening in the future. Once again, I apologise to everyone.”
2. Felix (필릭스)(Stray Kids)
Known for his love of anime, Felix participated in the trending “Shikanoko” Challenge on the Korean app Bubble. Rather than the actual dance challenge, the idol posted a voice-recording version of the challenge instead. The post instantly received backlash from Korean fans who believed the rapper should’ve waited a day after Liberation Day to post the challenge.
The Australian K-pop artist later posted an apology. “I would like to apologise to my fans and to everyone who was disappointed by my carelessness. During a voice broadcast, I mentioned a Japanese song while talking with fans about short-form challenges. I truly apologise for my carelessness on such a meaningful liberation day,” he wrote.
3. Jaemin (나재민)(NCT Dream)
When travelling the world, obviously, you’d want to try and speak the language of the country you’re visiting. However, there is a time and place for everything. NCT Dream recently flew to Japan ahead of their upcoming performance at the SUMMER SONIC 2024 festival happening this weekend. Member Jaemin posted a selfie with a caption that reads “I’ve Arrived” in Japanese on WeVerse to update fans.
Unfortunately, the photo and caption were posted on Korea’s Liberation Day. The idol has since received massive criticism in the comments sections with many wondering why he and the aforementioned idols are being careless on this specific day. The post has since been deleted but the “SMOOTHIE” artist has yet to issue an official apology.
We’re sure that the idols are remorseful for their carelessness. Let’s hope that they and their peers are more careful in the future to avoid making similar mistakes.
