Here’s Some Explanations Of The Outrage Surrounding Sana’s Post From Ordinary Koreans
Online media outlet Asian Boss recently released a video where they interviewed ordinary Korean citizens about Sana’s controversial Instagram post.
For those unfamiliar with the situation, Sana made a post on TWICE’s official Instagram page regarding the abdication of the Japanese Emperor Akihito. This sparked some outrage among netizens due to the sensitive topic of Japanese-Korean relations following Japan’s colonial rule over Korea.
Some of the explanations given by those interviewed shed some light on the thought process of these commenters.
It might be because whenever the old Emperor made an appearance, Koreans were constantly reminded of Japanese colonial rule or the issue of comfort women would be brought up. A historically sensitive period for Koreans was overseen by the previous emperor so I think that’s why it was controversial.
– Korean woman
It”s not a problem for a Japanese person to post about the change in era but Sana is a public figure in Korea. In Korea, when discussing emperors, because we went through a lot during the Japanese colonial rule, it’s something people are sensitive about and she posted without thinking. I think that’s why she received a lot of criticism.
– Korean man
When asked how they personally felt about the situation, they had some interesting answers. Some felt sympathy towards Sana:
I think compared to what she did, she is receiving too much backlash. I feel a little bit bad for her. If they really had to rebuke her they should have just focused on the matter at hand but I think they went overboard. There were unnecessary comments about her personally and attacks on her family.
– Korean woman
Others were less forgiving of Sana and remain critical:
I think she deserves it. If she really wanted to work in Korea as an idol and continue working here, she should know more about the country she’s in. Also in terms of the relationship between our country and her home country, she should have known it wasn’t good yet she still posted that. I think it was thoughtless of her.
– Korean woman
The full video from Asian Boss contains other interesting perspectives and insight, you can watch it below:
