Kep1er Seo Youngeun’s Reputed Sister Addresses Her Past Hairstyle After Cultural Appropriation Claims

After a past video of Kep1er‘s Seo Youngeun came under fire for cultural appropriation, an account said to belong to the Girls Planet 999 winner’s older sister has issued a statement clarifying and apologizing for the issue.

Recorded back in 2018, the video in question shows Seo Youngeun performing a dance cover of K/DA‘s “Pop/Stars” at a MODERNK Practical Music Academy festival. At the time, Youngeun was around 13 or 14 years old. While the video has been shared on social media several times over the past few months, one Girls Planet 999 viewer recently raised the issue of Youngeun’s hairstyle in the clip.

Upon close inspection, Youngeun can be seen wearing braided hair with cornrows (also called canerows). Now typically worn as a protective style by those with Afro hair textures, these braids are considered culturally appropriative when worn by people from other cultures and ethnicities.

Cornrows have a long and meaningful history across Black cultures, while Afro braids of varying styles represent important cultural, traditional, and generational values. Sadly, however, Black people also often face discrimination for wearing traditional hairstyles. In the United States, for example, there is no federal law preventing employers and schools from banning braids. Naturally, this makes the issue of cultural appropriation even more sensitive for many.

After noticing Youngeun’s hairstyle in the past video, many fans on social media called on the Kep1er member to address the issue. While the members are currently working hard on their debut, Seo Youngeun’s sister did allegedly step up to make a statement.

Going by the name of @youngeun_debut on Twitter, the account claiming to be Seo Youngeun’s older sister is taken to be legitimate and truthful by fans, as @youngeun_debut has shared numerous unseen photos of Youngeun from her childhood as well as recent years.

Shortly after the controversy arose, @youngeun_debut issued an explanation to fans in both Korean and English.

Youngeun’s sister started by stating that she has personally answered several fans’ DMs regarding the K/DA cover video, but that she is now making a public statement due to the large number of messages she received. She then clarified that as an individual, it’s difficult for her to speak publicly about issues surrounding Youngeun, which is why it took her some time to make the statement.

Next, Youngeun’s sister explained that Youngeun was very young when the video was recorded, and as such, she had no input in her own hairstyling. As mentioned, Youngeun would have been 13 or 14 years old at the time of filming. Since she wasn’t known to the general public back then, Youngeun’s sister says she didn’t think there would be any problems regarding the hairstyle.

First of all, Young-eun was much younger than now when she filmed the video, and she was unable to style her hair herself. And at that time, her hairstyle didn’t matter to the general public, so I didn’t think this would be a problem.

— @youngeun_debut

The sister went on to say that she apologizes to anyone hurt by the issue, but added that Youngeun’s intention was never to disparage anyone’s race or mock anyone’s culture. Youngeun’s sister describes her as a person who loves everyone regardless of culture, background, and so on. Rather than intending to cause harm, she says that Youngeun was simply a young child who didn’t know any better.

I apologize to everyone who has been hurt by this. However, if you think she did it to disparage race, steal culture, or mock, I’m really sorry, but it’s not true. As you know, she is a person who loves and respects everything regardless of people, background, occupation, religion, culture, etc. None of her actions was intended to harm, mock, or behave rudely. She was just a young child who was ignorant of cultural differences.

— @youngeun_debut

Wrapping up her statement, Youngeun’s sister promised to educate Youngeun on the issue to prevent any future offenses. She finished by asking fans to continue supporting her younger sister, and urged them to contact her agency (BIScuit Entertainment or WAKEONE Entertainment) in the future regarding such “important and public matters.”

Read @youngeun_debut‘s statement in full here:

Hello, I have personally answered questions sent by many people via DM about Young-eun’s K/DA cover video, but I have recently shared my answers due to the large number of inquiries.

I didn’t mean to ignore this, but I want you to know that I, as an individual, was in a difficult position to speak publicly because she has an agency and protects her.

First of all, Young-eun was much younger than now when she filmed the video, and she was unable to style her hair herself. And at that time, her hairstyle didn’t matter to the general public, so I didn’t think this would be a problem.

I apologize to everyone who has been hurt by this. However, if you think she did it to disparage race, steal culture, or mock, I’m really sorry, but it’s not true.

As you know, she is a person who loves and respects everything regardless of people, background, occupation, religion, culture, etc. None of her actions was intended to harm, mock, or behave rudely. She was just a young child who was ignorant of cultural differences.

I will teach her and give her caution to prevent the same from happening in the future.

It’s just a personal opinion, but I hope my opinion can soothe your injured heart a little bit. And I hope you don’t hate her for this. She is still young and soft. Please understand and watch with love. And from now on, please contact her agency for these important and public matters.

Thank you.

— @youngeun_debut