Jungkook, a member of the K-pop supergroup BTS, has issued a public apology after coming under fire from fans for wearing a cap with the slogan “Make Tokyo Great Again”, a phrase criticised for invoking painful memories of Japan’s colonial rule over Korea.
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The 27-year-old K-pop star, who recently completed his compulsory military service in South Korea, was wearing the hat on Friday when he made a surprise appearance at rehearsals for the final performance of fellow BTS member J-Hope’s world tour in Goyang, according to the KoreaWave news website.
To many fans, the slogan – a play on former US President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign message, which has long been linked to nationalist sentiment – evoked bitter memories of Japan’s colonial rule over Korea from 1910 to 1945.
“I think this is JK expressing what he actually feels to Korea and Koreans without saying anything,” an irate user posted on the allkpop website. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he renounces his Korean citizenship and decides to domicile elsewhere, and South Korea will lose his tax revenue forever.”
Another added, “Straight from coming out of the military and wearing an anti-Korean, right-wing hat is an interesting choice, to say the least.”
Yet another post read, “He bought that stuff not knowing what it was? Wasn’t he in the military? How does he have such a lack of basic political and historical issues that concern his country? It’s the history of Japanese imperialist right-wing oppression.”