News aespa’s Karina faces backlash over election-season Instagram post (and Karina's and SM's response) (1 Viewer)

[Selfmate]

Karina of the girl group aespa has come under fire for breaking the "no color, no gesture" rule — a strict but unspoken guideline on K-pop idols during election season.

The singer uploaded a picture of herself on Instagram wearing a black jacket with red patterns and the number 2 written on the side, seemingly taken on the streets of Japan. Karina used a red rose emoji without further explanation of the picture.

The post soon went viral on online communities, with users calling her "conservative Karina," "No. 2 voter Karina" and "patriotic Karina" — terms used online to describe conservative voters.

Kim Moon-soo, the conservative People Power Party (PPP) candidate, is represented by the color red and is No. 2 on the ballot.

Soon after, the photo was taken down, but criticism still arose over the singer’s carelessness.

During election season, K-pop idols are advised — if not mandated — to refrain from wearing clothes in the vivid colors associated with political parties: red for the People Power Party, blue for the Democratic Party, yellow and green for the Green Justice Party and so on.

They are also told to avoid making common hand gestures, such as a thumbs-up or peace sign, when posing outside polling stations, as such gestures can be interpreted as references to a candidate or party number.

And not voting isn’t a safe way out — some fans criticize idols for being indifferent to the most sacred duty and right in a democracy if they don’t explicitly show they voted. So when they do go, idols are expected to wear neutral colors, be careful with their hand gestures, and definitely avoid posting anything that could be seen as controversial.

However tiresome the rules may be, they seem to be very real — and idols appear to be aware of them.

On Monday, Kim Tae-rae, a member of boy band ZeroBaseOne, uploaded a picture of himself on a fan community platform showing a "V" gesture and a blue phone, explaining that he did so to "even out" the V.

"I was told that I shouldn't pose a 'V' because of the [election] season," he wrote to fans. "I'll even it out with the color of my phone."

The two-day early voting period for the snap presidential election — open to all eligible voters nationwide — will begin Thursday. Idol groups are also likely to be seen voting and taking pictures afterward.

Source: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.co...sh-over-electionseason-Instagram-post/2317324

RESPONSE

Karina and SM apologize over Instagram post stirring political speculation

Karina of girl group aespa and her agency SM Entertainment issued apologies after the K-pop singer faced criticism for a social media post that appeared to signal political affiliation.

“I apologize to fans for creating this misunderstanding,” Karina wrote on the fan platform Bubble. “I didn’t have any intentions [with the post], and I will act more carefully in the future.”

On Tuesday, Karina uploaded a photo of herself on Instagram wearing a black jacket with red patterns and the number 2 printed on the side. The photo, seemingly taken on the streets of Japan, included a red rose emoji without further explanation.

The post quickly went viral, with netizens dubbing the singer “conservative Karina,” “No. 2 voter Karina” and “patriotic Karina” — terms typically used to describe conservative voters in Korea. The post was soon deleted.

Kim Moon-soo, the conservative People Power Party (PPP) candidate, is represented by the color red and is No. 2 on the ballot.

“We apologize for causing concern with Karina’s post,” aespa’s agency, SM Entertainment, said in a statement released Wednesday.

“Karina posted some daily content with no particular intention, and she deleted the post immediately after recognizing it could be misunderstood,” the agency continued. “We sincerely apologize for the unintended concern.”

SM also requested that artists’ posts “no longer be distorted or consumed for specific purposes.”

During election season, K-pop idols are strongly advised — and in some cases, effectively required — to avoid wearing colors associated with political parties, such as red for the PPP, blue for the Democratic Party and yellow or green for the Green Justice Party.

They are also cautioned against using familiar hand gestures like the thumbs-up or peace sign when posing near polling stations, as these can be interpreted as referencing specific candidates or party numbers.

"
This is SM Entertainment.

We apologize for causing concern due to our artist Karina’s recent post.

Karina simply shared something from her daily life on social media, with absolutely no other intention or purpose. Once she realized that the post could be misunderstood, she immediately deleted it. We sincerely apologize for any distress this may have caused unintentionally.

Our agency will also be more careful and make greater efforts to prevent such incidents from happening in the future. We hope that our artist’s intentions will no longer be misrepresented or consumed with a particular agenda, and we will do our utmost to protect Karina and all of our artists.

Thank you."

Source: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.co...m-post-stirring-political-speculation/2317697

aespa's Agency Releases Statement Regarding Karina's Recent Instagram Post | Soompi

SM Entertainment has released an official statement regarding the recent incident involving aespa's Karina. On May 27, aespa member Karina posted several

www.soompi.com

@My

 

[mysteric]

it took her and sm too long for that apology on a paid app at that too
if it came out sooner before the politicians started using her post as an endorsement the optics would’ve been much better
it’s at best really really careless considering the amount of scandals idols have gotten in the past for worse during elections week, timing is really bad too with cb around the corner and dragging the rest of the group
they didn’t mention it in the article, but her caption of 🥀 made it worse considering the ppp has been calling it the rose election
obligatory prada curse comment

 

[Selfmate]

it took her and sm too long for that apology on a paid app at that too
if it came out sooner before the politicians started using her post as an endorsement the optics would’ve been much better
it’s at best really really careless considering the amount of scandals idols have gotten in the past for worse during elections week, timing is really bad too with cb around the corner and dragging the rest of the group
they didn’t mention it in the article, but her caption of 🥀 made it worse considering the ppp has been calling it the rose election
obligatory prada curse comment

they mentioned it

"included a red rose emoji without further explanation."

whether this situation gets worse or she gets cancelled or boycotted or otherwise - time will tell

 

[eclipsoul]

i know this may not be a big deal to some, but honestly i cannot blame people for reacting like they did because as someone who lives in a country that also has an election coming in like 4 days - if i saw a celebrity showing the smallest signs of endorsement towards the piece of shit right wing candidate that we have, i'd never support anything they do again

 

[mysteric]

they mentioned it

"included a red rose emoji without further explanation."

whether this situation gets worse or she gets cancelled or boycotted or otherwise - time will tell

oh I just meant the explanation of why red rose itself is controversial at this time
idk if she can ever recover, but it'll definitely haunt her and reshape her fandom

 

[Selfmate]

oh I just meant the explanation of why red rose itself is controversial at this time
idk if she can ever recover, but it'll definitely haunt her and reshape her fandom

ahhh yeah a lot of times the reasoning behind why something is controversial isn't expressly mentioned

I think given the shit tonne of cfs that Karina has - that will be the first sign if anything negative happens to her

 

[Selfmate]

i know this may not be a big deal to some, but honestly i cannot blame people for reacting like they did because as someone who lives in a country that also has an election coming in like 4 days - if i saw a celebrity showing the smallest signs of endorsement towards the piece of shit right wing candidate that we have, i'd never support anything they do again

just a quick question then - do you believe in giving someone the benefit of the doubt and possibly that it was an honest mistake as oppose to a deliberately act?

never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by neglect, ignorance or incompetence.
Hanlon's Razor

 

[mysteric]

@Selfmate I don’t think it’s hurt her core fandom and if anything else, will make them even crazier, but definitely kfans on twitter and pannchoa have been crashing out and cfs are more neutral in a sense so I think it would be quite easy to lose them when again, they’ve turned supernova into a mini campaign slogan now
fanwars will be interesting now that they’ve lost their main ammunition against chaewon specifically lmaoo
also, the fans I know (I’m talking predebut fans) who are dropping her have said it was the apology that they’re most disappointed in, and that the post itself may have been too many coincidences but that it took her so long to respond for a very blank template response posted only on a paid platform, and not on instagram where it all started, made them think karina wasn’t taking the fallout and fan reaction seriously, made worse by the giggling at asea (she was more serious after the dating thing), the fact that she hand wrote and posted her dating apology on instagram, and that she has a habit of apologizing for everything pretty quickly (I remember after their first year end awards show performances she would log on and promise to work harder on practice after getting dragged)
personally I think the post itself was almost too obvious to be a dog whistle, but yeah, am not impressed with how it was handled at all—imo if that blank template response was posted within 2h or so of being an issue that wouldn’t been fine, but by the time it was posted there were already material consequences with politicians using it as an endorsement which I think was deeply unserious of them to post, it’s hard to claim oopsie a mistake when the consequences are present iykwim? I want to give her the benefit of doubt but in the very least, I do hold her sense of professionalism and discretion in much lower regard because the color and number thing is such common knowledge, and she’s the leader of the group dragging the group down like this

 

[Selfmate]

@Selfmate I don’t think it’s hurt her core fandom and if anything else, will make them even crazier, but definitely kfans on twitter and pannchoa have been crashing out and cfs are more neutral in a sense so I think it would be quite easy to lose them when again, they’ve turned supernova into a mini campaign slogan now
fanwars will be interesting now that they’ve lost their main ammunition against chaewon specifically lmaoo
also, the fans I know (I’m talking predebut fans) who are dropping her have said it was the apology that they’re most disappointed in, and that the post itself may have been too many coincidences but that it took her so long to respond for a very blank template response posted only on a paid platform, and not on instagram where it all started, made them think karina wasn’t taking the fallout and fan reaction seriously, made worse by the giggling at asea (she was more serious after the dating thing), the fact that she hand wrote and posted her dating apology on instagram, and that she has a habit of apologizing for everything pretty quickly (I remember after their first year end awards show performances she would log on and promise to work harder on practice after getting dragged)
personally I think the post itself was almost too obvious to be a dog whistle, but yeah, am not impressed with how it was handled at all—imo if that blank template response was posted within 2h or so of being an issue that wouldn’t been fine, but by the time it was posted there were already material consequences with politicians using it as an endorsement which I think was deeply unserious of them to post, it’s hard to claim oopsie a mistake when the consequences are present iykwim? I want to give her the benefit of doubt but in the very least, I do hold her sense of professionalism and discretion in much lower regard because the color and number thing is such common knowledge, and she’s the leader of the group dragging the group down like this

what I have no idea of what fanwars occur since I'm not on social media but is there beef between Karina and Chaewon????

I do not have any strong views either way towards the actual issue

I do believe in Hanlon's Razor that

never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by neglect, ignorance or incompetence.

The question of whether the apology posted on bubble and SME's apology will be accepted by MYs/kpop fans in general/general public will be decided by the korean general public and the companies she has cfs for.

I am personally a fan of Aespa but regardless I generally give people the benefit of the doubt especially if it's a "first offence" but I can also see how others can have a different opinion which is just as valid

 

[mysteric]

what I have no idea of what fanwars occur since I'm not on social media but is there beef between Karina and Chaewon????

I do not have any strong views either way towards the actual issue

I do believe in Hanlon's Razor that

never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by neglect, ignorance or incompetence.

The question of whether the apology posted on bubble and SME's apology will be accepted by MYs/kpop fans in general/general public will be decided by the korean general public and the companies she has cfs for.

I am personally a fan of Aespa but regardless I generally give people the benefit of the doubt especially if it's a "first offence" but I can also see how others can have a different opinion which is just as valid

mys have been picking fights a lot lately, lsr and aespa fans especially do not get along and chaewon unfortunately has been known for having a male dominated fandom, and not in a good way, which is an easy point to drag

I think ifans are mostly forgiving, theqoo doesn't care as much, but everywhere else she's getting whacked and made the news

cfs... idk, she's popular but even then her sales w cfs haven't been amazing, krush even saw sales dip after she was made ambassador for example, ningning is the sleeper cf driver (she has the rich whales, winter has economy of scale fandom, karina is somewhere in between)

tbh I've been a fan for a long time (op of the karina thread, followed her early in smngg era and lived through the bullying scandal then lmaoo) but have been slipping out with how hard she pushed jiminjeong (I feel like for ships you need a certain skill to sell them) and honestly was a bit annoyed with just how often she'd apologize for social media sentiment, the blase response here makes me disappointed so it's more the tipping point for me personally, if I wasn't already on the fence I think I'd be more gracious

 

[Somnia]

This whole thing is just plain stupid. They are now attacking her for not able to stop laughing at her speech when Aespa won 3 trophies along with Winter.

Sullyoon of Nmixx almost would be under fire for doing the V sign but she quickly acted as if she used all fingers to count to 5. These elections are toxic af for idols you can only pray you don't have any work during these days, the less spotlight is on you the less you can do wrong according to these weirdos.

Also ironically the exact same clothes Karina wore is now sold out lol.

 

[Selfmate]

mys have been picking fights a lot lately, lsr and aespa fans especially do not get along and chaewon unfortunately has been known for having a male dominated fandom, and not in a good way, which is an easy point to drag

I think ifans are mostly forgiving, theqoo doesn't care as much, but everywhere else she's getting whacked and made the news

cfs... idk, she's popular but even then her sales w cfs haven't been amazing, krush even saw sales dip after she was made ambassador for example, ningning is the sleeper cf driver (she has the rich whales, winter has economy of scale fandom, karina is somewhere in between)

tbh I've been a fan for a long time (op of the karina thread, followed her early in smngg era and lived through the bullying scandal then lmaoo) but have been slipping out with how hard she pushed jiminjeong (I feel like for ships you need a certain skill to sell them) and honestly was a bit annoyed with just how often she'd apologize for social media sentiment, the blase response here makes me disappointed so it's more the tipping point for me personally, if I wasn't already on the fence I think I'd be more gracious

damn and here I am for the music and variety shows and pretty pictures and videos lol

 

[Selfmate]

This whole thing is just plain stupid. They are now attacking her for not able to stop laughing at her speech when Aespa won 3 trophies along with Winter.

Sullyoon of Nmixx almost would be under fire for doing the V sign but she quickly acted as if she used all fingers to count to 5. These elections are toxic af for idols you can only pray you don't have any work during these days, the less spotlight is on you the less you can do wrong according to these weirdos.

Also ironically the exact same clothes Karina wore is now sold out lol.

there's a quote from one of my fav C-dramas translated into English it is

"a man of character must be loyal to the king and love this nation - it is better to be a foolish subject than to partake in meaningless fights"

 

[mysteric]

damn and here I am for the music and variety shows and pretty pictures and videos lol

I'm a career fan I fear, I like knowing what to expect and why

say for a luxury ambassadorship, the actual cf itself idc that much because I don't spend my money that way and am picky about it, but I want to know how the brand courted them, relations with the company, relations with the brand (have there been any changes in cd for example), buying power and strategy of the fans, brand treatment (lv is overcrowded and offers one magazine shoot and that's it usually vs versace being number one hype woman) and strategy, if any other brands were in contention or if there's any overlap for interesting movement

residual habits from other idol fandoms

 

[eclipsoul]

just a quick question then - do you believe in giving someone the benefit of the doubt and possibly that it was an honest mistake as oppose to a deliberately act?

never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by neglect, ignorance or incompetence.
Hanlon's Razor

i mean obviously public figures are still people and anyone can post an unfortunate caption on social media - like when lorde posted a picture of a bathtub with a whitney houston lyric - but it all depends on the situation and how they deal with it. so yes i'm willing to give people the benefit of a doubt, but at the same time i think certain fandoms coddle these grown celebs too much (or think they're all complete airheads). if i were accused of supporting a political party that doesn't align with my values, i'd probably do more to distance myself from this than give a half assed apology on a paid app. i'm not korean and never cared much for aespa so honestly it's not like i'm hugely disappointed, i just find it a bit strange that she apologised more for dating than she did for this.

 

[Selfmate]

I'm a career fan I fear, I like knowing what to expect and why

say for a luxury ambassadorship, the actual cf itself idc that much because I don't spend my money that way and am picky about it, but I want to know how the brand courted them, relations with the company, relations with the brand (have there been any changes in cd for example), buying power and strategy of the fans, brand treatment (lv is overcrowded and offers one magazine shoot and that's it usually vs versace being number one hype woman) and strategy, if any other brands were in contention or if there's any overlap for interesting movement

residual habits from other idol fandoms

so you're here for the

 

[Selfmate]

i mean obviously public figures are still people and anyone can post an unfortunate caption on social media - like when lorde posted a picture of a bathtub with a whitney houston lyric - but it all depends on the situation and how they deal with it. so yes i'm willing to give people the benefit of a doubt, but at the same time i think certain fandoms coddle these grown celebs too much (or think they're all complete airheads). if i were accused of supporting a political party that doesn't align with my values, i'd probably do more to distance myself from this than give a half assed apology on a paid app. i'm not korean and never cared much for aespa so honestly it's not like i'm hugely disappointed, i just find it a bit strange that she apologised more for dating than she did for this.

I can understand where you are coming from...

the dating issue might hurt her bottom line more since you know female idol and parasocial relationships and all that...
whereas this seemed more like a series of unfortunate incidents

I do agree that maybe she should've posted a proper apology to the same medium (IG) as her original picture

 

[velvet]

This is at best stupid. I've seen someone on another site compare this to if someone like Sabrina Carpenter posted herself in a red cap with white lettering and had an elephant emoji in the caption. That easily grounded me, like yeah I understand why this is big news.

 

[mysteric]

so you're here for the

kind of, I'm a firm believer that as a fan you should whack your fav and stay realistic abt them and their flaws, but that you should also still shield them from unwarranted criticism or else what, they're older and no longer the new hot thing, much of the fandom has moved on, they've been coddled so they don't have the skills or anything to find work, and to boot they have a bad rep in the industry thanks to their fans

jokes aside, not quite -- it's the wanting to know more that leads me into deep dives like that, the drama in itself isn't the main pull but rather the why, which kind of forces you to go in deep tbh

like one of my favs literally has zero ambition and the career fan in me wants to see her do more because she's crazy talented and only missed out on chances because of bad timing out of her control, but also they're their own person? there's a mismatch there but it's fine, I get it, but here the mismatch here is dating scandal > being ok as the far right poster girl in severity which I simply cannot agree with

 

[mysteric]

the dating issue might hurt her bottom line more since you know female idol and parasocial relationships and all that...

tbh the severity of that was also kind of self inflicted because she was number one jiminjeong shipper too
which fine, ships sell and it's part of fanservice and she was really good at it in the kpop sense, but when her image was tied being number 2 to only loona in wlw parasocialism and she was out dating a man... the fallout should have been something they considered

like yeah, fans were too far expecting it to be real when she posted abt her ideal type all being a man (180cm+, wants to visit croatia, etc) on askfm predebut but it wasn't completely their own conjecture like the gaylors that still persist