Han and Il Feeling are intensifying over the World idol group BTS (BTS).
When the Japanese music program, which BTS decided to appear, notified "canceled" one after another, fans of each country and political circles are responding sensitively and making an angry voice. Major foreign media abroad are also paying attention to the background of the sudden BTS cancellation of broadcasting.
Japan terrestrial TV Asahi Music Station recently announced a sudden cancellation notice ahead of Haru's appearance on BTS, and the same broadcaster Music Station Super Live, which is scheduled to be broadcast at the end of December, also reviewed the appearance of BTS and blanked it. Each program, which was in the process of discussing BTS' appearance due to broadcast in December, decided to cancel the appearance. NHK reviewed the first appearance of BTS on the Hongbaek Gapjeon broadcast on December 31, but suspended it, and also canceled it on Fuji TV's FNS Song Festival, which broadcasts on the 5th and 12th of the same month.
The decision to cancel each broadcaster is due to the 'shirt design' worn by a member. The reason is that it promotes 'anti-Japanese Feeling'. BTS is a group that shows off its global influence by becoming popular in all Worlds beyond Asia, which is interpreted as a check.
The shirt design in question shows people who are singing for the liberation in 1945 with clothes that member Jimin received last year's gift from a fan. Along with black and white photographs of the atomic bomb explosion, English phrases such as Patriotic, Our History, Liberation, and Korea are written. In addition to Jimin, RM tweeted on Liberation Day in 2013, "There is no future for a nation that has forgotten history. It seems that the posting of the article "Long live independence of Korea" also influenced.
However, a year after the members posted their T-shirts, controversy was over, and it was "reasonable" to notify the group that is receiving World attention to the cancellation of Haru. It is also argued that there is a aftermath of the recent judgment of the forced labor compensation for Japan companies of the Supreme Court of South Korea.
“It is very regrettable and inappropriate to cancel BTS’s appearance on the air for political reasons,” Hong Ik-pyo, a senior spokesman for the Democratic Party of Korea, said in a commentary. “It is not helpful for Korean-Japanese relations to keep political standards on private exchanges.” Yoon Young-seok, a senior spokesman for the Liberty Korea Party, also said, “I am sorry for Japan’s self-centered historical awareness and intolerant cultural relativism.”
Major foreign media, including Billboard, CNN, bbc and AFP, have also analyzed the situation intensively and reported that there is an old history and political background between Korea and Japan.
Billboard said, "The controversy over T-shirts is rooted in long-standing political and cultural issues in both countries." The T-shirt issue is not the only reason for the cancellation of broadcasting. "
CNN reported that the company was “resolving the anger of the atomic bomb T-shirts to BTS,” and the bbc said that the situation had grown, citing the Japan Company’s liability for compensation for the victims of forced labor in the Korea Supreme Court of South Korea.
Meanwhile, watching the trend of this incident, BTS will go to Japan on the 11th and will carry out the Japan dome tour scheduled from 13th. Once the tickets for the performance started to be booked and sold out early, it seems that there will be no obstacle to the performance.