AESPA - KARINA
KARINA apologizes again for a photo taken during the election period.
KARINA, a member of the girl group AESPA, issued a new apology after posting a photo of herself wearing a red outfit during the election period.
“I really want to say that I had no bad intentions,”
the singer stated in a video posted Sunday evening on the YouTube channel Fairy Jaehyung, hosted by veteran singer Jung Jae Hyung, where KARINA was a guest.
“I felt so sorry because the fans were really worried about me. I just want to say again that I’m sorry for causing concern to my fans and others,” she added.
At the end of May, KARINA came under fire for breaking the strict, yet unspoken, “no color, no gesture” rule that K-pop idols are expected to follow during election periods.
She had posted a photo on Instagram of herself wearing a black jacket with red patterns and the number two written on the side, seemingly taken on the streets of Japan. She paired the photo with a red rose emoji but provided no further explanation.
The post quickly went viral on online communities, with some users calling her “Conservative Karina,” “No. 2 Voter Karina,” or even “Patriotic Karina” — terms commonly used to describe conservative voters. Kim Moon Soo, the candidate from the conservative “People Power Party”, was represented by the color red and had the number 2 on the ballot.
“I was with the agency’s team, and we posted the picture because it was cold outside, and I wanted to connect with the fans. We deleted the post after I got a call about it. I realized I had been ignorant,” KARINA explained.
“This was something I should have been more aware of. I thought to myself, ‘I really need to be more conscious and learn more.’ I really was ignorant,” she repeated, adding, “It’s natural for me to hear these criticisms because I made the mistake, but it was so difficult seeing the other members of AESPA suffer as well.”
During election periods, K-pop idols are typically advised to avoid wearing 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.
Other idols were also criticized for their “overly colorful” outfits before the June 3 presidential election.
Journalist: Shawn
Translator: Shawn
Source: YouTube Fairy JaeHyung
