K-pop’s influence is growing...‘Controversy over ignorance’ Seventeen, Kingdom and agency lacking competency

K-pop groups caused problems due to lack of understanding of other cultures. K-pop is attracting attention all over the world. It is pointed out that as we deal with the whole world, understanding and respect for other cultures are necessary. There is also criticism about the agency's lack of capabilities. This shows that the K-pop industry, which is said to be leading the culture, actually has a long way to go.

On the 24th, the agency Pledis Entertainment said on its official SNS, "The Beijing version was produced with a story reminiscent of chamomile flowers against the background of the Great Wall of China, a representative cultural heritage symbolizing China, but after the video was released, it was revealed that there was a lack of cultural understanding and respect for the Great Wall of China. “There were comments from fans,” he said.

He continued, "We quickly deleted the Beijing version of the video. We apologize for the inconvenience caused to our fans, and we will pay more careful attention in the future."

Previously, Seventeen released teaser videos for their new song set in various locations around the world. Among these, the Beijing version's teaser video became a problem. The video was produced with the Great Wall of China in the background. Some Chinese fans raised issues about the fact that the video was filmed against the background of China's cultural heritage. Accordingly, Seventeen accepted the issue raised, deleted the video, and bowed their heads.

The group Kingdom also caused a ‘controversy over insulting Islam’. Kingdom will release its 7th mini album ‘History Of Kingdom: Part Ⅶ.’ on October 18th. JAHAN' is about to be released. Accordingly, Kingdom started pre-orders and released two types of album covers for the 7th mini album.

However, soon after the album cover was released, it was pointed out that it was an imitation of the Islamic scripture, the Quran. As the Quran is considered sacred in Islamic culture, the cover sparked controversy over 'blasphemy'. Here, Kingdom has a worldview of ‘7 countries and 7 kings.’ Among the members, there was a member with the stage name Jahan, and there was also an opinion that the group was inspired by Shah Jahan, who ushered in the golden age of the Mughal Empire, an Islamic dynasty, sparking controversy.

Accordingly, the agency GF Entertainment announced through the official fan cafe, "We would like to inform you that Kingdom's 7th mini album 'History of Kingdom: Part 7. Jahan', which was scheduled for pre-order at 2 PM today, has been postponed due to internal circumstances."

In addition, today (25th), "This controversy occurred due to our ignorance and carelessness, which still leaves many shortcomings. We bow our heads in apology to Muslims and everyone who felt inconvenienced, and we will pay close attention to prevent such incidents from happening in the future." released an additional official statement, saying, "We have decided to discard all 70,000 copies of the first edition of this album and produce it again."

As a result, both groups suffered disruptions in their activities. This was caused by ignorance of other cultures during the album production process. Of course, you can't criticize only the artist. This is because the agency’s unfiltered decision became the starting point of the problem.

Culture means history. Not respecting culture is ignoring the other person's identity. We have a history of cultural damage from numerous countries. Knowing the pain of not having culture respected. This is why it is difficult to easily accept the excuse of K-pop agencies that they ‘didn’t know about other cultures.’

Reporter Junho Yoon, Ten Asia delo410@tenasia.co.kr