TWICE's Chaeyoung apologises for wearing shirt with a Swastika ...
TWICE member Chaeyoung has issued an apology after she posted a photo of herself wearing a shirt with a Swastika symbol.
In the now-deleted Instagram post, the K-pop idol was seen posing while wearing a shirt that featured a graphic of Sex Pistols‘ Sid Vicious sporting a T-shirt with a Swastika. Since the 1920s, the symbol has become heavily associated with the German Nazi Party and was used on the the party’s flag, badge and armband.
#TWICE’s Chaeyoung posted a photo wearing a Nazi swastika on her shirt. pic.twitter.com/X03QTCqS9T
— Pop Tingz (@ThePopTingz) March 21, 2023
Chaeyoung has since deleted the post and issued an apology on Instagram in its place. “I sincerely apologise regarding the Instagram post. I didn’t correctly recognise the meaning of the tilted swastika in the t-shirt I wore,” she wrote in her statement, in both English and Korean.
“I deeply apologise for not thoroughly reviewing it, causing concern. I will pay absolute attention in the future to prevent any situation similar from happening again,” the K-pop star continued. “Sincerely apologise again.”
As noted by Variety, the incident comes just days after Chaeyoung was spotted wearing a crop top that featured the QAnon slogan “Where we go one, we go all” during a recent performance on the South Korean chart show Show! Music Core.
South Korean news outlet Korea JoongAng Daily reports that some photos and videos featuring the controversial T-shirt have since been removed, but that neither Chaeyoung nor her agency JYP Entertainment have commented on the issue.
Last year, K-pop boyband EPEX came under fire for allegedly referencing the Nazi anti-Jewish pogrom Kristallnacht in their song ‘Anthem Of Teen Spirit’. The agency later apologised for “not check[ing a metaphor used in the song] more carefully and in detail” in a statement.
In 2021, former GFRIEND member Sowon sparked controversy after she was photographed with a mannequin wearing a Nazi uniform. The singer’s then-label Source Music said in a statement that Sowon had since taken down the post after she “understood the significance of the image”.
