Aespa Among The Conflict Between Japan And China, Threatened With Cancel

JAKARTA - K-pop group aespa has been dragged into a political conflict between Japan and China. As a result, a petition asking them not to appear in Japan began to emerge.

Last week, aespa was confirmed to appear on the Kohaku Uta Gassen show, a year-end event from a Japanese television station, NHK.

Events that have been running for decades have always presented various singers and musicians from Japan and other countries, including South Korea. However, it is different from aespa which has actually generated controversy.

A petition on the Change.org site asks NHK to cancel aespa's appearance. The petition has been signed by 70 thousand users in two days.

Initially, they argued that aespa's cancellation was due to the upload of one of the members, Ningning on social media in 2022 when he uploaded a photo of a decoration lamp that was thought to be similar to a nuclear bomb fog. Ningning is said to know history well.

Launching the Korea Times, one of the users who signed the petition wrote, 'Kohaku is an important national program. Someone who uploads lights that look like a nuclear fog should not appear in events watched by the entire community.'

The upload was just discussed and made suitable this year.

On the other hand, the political situation between China and Japan heated up after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated the possibility of military involvement in the Taiwanese conflict.

The Beijing government has also tightened restrictions on tourism to Japan, Japanese content and culture to be accessed by its citizens.

Although aespa was not fully involved, this incident made the group of four members a victim of culture.

Meanwhile, Aespa and the NHK television station did not respond to this petition.