Karina, a member of the girl group Aespa, has found herself embroiled in a political controversy due to a single photo, prompting her fandom to take action.
On the 27th, Karina posted a recent photo taken on the streets of Japan on her social media, accompanied by a rose emoji.
In the photo, Karina was wearing a jumper that was a mix of red and black, with the number 2 written in red, which quickly led to an unrelated political controversy.
The post spread across online communities under the title 'Karina's Recent Update', leading to speculation that Karina was supporting a specific political party candidate.
As the controversy arose, the post was swiftly deleted. However, there were criticisms regarding the lack of caution given the upcoming presidential election. Netizens commented, “Be careful during such a sensitive time,” “The crown of a celebrity is heavy,” “What was the intention?” “I can’t believe she posted a photo wearing a jumper with a red number 2 without any intention at this time,” among others.
On the other hand, there were also supportive reactions such as, “It’s exhausting to interpret everything politically,” “It looks like there’s no intention at all,” “It’s forced,” and “The fact that it was deleted immediately shows it was likely unintentional.”
On the 28th, Karina's fans released a statement saying, “A ‘female celebrity’ should not be sacrificed in the midst of political framing and online hatred,” and “A single female celebrity’s social media post has been arbitrarily interpreted with specific political meaning, leading to the spread of controversy.”
