JYP Entertainment's 2PM is experiencing the aftermath of a scandal involving Chou Tzuyu, a 16-year-old Taiwan-born member of TWICE, who has been accused of supporting a controversial movement that calls for her nation's sovereignty from mainland China.
On January 15, OSEN published an exclusive report announcing the cancellation of Chinese promotional activities and scheduled events, as mainland Chinese citizens continue to flood social media with the hashtag #boycottJYP.
"Scheduled Chinese appearances for 2PM were cancelled," said the OSEN reporter. "Activities for 2PM and Nichkhun have been suspended and the schedule is clear, the so-called Tzuyu crisis is spreading."
The controversial nature of the OSEN article led the post to redirect in default to a "Reply 1988" poll on Naver TV while Daum continued to share the story.
Cultural sensitivity has rapidly developed into an issue that has plagued K-pop, particularly as acts attempt to break into markets beyond South Korea.
As K-pop and Korean entertainment continues to make aggressive inroads within mainland China, the fractured relationship between the nations will grow more transparent.
Why international K-pop fans should care about this situation.
To Hallyu fans in the west, the political friction centered on Taiwanese nationalism, the island territorial dispute involving Korea and Japan (referred to as Dokdo by Koreans or Takeshima by the Japanese), or the disappearance of four bookstore owners from Hong Kong, may seem like issues that are beyond the scope of a great hook in a K-pop song or a romantic drama scene.
If one does not have the time to immerse themselves in the history of Korean-Chinese relations or the events which led to strife between Korea and Japan, the blockbuster movies "Assassination" and "The Admiral: Roaring Currents" can serve as crash courses on the tensions between the Asian nations.
Tzuyu is not the first K-pop idol of Taiwanese descent, but it is her identification as someone from Taiwan, as opposed to someone who is Chinese, that is the main issue.
f(x) rapper Amber Liu, who is Taiwanese-American and Super Junior's Henry (whose mother is from Taiwan and father hails from Hong Kong), have not made outward gestures to draw attention to their heritage beyond their use of Mandarin in songs or their references to Chinese heritage.
On the same note, GOT7's Jackson, who is Hong Kongese, has not shown enthusiasm for the territory over the mainland.
Through her simple action of waving the flag of her homeland, Tzuyu became the poster child for Taiwanese nationalism. While she may have issued a pubic apology, she is emerging as the face of a politically-charged and potentially volatile situation.
"We support Tzuyu," said a spokesperson for the Taiwan nationalist party, in a social media post that was published by Star News on Jan. 15.
Pressure is increasingly high for residents of Taiwan and mainland China, as Taiwanese citizens enter the polls to vote in a presidential election that could favor a candidate who supports the Sunflower Movement, a faction that organized in 2014 to support sovereignty from mainland China.
Beyond issues of nationalism, the K-pop industry previously felt the impact of tensions with China, as former EXO members Kris, Luhan, and Tao departed from the group and SM Entertainment, the record label that made them famous, and returned to their homeland.
What Koreans have said in response to the scandal.
On Jan. 15, the online forum Netizen Buzz published translated responses to the OSEN article regarding the possible cancellation of 2PM's activities.
One of the top comments, with close to 2,800 positive votes was a statement that questioned the strength of the response from Chinese audiences.
"A bit ridiculous," said the commenter, in the translation published by Netizen Buzz. "It's wrong that TWICE's labelmates are being affected by this scandal, too. The Chinese are being too sensitive."
Another response to the article cuts straight to the heart of the issue and whether scandals such as this one exemplify future problems that K-pop will have when promoting within mainland China.
"We need to not be involved with another country's affairs," said the comment, translated on Netizen Buzz. "The more we get ourselves involved, the more JYP is over in China and the more this will affect other Korean agencies as well. The water has already been spilled and I think JYP needs to give up on any more Chinese activities. They need to call everyone back immediately before this spreads into a diplomatic issue."
This statement serves as a harsh reminder that Korean pop and Hallyu are successful components of "soft power" diplomacy by Korea, as administrated by KOCCA (Korea Creative Content Agency).
KOCCA is the political entity that has helped to spread the love of "chocolate abs" or the smiling face of "flower boy" Lee Min Ho to nations as far-reaching as London, England and Lima, Peru.
As K-pop infiltrates nations where there are divided factions like mainland China, there is a possibility for more scandals like Tzuyu, who merely waved the flag of the country where she was born.
