A Taiwanese news crew went undercover as K-pop fans to cover an ongoing Sino-Taiwanese issue revolving around a member of the girl group TWICE.
A Taiwan CTV reporter went into the filming area of the "12th Idol Star Athletics" event, filmed by Korea's MBC network ahead of the Lunar New Year. The reporter allegedly took photos of the K-pop idols while trying to get coverage of TWICE's Chou Tzuyu. The K-pop singer made international headlines last week when a wave of political controversy followed her display of the Taiwanese flag on a Korean television show.
According to MBC, CTV never contacted the agency to request formal permission to cover the Idol Star Athletics filming.
"Neither Korean nor international media are permitted to cover or photograph this event," a MBC rep told Korean outlet Sports Donga. "We were never asked permission by any Taiwanese media outlet to report [on the event.]"
After appearing on "My Little Television" while waving a Taiwanese flag, Tzuyu was cast as a pro-Taiwanese independence supporter by anti-independence singer Huang An. Following the incident, Tzuyu and her agency, JYP Entertainment, came under scrutiny from China.
In a formal statement, JYP Entertainment declared that the agency formally supported a one-nation China, with the People's Republic of China (mainland China) governing Taiwan (Republic of China).
Taiwan is represented by China internationally, and does not have a seat in the United Nations.
Last week, JYP Entertainment released a video of Tzuyu reading an apology for causing upset. "There is only one China," she declared.
The controversy is said to have turned out thousands of young people to the polls, where Taiwan's new President-elect Tsai Ing-wen reinforced her position on mainland China and shared her sentiment that Tzuyu was forced to make the apology.
Following the video, JYP Entertainment's website was attacked by Taiwanese hackers who called themselves "Anonymous Taiwan," for allegedly dishonoring Tzuyu and Taiwan by making her film the apology.
Tzuyu debuted as a member of TWICE in 2015.
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Tamar Herman is a multi-media journalist and the co-founder of KultScene. She is a freelance writer and copy editor, and has written for MTV Iggy, Noisey, and Paste Magazine.
