LOONA Yves was recently accused of being racist. The idol has since apologized for it. Read on to find out why such assertions were made.
LOONA Yves Accused of Being Racist, Apologizes Immediately- What Happened?
On July 28, LOONA Yves took to the Fab app to share a new picture with the fans.
The Fab app is a message-based service where artists can communicate with fans by replying to messages in a one-on-one conversation format. LOONA is the first artist to join the new fandom platform designed by Neowiz Lab.
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In the photo, Yves shows her swollen lips due to an allergic reaction. One Korean fan commented that she resembled Go Eun Ae, a Korean character from the show "Run Hani."
The "Flip That" singer saw the comment and changed her Fab profile picture to Go Eun Ae. However, foreign fans who saw it asked the female idol to apologize, saying that the Korean character, who has curly hair and thick lips, is a racist character that demeans black people.
LOONA Yves became aware of this, and so she changed her profile photo again and released an apology for being "racist."
"A moment ago, I changed my profile picture to that of Go Eun Ae, and a lot [of you guys] got upset. I used the character from 'Run Hani,' which is a classic Korean manhwa. However, I couldn't imagine that this could cause [you] discomfort. I want to relay my apology to the people who have been upset by it. Before I use another character next time, I will try to confirm whether it could cause a misunderstanding," the singer said.
Yve's Go Eun Ae profile photo was shared on Twitter, and quickly garnered attention from other social media users. It currently has more than 1,000 retweets.
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Under the tweet, some netizens tried to defend the LOONA member by pointing out that Go Eun Ae doesn't ridicule black people but is a representation of a Korean ajumma (married or middle-aged woman).
One Twitter user stated:
"This is Go Eun Ae, and she's not a caricature for black people. She's supposed to be a representation of a Korean ajumma (auntie). Those aren't her lips. That's actually lipstick that goes over the line to represent the gossipy nature of ajummas."
Another Twitter user commented:
"It's a middle-aged female Korean character. Koreans can also have curly hair; most of all, middle-aged women often get a perm in Korea. Also, Koreans can have big lips, which can be emphasized by cartoon exaggeration. Just as big eyes, big nose, [and] big ears are emphasized."
LOONA Yves' Fab profile photo and apology for being "racist" were also uploaded to the popular online forum TheQoo and most netizens expressed their confusion as to how Korean character Go Eun Ae was considered black.
Here are a few comments:
"Do black people really think that there are no Asians with curly hair and thick lips? Honestly, Go Eun Ae's skin isn't even dark."
"Do they think everyone with curly hair and thick lips is black?"
"But Go Eun Ae is drawn like a typical Korean ajumma."
"This reminds me of people hearing the word "niga" in Korean and claiming we're saying the N-word."
What do you think of the situation? Was LOONA Yves being racist or not? Leave a comment in the box below!
LOONATHEWORLD 2022: Group Reveals Dates, Cities for European Leg
In other news, LOONA has announced the cities and dates for the European leg of their first world tour, "LOONATHEWORLD."
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The girl group will perform in five different cities in Europe in September. They will kick things off in Warsaw on Sept. 6, then hold concerts in Amsterdam on Sept. 8, Frankfurt on Sept. 11, Paris on Sept. 13, and London on Sept. 16.
Before their European tour, LOONA will hold shows in nine different cities across the United States throughout August, starting in Los Angeles on Aug. 2.
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Written by Maria Scott
