BTS

V

BLACKPINK’s Record-Breaking Feat: 93 Million YouTube Subscribers and Counting

BLACKPINK

IU's Singapore Shows for H.E.R. World Tour Sell Out in Breakneck Speed: "Thanks to the Power of UAENA"

IU

Cha Eun Woo

Han So-hee

Kim Ji Won Has Flabbergasted Netizens With Her Unexpected Singing And Dancing Skills

Kim Ji Won

Park Min Young

SEVENTEEN

Jungkook

Park Hyung Sik

Park Shin Hye

Kim Go-eun Surprises Fans with Coffee and Movie Goodies at "Exhuma" Coffee Truck Event

Kim Go Eun

Former Oh My Girl's JinE Apologizes for Social Media Post About aespa's Karina and Lee Jae Wook's Dating News

Karina

Selena Gomez

Le Sserafim

Dakota Johnson

Megan Fox

Taylor Swift

Kim Soo Hyun

Lee Jae Wook

Jennie

Gong Yoo

J-Hope

RIIZE

aespa

Song Joong Ki

HYBE Takes A Shot At Min Hee Jin For Berating Their Environmental Initiatives

Hybe

ADOR Threatens Strong Legal Action Against Perpetrators Targeting NewJeans

NewJeans

Byeon Woo Seok

Byeon Woo Seok

NCT

NCT

What Happened Between Hyeri, Ryu Jun-Yeol, and Han So-hee? Hyeri Opens Up About Ex-Boyfriend's New Relationship

Hyeri

Royal Rumble: Spanish Journalist Doubles Down on Kate Middleton's Alleged Health Concerns

Kate Middleton

Upcoming K-Pop Girl Group ILLIT of HYBE Labels’ Faces Speculation About Their Potential Success… Or Failure

ILLIT

lisa

Lisa

BTS’ Jimin’s song Smeraldo Garden Marching Band grabs top spot on iTunes chart in 108 countries within 24 hours of release

Jimin

Install VvipTimes App (PWA) For Desktop Users:-

VvipTimes App(PWA) Desktop

Install VvipTimes App on Android Device:-

VvipTimes App(PWA) Android

LE SSERAFIM Faces Allegations Of Peddling “Japanese Propaganda”

LE SSERAFIM Faces Allegations Of Peddling “Japanese Propaganda”

By

|

IST

|

in

The group has been constantly attacked in recent weeks.

Amidst the ongoing feud between HYBE and ADOR’s CEO Min Hee Jin, multiple HYBE groups have been subjected to public scrutiny and criticism. LE SSERAFIM is no exception.

le_sserafim
LE SSERAFIM | @le_sserafim/Instagram

Recently, a netizen’s re-analysis of LE SSERAFIM’s music video for “Burn the Bridge” has gained significant attention in online spaces after it made claims that the video contains motifs related to Japanese “propaganda.”

lsfm
The thorough breakdown offered by a netizen of “Burn the Bridge” music video | Nate

This analysis’s talking points included the opening scene of the video, which showed a pool of blood on a white floor with Japanese narration in the background. The imagery, as the OP (original poster) claimed, resembles the Japanese flag very closely.

download - 2024-05-04T053639.601
@HYBELABELS/YouTube

The video’s ending scene was also called to attention. The video concludes with a clip of Sakura looking up at the sky while she is submerged in water. The claims state that the image resembles the shape of Dokdo Island, a disputed territory between Japan and South Korea.

download 2024 05 04T054057.340
Dokdo Island |korea.net
Screenshot 2024 05 04 054026
Sakura in “Burn the Bridge” | @HYBELABELS/YouTube

The allegations are contextualized as LE SSERAFIM being used as a tool of the Japanese cultural propaganda project, “Cool Japan.” The term refers to the overall brand strategy of the nation, aiming to present Japan as an attractive country to the global audience through soft power.

Another separate set of allegations has followed with regard to LE SSERAFIM’s Coachella performance. Many netizens are now pointing out that during a segment, there was a Japanese narration at the back in Sakura’s voice while a motif allegedly resembling the rising sun flag was displayed in the background.

download - 2024-05-04T053835.298

Many rebuttals have also been made with respect to each allegation. For example, many found the likening of the music video imagery to Japanese propaganda motifs too stretched to be validated. The Japanese narrations have also always been a part of LE SSERAFIM’s concept, just like English and Korean narrations included in the mix, to highlight the different backgrounds the members come from.

Meanwhile, Source Music, the label of LE SSERAFIM, previously announced that it plans to take strict action against malicious posts propagated against the group online. But that has seemingly not affected online users, who continue putting their old content under the microscope to find HYBE’s mistakes.

To get our latest news/breaking news as instant notification in your device, please allow VvipTimes to send you notification. If you prefer less noise, you can simply follow us on Twitter(X).

Breaking News