K-pop star Sowon has apologized for posting photos of herself posing with a statue of a Nazi soldier on social media. The singer, who is a member of the all-girl band GFriend, came under fire earlier this week when she uploaded and then quickly deleted a series of controversial images to Instagram. In one of the photos made available by Kpopstarz Sowon caresses the statue's cheek, while in another she has her arm wrapped around the statue with her head resting on its chest.
In a statement released Monday, Source Music explained that Sowon did not understand "the significance of the image" and was "very shocked" when she learned what the mannequin represented and immediately deleted the images.
"She is pained and feels deep responsibility for posting such image," the statement cited by CNN read.
The photos were taken while GFriend was filming at a cafe in Paju, South Korea. The statue was part of the set, and, according to Source Music, staff "did not sense an issue with the outfit" it was wearing. The images were made available for use on Sunday.
"We want to apologize for not being able to check for inappropriate props in the set and not being able to thoroughly filter them during the shoot and uploading and failing to give detailed attention to historical facts and linked social issues," the company wrote. "We bow our head in apology for causing offense through the video and stills."
While many fans slammed Sowon for her "disgusting and disrespectful" photos, there were others who defended her.
"Many Asians don't know western uniforms, just like westerners don't know Asian uniforms," one Twitter user wrote.
"You need to remember sowon is asian which mean world war II them are not same with us...i believe all country learn their own history..even im did not know what is nazi ?? this is my first time in my life after living for 18 years..is this mean im nazi follower too," another noted.
"I am not defending Sowon action, but when I first saw the photos I had not know that it was a nazi uniform. I learned about the history in school so I should have known. Don't hate her for that, just educate her on what she did wrong," a third added.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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