K-pop Singer Sowon of GFriend Comes Under Fire for Posing with Nazi Soldier's Statue

It seems a picture has miffed several fans of K-pop band GFriend after one of its members posed next to a statue of a Nazi soldier. In a now-deleted post, GFriend member Sowon was seen hugging a statue of a soldier that was dressed in a Nazi uniform that existed during the time of infamous dictator Hitler.

Many fans expressed their unhappiness and shock at how the 25-year-old South Korean singer could post the pictures on her social media. K-pop fans on Twitter have shared their opinion on the matter as some completely condemn Sowon’s ignorance while others defend her by saying that she may have missed the signs and uploaded it anyway.

A Jewish K-pop fan tweeted that they are disappointed in Sowon but is glad that she deleted it. However, they still expect Sowon to apologize since Nazis are not friends or someone a person can hug or look at with admiration because they are killers and are responsible for the deaths of six million Jews.

One of the K-pop fans whose family closely witnessed and suffered because of the holocaust wrote that they cannot believe people are saying that she did nothing wrong. The user further mentioned that members of their family died in Nazi camp and fought in the war and they do not want people to normalize that cruel chapter of history by those who did not go through it. The fan said that they feel “hurt and disrespected” and asked that Sowon should educate herself and apologise.

tw// nazism, nazi ---i'm disappointed of s0won but i'm glad she deleted.. she needs to apologize tho.. nazis are not friends or someone you can hug or look so lovingly at, they are killers, they killed 6 million jews out of them 1.5 million jewish children /srs pic.twitter.com/9GmWT8I60W

— a jewish person 📌 (@KOOSDOLLZ) January 31, 2021

Meanwhile, another fan posted a tweet in support of Sowon and wrote, that if they were in Sowon’s place they too would not have known that it was a Nazi statue since they do not see Sawastika sign on its right arm. They further mentioned that people should treat K-pop idols like humans who are bound to make mistakes. They appealed to all to stop the hate and wait for an explanation and apology.

According to a statement by GFriend’s talent agency Source Music, the behind-the-scenes picture was taken at a café in Paju where the band was shooting for their comeback show. The shooting for the comeback video was being outsourced to a VCR production company who could not spot the presence of the problematic statue at the café.

The six-member band consists of Sowon, Yerin, Eunha, Yuju, SinB, and Umji who made their debut in 2015. In 2019 Big Hit Entertainment, the music label and talent agency that manages one of the biggest K-pop groups BTS, acquired the Source Music label. However, Source Music continues to be the management team that has a control on its artists to maintain the label’s independence.

Last year the band came out with its new album Walpurgis Night which has 11 soundtracks.