GFRIEND’s Sowon Under Fire For Posing With Nazi Statue
GFRIEND‘s Sowon is facing intense criticism after uploading photos of herself posing with a Nazi soldier statue to social media.
On January 30, Sowon uploaded a series of photos of herself to her personal Instagram account, @onedayxne. In the photos, Sowon can be seen posing affectionately with a life-size figurine wearing a Nazi uniform.
| @onedayxne/Instagram
The uniform seen on the statue was worn by Nazi soldiers during World War II. The jacket and collar feature patches denoting rank, while the artillery uniform cap is designed with a swastika insignia.
| @onedayxne/Instagram
Shortly after Sowon uploaded the photos to Instagram, they were soon deleted. However, one Jewish K-Pop fan on Twitter later noticed the images and proceeded to share them, letting their followers know the violent history behind the statues.
tw// nazism, nazi
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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
Within hours, the photos received thousands of engagements on social media. Originally, fans assumed they were taken in a museum. However, it appears that they were actually taken on the set of a VCR for GFRIEND’s Walpurgis Night album comeback show.
| 여자친구 GFRIEND OFFICIAL/YouTube
The set appears to be an existing building housing historical artifacts rather than a set created by Source Music. However, the name of the location is yet unknown. The album’s title, Walpurgis Night, is taken from German folklore, so it’s possible the agency intentionally chose a shooting location related to German history.
| @onedayxne/Instagram
Upon seeing the photos, fans of both GFRIEND and other groups are calling on Sowon to apologize for causing hurt and offense to people around the world.
Buddys, stop arguing. Sowon needs to be held accountable, she needs to learn from this, she needs to APOLOGIZE.
— jackie (@eunhaesthetiic) January 31, 2021
Many are angered and perplexed about why Sowon would pose with the statues to begin with. Some fans believe it’s unlikely that she knew the meaning of the uniforms while posing for the pictures. Others say that the Holocaust and surrounding events are well-taught in Korean schools, giving Sowon no excuse to be oblivious.
tw nazis, holocaust, anti- semitism
to everyone who’s defending sowon with “koreans don’t know, etc” here is me talking to my KOREAN dad who went to school in KOREA whether he knows about the holocaust. he clearly knows and learned what the holocaust is. so stop excusing this. pic.twitter.com/QeVApGo3RK
— 🐏 (@cheolca) January 31, 2021
That aside, many have pointed out that whether there is negative intent or not, parties must still be held accountable for harmful actions. Fans are criticizing Sowon for deleting the photos without taking accountability nor posting any clarification or apology for those affected by the images.
It doesn't matter if Sowon is in a museum. It doesn't matter if she didn't recognize the uniform.
The picture is insensitive and ignorant. Lack of hateful intent does not mean actions shouldn't have accountability.
— kookadooks ◺◊◿ ⁷ (@bstpeach) January 31, 2021
On top of that, alleged screenshots from a live broadcast in 2016 have resurfaced. During the broadcast, SinB appears to tell fans she has Sowon’s name saved in her phone as “Kitler”–presumably a combination of Sowon’s surname (Kim) and Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Nazi Germany.
How SinB saved Sowon's name on her phone.
"KITLER"
KIm sojung + hiTLER = KITLER😈
Well played, kid pic.twitter.com/MmQuPqrKRO— 친비 (@shawingshin) November 10, 2016
As of yet, neither Sowon nor Source Music have issued a statement on the growing controversy. “Sowon” began trending on Twitter in various countries, including the United States, as fans try to get through the company and the artist.
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