TW/ Chaeyoung of TWICE wears a shirt with a swastika on it

[LostInTheDream]

Recently Chaeyoung of TWICE has gotten into some hot water for wearing a shirt featuring a tilted swastika.

First of all what is a swastika? It is a symbol first used by Hitler in World War II. He used it to champion his ideology that resulted in millions of Jews dying.
A tilted version of the swastika is just angled. But this symbol will look like a swastika no matter what angle it is at.
On her shirt is a picture of the punk rocker Sid Vicious from the British band the Sex Pistols. He would frequently wear shirts with titled swastikas. It is strongly believed he did this for the shock value and to offend others. Aka no publicity is bad publicity.
So for those of you who want to argue that the symbol originates from Buddhism, don't cause it there is no connection.
Also, this was not a shirt picked out by a stylist. This was just her hanging out. Do you think a stylist would let her wear a shirt with such a well known hate symbol, as well as a figure as controversial as Sid Vicious? She has also worn this shirt before, and I think we all know how rare it is for stylists to have their artists re-wear something.

Chaeyoung released an apology recently:
Hello, this is Chaeyoung from TWICE.
I sincerely apologize regarding the Instagram post. I didn’t correctly recognize the meaning of the tilted swastika in the t-shirt I wore.
I deeply apologize for not thoroughly reviewing it, causing concern. I will pay absolute attention in the future to prevent any situation similar from happening again.
Sincerely apologize again.

While I'm glad she apologized, I don't think I can forgive her.
This is due to the fact that I believe there is no way that she did not understand the meaning of a swastika, no matter how tilted it is.
World War II isn't just some random event that happened in only one area of the world. Nearly every country was affected by it, thus the name WORLD War II. Even South Korea was involved. Therefore Korean students learn about the Holocaust in school.
*I did some research and found multiple accounts of Korean people stating they had been taught about it, as well as various events taking place in South Korea to rally against Nazism.*
So Chaeyoung had to know what the Holocaust was. With the swastika being one of the most recognizable images from that period, she therefore must have had to learn about that as well.
And Chaeyoung did attend high school as there are photos of her attending her graduation at Hanlim. And even if it's an arts school, you're still gonna learn basic subjects like history.

The biggest reason I have difficulty forgiving her is due to the fact that I am Jewish and my family as been severely effected by the Holocaust.
Even now, the rising levels of antisemitism occurring in the US make me fear for my life. Especially if I have to say what my faith is or travel to certain areas of the country.

I don't know if Chaeyoung knew what she was wearing, if she didn't care that it had the offensive symbol, or hey if she maybe agrees with Nazism. With the Holocaust and WW2 being such a well known even, I can't see her not recognizing it.

I'd all like to bring up that Tzuyu had to send out a freaking video of her apologizing for waving her country's flag, while Chaeyoung is sort of getting away with a 6 sentence apology. Really show's what JYP's priorities are.

I don't think I'll be able to support Chaeyoung for a while. You all can do what you want.
But I wanted to post this because I think it's important to educate others about a controversy as importance as this.
Being one of the few Jews on the forums, I felt it was up to me to stand up for what I think it right.

 

[Rengya_Utoma]

I just got pstd from a thread just like this on akp, but then I realized that nobody is going to argue on here because this is kpf . Whew, almost forgot where this was posted for a split second

 

[yunaing]

Finally someone is speaking about this. I’m not Jewish so I didn’t think it was my place but the fact this is like a big deal and no one was saying anything had me going ???

Idk how she’s managed to wear two controversial shirts within the same week but there you go. Though in her defence, the other one was a reference to an American political party of which I’ve never heard so I wouldn’t’ve know either so I can’t blame whoever put her in that shirt.

BUT A WHOLE SWASTIKA??
Also can we acknowledge how racist onces who are trying to defend her sound. People love to think of Korea as this magical safe land with no issues but like. “They aren’t taught about it so she doesn’t know” is basically just saying Koreans are stupid they don’t know anything so we shouldn’t expect anything of them. Lmao fuck that. The Holocaust is one of the most horrid things that has ever occurred in history. If they genuinely didn’t know that would be a whole other problem. They also keep talking about how they learn more about the Japanese stuff than the Western stuff but like Japan was allied with Germany?? All these damn excuses. Chaeyoung wore a hate symbol that’s the end of the story.

I really just don’t know how to feel about this whole thing. Because there are a lot of scandals which I feel like are quite based around American issues, though I also do think I am quite ignorant to struggles of different groups and it is something I am trying to become better on. But like… I don’t know anyone who doesn’t know about the Holocaust or know what the swastika is and why it’s bad. Also like… Kanye West has been viral recently for going off the deep end with antisemitism and like, as I’ve seen some creators point out, a lot of people in Korea love western stuff, including western music. I highly doubt Chaeyoung just didn’t know. And the apology was bad. Like, there was no accountability there was no explanation.

I don’t want to stop listening to twice, but I think for now I’m just gonna have to be OT8 because the amount of ignorance it takes to wear something like that is mind blowing

 

[Rengya_Utoma]

It's even worse because sid vicious killed his girlfriend & he lived a terrible lifestyle. That adds TWO things on to the shirt that are controversial. I might paste what I said in a convo that perfectly sums up what I feel about this situation. It's not good at all.

 

[LostInTheDream]

Recently Chaeyoung of TWICE has gotten into some hot water for wearing a shirt featuring a tilted swastika.

First of all what is a swastika? It is a symbol first used by Hitler in World War II. He used it to champion his ideology that resulted in millions of Jews dying.
A tilted version of the swastika is just angled. But this symbol will look like a swastika no matter what angle it is at.
On her shirt is a picture of the punk rocker Sid Vicious from the British band the Sex Pistols. He would frequently wear shirts with titled swastikas. It is strongly believed he did this for the shock value and to offend others. Aka no publicity is bad publicity.
So for those of you who want to argue that the symbol originates from Buddhism, don't cause it there is no connection.
Also, this was not a shirt picked out by a stylist. This was just her hanging out. Do you think a stylist would let her wear a shirt with such a well known hate symbol, as well as a figure as controversial as Sid Vicious? She has also worn this shirt before, and I think we all know how rare it is for stylists to have their artists re-wear something.

Chaeyoung released an apology recently:
Hello, this is Chaeyoung from TWICE.
I sincerely apologize regarding the Instagram post. I didn’t correctly recognize the meaning of the tilted swastika in the t-shirt I wore.
I deeply apologize for not thoroughly reviewing it, causing concern. I will pay absolute attention in the future to prevent any situation similar from happening again.
Sincerely apologize again.

While I'm glad she apologized, I don't think I can forgive her.
This is due to the fact that I believe there is no way that she did not understand the meaning of a swastika, no matter how tilted it is.
World War II isn't just some random event that happened in only one area of the world. Nearly every country was affected by it, thus the name WORLD War II. Even South Korea was involved. Therefore Korean students learn about the Holocaust in school.
*I did some research and found multiple accounts of Korean people stating they had been taught about it, as well as various events taking place in South Korea to rally against Nazism.*
So Chaeyoung had to know what the Holocaust was. With the swastika being one of the most recognizable images from that period, she therefore must have had to learn about that as well.
And Chaeyoung did attend high school as there are photos of her attending her graduation at Hanlim. And even if it's an arts school, you're still gonna learn basic subjects like history.

The biggest reason I have difficulty forgiving her is due to the fact that I am Jewish and my family as been severely effected by the Holocaust.
Even now, the rising levels of antisemitism occurring in the US make me fear for my life. Especially if I have to say what my faith is or travel to certain areas of the country.

I don't know if Chaeyoung knew what she was wearing, if she didn't care that it had the offensive symbol, or hey if she maybe agrees with Nazism. With the Holocaust and WW2 being such a well known even, I can't see her not recognizing it.

I'd all like to bring up that Tzuyu had to send out a freaking video of her apologizing for waving her country's flag, while Chaeyoung is sort of getting away with a 6 sentence apology. Really show's what JYP's priorities are.

I don't think I'll be able to support Chaeyoung for a while. You all can do what you want.
But I wanted to post this because I think it's important to educate others about a controversy as importance as this.
Being one of the few Jews on the forums, I felt it was up to me to stand up for what I think it right.

when I was in 7th grade a kid found out I was jewish and carved a swastika on my desk.
If we have influential kpop idols wearing them I wonder how much worse it can get.

 

[Call_MeRover]

I forgive her.she made an honest mistake and owned up to it

 

[sanasideup]

wtf chaeyoung. there's nothing i can say that hasn't already been said, esp as a non jewish person, but this is ridiculous.

edit: now that i think abt it, she should probably take a hiatus tbh. if she was a rookie, the company definitely would have her go into hiatus. being a senior idol shouldn't excuse her. ik most hiatuses are technically publicity stunts, but still.

 

[nina]

who said we werent gonna argue /

I just got pstd from a thread just like this on akp, but then I realized that nobody is going to argue on here because this is kpf . Whew, almost forgot where this was posted for a split second

 

[yunaing]

when I was in 7th grade a kid found out I was jewish and carved a swastika on my desk.
If we have influential kpop idols wearing them I wonder how much worse it can get.

I can't believe you have to deal with that. I hope you can still feel pride in your religion and your heritage even when ignorant bigots do ignorant bs

 

[LostInTheDream]

I can't believe you have to deal with that. I hope you can still feel pride in your religion and your heritage even when ignorant bigots do ignorant bs

what made it worse is that I drew a star of david next to it to kinda counteract. But then I got in trouble for inciting a 'race war' in class...
And I do. When I see stuff like this I typically just know to avoid it because they only want to spew hate.

 

[yunaing]

what made it worse is that I drew a star of david next to it to kinda counteract. But then I got in trouble for inciting a 'race war' in class...
And I do. When I see stuff like this I typically just know to avoid it because they only want to spew hate.

Race war??? Nah why is it always the person who's being attacked that gets in trouble??? Like there's a huge difference between a hate symbol and a religious symbol- You were showing pride after you got attacked. Don't listen to them and celebrate your religion all you want

 

[babyz]

I have absolutely no saying whether she should or should not be forgiven as a non-Jewish person but how disappointing...I saw somewhere that she paid lots of money for that shirt too. There should be no excuses for her actions.

 

[soobinzz]

I love chae even my user says it but.....this is disappointing I'm probably gonna bias nayeon and momo for a while

 

[Mikasa Ackerman]

This symbol originally had a different meaning which aligns with the religious meanings of Hinduism and Buddhism. But that symbol has a completely different meaning now in human history and is considered a symbol of all tragic events caused by the Nazis.
This has been happening for years and it is clearly disappointing. Idols should not just be educated on dancing, singing and variety content, but tragic incidents and cultures. I don't hate or dislike Chaeyoung, but I mean, how could someone not recognize a symbol like this which is deeply rooted in world history? These matters should be taught first. And first of all, people who make such t-shirts should be taught a lesson tbh.

 

[I see that Im icy]

This symbol originally had a different meaning which aligns with the religious meanings of Hinduism and Buddhism. But that symbol has a completely different meaning now in human history and is considered a symbol of all tragic events caused by the Nazis.
This has been happening for years and it is clearly disappointing. Idols should not just be educated on dancing, singing and variety content, but tragic incidents and cultures. I don't hate or dislike Chaeyoung, but I mean, how could someone not recognize a symbol like this which is deeply rooted in world history? These matters should be taught first. And first of all, people who make such t-shirts should be taught a lesson tbh.

The dude in the shirt used the symbol with it's racist purposes so yeah it is a hate symbol in this context.

 

[I see that Im icy]

First it's her stylist giving her a Qanon shirt and now THIS!?
I am not sure about how I feel about Chaeyoung now, but we definietly need more explanations to why she did this, she may be ignorant but dismissing a n4zi symbol?????? That's just a whole new level.

 

[Yeosang's chicken]

I am not Jewish but I am disappointed to see this, and to anyone who it has affected I am sorry you and your family should never have to go through those things

 

[iiserene]

Although I am aware that Chaeyoung apologized, I still don't feel the need to forgive her. When I am shopping, before I buy a shirt or whatever it is, I need to be aware of its meaning. Which either Chaeyoung didn't do, or she didn't care.
Either way, even if she didn't know the true meaning of the symbol, she still could of taken the time to educate herself on the controversial topic the symbol held before buying the shirt.
I apologize to all the people who were hurt by this action.

 

[Seogi]

@LostInTheDream Thank you for sending this to me.

I know about this from year 7, I don't know much. But I know that NOBODY and I mean NOBODY can wear such offensive clothing or symbols. Plus, In Korea they learn about it as their country was involved, yes its been awhile since school, maybe she doesn't remember shit, but still, she needs to be aware of what she is wearing, like if I see a top that says the N-slur, no way in hell I'm going to wear that!?

Me myself, liked this post and thought it was cute and baddass, I had NO idea what the meaning behind it was, so I am disappointed in myself for even liking it honestly, I am so sorry. Twice is going to be OT8 for me rn. If Tzuyu does a full video apology, so should she.

I research about the war more and I am more aware now! So thanks for @LostInTheDream for sending this, I hope it all gets better and you aren't hurt from this, it goes to all Jews out there!

 

[anpanman]

She did apologize, but she already did lots of damage to people of that culture.
I'm not gonna forgive her because of that.
I feel really bad for the people who got hurt by this, it's just disrespectful.