ENHYPEN’s Jay is heavily under fire after he disparaged Korean history during a live broadcast.
Yesterday, Jay and Sung Hoon hosted a live broadcast. During it, Sung Hoon mentioned his newfound love for history, to which Jay responded, “History is a subject I’m pretty into, but for me, I could say that there’s not a lot of material in Korean history.”
He continued, “You study it for a few weeks, look through what little material there is, and it’s over. It’s like a short story. But as for other countries, there’s no end to their history. I’ve looked into the histories of all kinds of different countries, and there’s no end to the rich histories. But Korean history just starts, then ends, so fast.” His words upset Koreans and history lovers. Moreover, the fact that he even messed up the timeline of the Three Kingdoms of Korea and Balhae befuddled people even more so.
Jay’s words quickly stirred up controversy online, and the idol issued an apology. “After today’s Weverse Live, I was totally shocked by everyone’s responses,” he started. “Whatever the reason, I sincerely apologize for making you uncomfortable. I spoke too carelessly about an important topic of Korean history, based solely on my personal impression. I should not have spoken so thoughtlessly with my little knowledge of the topic. Once again, I realized I still have so much more to learn.”
He then stressed, “I never intended to speak lightly of our country’s proud history, but I see now that my comments could very well have come across that way, and that is my mistake. I apologize.”
However, even this failed to dial down the controversy, as some pointed out that he seemed to be “picking a fight” in his apology.
Jay, known to have dual citizenship in South Korea and the States, completed much of his primary education in Korea.
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