14 hours ago
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BTS Jungkook and aespa Karina’s recent political controversies have ignited a fierce debate among Korean netizens over accusations of double standards.
This week, shortly after his military discharge, Jungkook sparked backlash for wearing a “Make Tokyo Great Again” cap during rehearsals for J-Hope’s concert in Seoul. The phrase, which is a spin on United States President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, also drew anger due to South Korea’s historical relationship with Japan.
Now, the incident is drawing comparisons to a similar situation involving Karina last month, in which the aespa star faced intense criticism for an Instagram post featuring a black and red jacket with the number two, along with a rose emoji caption.
Netizens interpreted the combination of elements as support for conservative presidential candidate Kim Moon Soo. This led to viral backlash before Karina deleted the post, with international K-Pop fans dubbing her “MAGArina.”
A viral post on X (formerly known as Twitter) sparked a heated discussion among Korean netizens. Reaching thousands of likes in hours, the post questioned whether the public would react differently to Jungkook’s controversy in comparison to the criticism Karina faced.
카리나 뒤져라 패던 트위터 남돌 찐병크엔 조용한거봐ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
윤석열 트럼프 그리고 정국이 쓴 모자
MAKE ___ GREAT AGAIN
트럼프 첫시작 MAGA = 극우, 보수, 백인우월주의의 상징 문구
MAKE TOKYO GREAT AGAIN=도쿄를 다시 위대하게=일본 제국주의 우익모자
카리나때보다 난리나겠지? pic.twitter.com/btTT1NfbAz
— 덬카이핑 (@han_jj70410) June 13, 2025
“Everyone who tore Karina to shreds, look how quiet they are when it’s a male idol ㅋㅋㅋ
Yoon Suk Yeol, Trump, and now the hat Jungkook wore:
MAKE ___ GREAT AGAIN, Trump’s original slogan MAGA = symbol of the far-right, conservatism, and white supremacy.
MAKE TOKYO GREAT AGAIN = a pro-imperialist, right-wing Japanese slogan.
So, this’ll blow up even bigger than the Karina thing, right?”
— @han_jj70410
Many netizens quickly argued that the controversies weren’t comparable, claiming the far-right implications of Jungkook’s hat were less well-known than the conservative connections Karina’s photo allegedly showed, particularly given the usual caution celebrities have around political imagery during elections.
카리나는 ㅈㄴ 좋아햇고 정국은 망하든말든 아—무 관심없는데도 객관적으로 다른병크임
상식적으로 저 모자는 그런 극우발언인거 모르는 사람 많고 몰랐다는 게 믿어짐
근데 카리나는 나라가 떠들썩하고 모든 연예인이 손가락 1,2를 조심하믄 와중에 지가 쳐올림 https://t.co/zcmQrh06r2
— 정신박살이 (@chikpokk) June 14, 2025
“I actually really liked Karina and couldn’t care less about Jungkook, but objectively speaking, these scandals aren’t the same.
Realistically, a lot of people genuinely don’t know that hat slogan is tied to far-right ideology, so it’s believable that he didn’t know either.
But Karina went ahead and posted that photo herself when the entire country was on edge and all celebrities were being careful not to even show one or two fingers.”
— @chikpokk
Others also praised Jungkook’s response to the situation in particular. Jungkook quickly addressed the situation with a detailed apology on Weverse shortly after the controversy went viral. He acknowledged his “lack of awareness” and accepted responsibility for not checking the phrase’s historical and political meaning, stating he had “immediately discarded the hat.”
– 모자 문구의 의미 충분히 파악하지 못 했고
– 변명 여지 없이 부족하고 부주의했던 거 맞음
– 지적 비판 모두 받아들이겠고
– 모자는 즉시 폐기함 ✅
그리고 어떤 말을 하고 싶으신 거든
‘ㅋㄹㄴ 죽어라 팼으니까 얘도 똑같이 패야 한다’
는 식의 사고방식은 매우 잘못된 겁니다! https://t.co/1r3IMHooio pic.twitter.com/4vLZ7Wda5T
— 티엔 (@_tian_ow) June 13, 2025
“- Admits he didn’t fully understand the meaning of the slogan
– Acknowledges he was careless and at fault with no excuses
– Accepts all criticism
– Immediately got rid of the hat
Whatever point you’re trying to make, saying “we tore Karina apart so we have to do the same to him” is a completely wrong way of thinking!”
— @_tian_ow
A large number of users denied that gender bias influenced the public criticism toward Karina, arguing that people targeted her actions proportionately.
근데 왜 계속 ㅋㄹㄴ가 여자라서 쳐 맞았다는 식으로 몰아가? 피해망상 개쩜; 트위터 여자들은 ㅋㄹㄴ가 여자고 남돌은 남자라서 안 팬 게 아니라 ㅋㄹㄴ가 비정상적인 행동을 했고 그거에 대해 팬 것 뿐인데 왜 일부러 더 여적여 구도 만들고 지들이 더 여자를 패고 앉아있음? 존나 모순적이야; https://t.co/Hy9yjyMY3C
— サン (@sun_16759) June 14, 2025
“Why do people keep pushing this idea that Karina got dragged just because she’s a woman? That’s some next-level victim complex. It’s not that women on Twitter went after Karina because she’s female and let male idols off the hook. They dragged her because she actually did something wrong. So why are y’all deliberately trying to frame this as women hating on other women? You’re literally the ones doing that. The hypocrisy is wild.”
— @sun_16759
However, numerous netizens completely disagreed with this sentiment. Opposing voices questioned the difference in reactions to the two controversies despite both idols having large fanbases, claiming that Karina’s post was ambiguous, while Jungkook’s hat contained an explicitly far-right message.
카리나가 욕먹는 게 마땅한 일이라고 생각한 사람들이 카리나는 여자라서가 아니라 단지 인지도가 높아서 남자보다 더 화제될 뿐이라고 단언하셨는데 왜 bts는 카리나보다 더 알티 안 타지 심지어 그때 카리나는 파란색도 같이 올렸지만 빨간색 들어있다고 욕먹었는데 정국은 아예 문구가 들어있는데 https://t.co/0g6fgY5Cvm
— ㅣ (@llllll1yllllll) June 13, 2025
“The same people who insisted Karina deserved to be criticized said it wasn’t because she’s a woman, it’s just that she’s more famous, so people talked about it more than they would for a male idol. So why did BTS not get more attention than Karina? She even posted something that included blue, but people still dragged her just because there was red in it. Meanwhile Jungkook’s hat had an actual slogan on it.”
— @llllll1yllllll
Many also claimed that the differences in responses to Karina’s controversy were unfair. After her own incident, Karina took to Bubble to address the matter. She apologized for worrying fans over the “misunderstanding” and vowed to “pay more attention” to her actions in future.
사과문 올렸으니 해산 ㅇㅈㄹ을 ㅋㄹㄴ한테도 해줬으면 어땠을까 싶다~ㅋㅋ 즈그오빠 쉴드친다고 또 까고 있는 거 보면 그럴 일은 죽어도 없겠지만 ㅠ https://t.co/w7GeSEnSLN pic.twitter.com/mPk57KCBzi
— 참치킬러청포도 (@Ou4uH51jq42701) June 13, 2025
If would’ve been nice if people had said, ‘Let’s just move on~’ for Karina too ㅋㅋ But seeing how people are still going after her to shield their oppa… yeah, that was never gonna happen ㅠ
— @Ou4uH51jq42701
Others went on to insist that misogyny toward female idols did play a part in the differing outcomes of Jungkook and Karina’s controversies.
바로 여시 착즙 ON
남자 한정 올려치기와 용서를 너무 쉽게 해주는 나라 pic.twitter.com/izWtBWGILN
— 덬카이핑 (@han_jj70410) June 13, 2025
‘Women’s Era’ [Daum Cafe board] over-analysis ON
A country that goes soft on men and forgives them way too easily.
— @han_jj70410
Meanwhile, Korean netizens are also sharing their thoughts on how HYBE has handled Jungkook’s controversy.
HYBE’s Handling Of BTS Jungkook’s Controversy Produces Unexpected Results
English (US) · 