Moka ILLIT is facing criticism for speaking in Japanese at a music festival held at a Korean university.
On May 24, 2024, a popular South Korean online community forum named Nate Pann saw the upload of a post titled “Moka introduces herself in Japanese at a Korean university.”
The post featured a screenshot of a YouTube Shorts video showcasing Moka, who performed at a Korean university music festival while speaking Japanese.
On May 9, ILLIT held a performance at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, known for its focus on teaching over 45 languages. During the show, Moka inquired if anyone in the audience was studying Japanese language as their major. She was surprised by the large number of Japanese language majors and proceeded to introduce herself in both Japanese and Korean.
240509 Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Festival Moka introduced in Japanese🫳🫳🫳 #ILLIT #Illit #MOKA #Moka # モカ @ILLIT_official pic.twitter.com/3qzWogGKNF
— ☕︎ (@On1yUu) May 9, 2024
Despite being a trainee for three years and being fluent in Korean, Moka faced backlash from Korean netizens who hated her as a female idol. Despite this, their criticism of her Korean skills and jokes about her going back to her country were unfounded, as they did not know the reason behind Moka’s use of Japanese in the first place.
Some netizens expressed anti-Japanese sentiments in the comment section, urging entertainment companies to refrain from debuting Japanese idols in K-pop groups. They argued that the most successful groups abroad consist of all Korean members or have only a few Japanese members. Some also suggested that Japanese individuals aspiring to be idols should consider pursuing J-Pop instead.
Some individuals pointed out that, despite performing at a university known for its expertise in foreign studies, it is not appropriate to look for Japanese speakers at a Korean music festival. In fact, one netizen mentioned that during aespa’s performance at Kyunghee University, Ningning did not mention China or Chinese, even though the university’s emblem is originally written in Chinese characters.
There were some comments that read,
- “If you are going to do this, just go back to Japan.”
- “Moka calls herself a K-pop idol, but she isn’t even able to speak Japanese. If you are going to do this, just go back to Japan. You are still young enough to join AKB.”
- “I don’t have any hatred towards Japanese idols, but why do Japanese, who are Japanese to the core, keep coming to K-pop? Anyway, it is obvious that the most successful groups overseas are fully Korean or have barely any Japanese members, so please stop putting Japanese people in K-pop groups. The Japanese music market is big enough, so why not take a slice of that pie? Why are we helping Japan?”
- “I don’t know what was going on in her head. It’s not like a Korean going to Japan and greeting people in Japanese, but a Japanese person coming to Korea and greeting in Japanese. What’s the point?”
- “They said that Hankuk University of Foreign Studies has a department for Japanese. Ningning didn’t go to Kyunghee University and asked “Where’s the Chinese department?”in Chinese. Seriously, if Japanese people are that proud of being Japanese, then go back and live in Japan, why work in K-pop?”
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