For capturing a group video in Japan, LE SSERAFIM was met with preposterous and hateful remarks. Was HYBE behind this situation?
On May 29, the official account of LE SSERAFIM uploaded an Instagram reel featuring the 5 members in front of Mt. Fuji in Japan.
The text under the picture read:
“FEARNOTs, let’s gather with fim-doongies to see Mt. Fuji!”
Upon being uploaded, the video garnered 7.3M views and approximately 300k likes (as of the time of writing), featuring the individuals smiling brightly and striking a V pose with the mountain in the background.
The footage seems to have been captured while filming “LE SSERAFIM’s DAY OFF Season 4 in JAPAN,”the group’s solo content that is released by episode on their official YouTube channel. Additionally, episode 5 of the entertainment show was also released on the same day.
Despite the high number of views and likes, the majority of comments were negative and filled with ridiculous hatred towards the members for filming a video in front of Japan’s iconic Mt. Fuji.
Korean netizens, in particular, left comments such as:
- “Yeah, just go to Japan.”
- “You’d get hate just for being on Hallasan or Seongsan Ilchulbong but they’re actually on Mount Fuji.”
- “Why are you being like this again?”
- “Why does Japan exist when everyone else is making money while enjoying festivals?”
- “Instead of mountain sightseeing, just go and practice your singing a bit.”
Despite facing criticism for various reasons, FEARNOTs (fandom) quickly came to the defense of the five members and stated:
- “What’s wrong with taking pictures while traveling to Japan?”
- “Please do something about it.”
- “Stop criticizing LE SSERAFIM.”
The fandom continued to hold HYBE responsible for seemingly setting up LE SSERAFIM by releasing the video at this time, despite being aware of the intense scrutiny and criticism from Korean audiences towards the group’s every move.
What made matters worse was that they uploaded a video from Japan, a country that South Koreans harbored animosity towards.
Despite the members not being at fault, they were still being targeted due to HYBE’s timing.
Fans voiced their frustration, stating:
- “Their company is their anti.”
- “The company can’t read the room.”
- “It’s really amazing that you don’t pay attention at all.”
In March, Source Music, the label of LE SSERAFIM, announced amidst various controversies:
“We are taking regular legal action against authors of malicious posts such as insults to LE SSERAFIM, sexual harassment, spread of false information, malicious slander, and defamation.
As the personality rights of artists, including minor members, are being seriously violated, we are taking strict action against malicious posts regardless of channels such as SNS and online communities.”
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