Actor Ishihon under fire for traveling to Japan

Article: Ishihon's travel controversy..."there's a difference between plain and light-hearted travel"

Source: OSEN

Actor Ishihon [Lee Si-on] is under fire for traveling to Japan.

On Thursday the actor made a post on Instagram and said, "I'm arriving in Hamas, Japan. Thank you for all the birthday wishes." The actor had traveled to Japan to celebrate his birthday. Shortly after making the post, he received a lot of congratulatory messages from fans.

But not all netizens had a positive impression on Ishihon's post. With the Japanese government effectively retaliating against South Korea, some netizens felt like as a public figure it was inappropriate for him to travel to Japan at this moment and his post appeared to be encouraging travel to Japan.

Earlier on April 24th, the Japanese government had began imposing sanctions that made it difficult for Japanese companies to export semiconductor materials to any Korean company. In response, the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said that this was a clear economic retaliation and the Korean government will counter-offer and file a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Therefore, it's safe to say the Korea-Japan relations are at a critical juncture and Ishihon had posted a photo of his trip to Japan amid a Japan boycott in Korea causing controversy.

The actor also posted another photo on Instagram relating to his trip in Japan where he had met his friend Song Jinwoo Minami, his wife, and daughter Song Woo Mi further amplifying criticism against him.

Post from Ishihon's SNS meeting Song Jinwoo Minami and his wife and daughter

Some netizens are divided over the controversy leading to a hot debate online. Many are saying that he traveled to Japan after an invitation from Minami and his wife.

At the end, Ishihon deleted both posts apparently conscious of the controversy however, this too, only stirred the anger of netizens. It was because they felt he had missed the right timing.