Article: "I'm not going to the Black Pink concert!" Vietnamese fans complain one after another, why?
Source: Asia Economy
BLACKPINK is embroiled in an unexpected "South China Sea" controversy.
According to major foreign media outlets, the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture launched investigations into the performance agency 'iME Entertainment', headquartered in China, that's hosting Blackpink's tour. This is due to claims that a map of the South China Sea reflecting the 'nine dash line' was marked on the world tour guide posted by the agency.
The 'nine dash line' refers to nine imaginary coastal boundaries drawn by China in the South China Sea. China claims that everything inside the border is its territorial waters. According to this, more than 80% of the South China Sea is within the nine dash line. In 2016, the International Permanent Court in The Hague ruled that China's claims were "groundless" under international law, but China denied it.
Currently, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei, and Malaysia are still in conflict with China over territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea. In this situation, local Blackpink fans went to the website and raised the issue writing, "I saw a map with a "cow's tongue" (a metaphor for nine dash lines) marked in the South China Sea." After multiple complaints were posted, authorities took action to investigate.
Currently, it's not possible to a map with the national lines marked on the website, however, if you analyze internet records from last 4 days, you can confirm nine dash line covering the entire South China Sea.
iME has issued an apology writing, "Our goal is to provide for the best artists in the world. We sincerely apology for this unfortunate misunderstanding."
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese government has also banned screened of recently released Hollywood film 'Barbie' after a map with the 'nine dash line' was shown in the movie.
- [+4,024, -59] Honestly, they have a right to be pissed off over this.. we get angry too when we see the East Sea [Donghae-reul] marked as the Sea of Japan and Dokdo-reul as Takeshima
- [+755, -39] I understand Vietnam
- [+464, -41] They haven't sold tickets yet..? Shouldn't they fact check first before writing articles?? Seriously, why are reporters so pathetic these days. Who could've bought tickets when pre-orders don't open until end of July?
- [+375, -60] Who's handling things at YG? Did they get paid off by China so they're letting Blackpink be hung out to dry to like this??!
- [+212, -24] Is this a Blackpink reverse viral scandal again? There are too many fake articles posted every day. Last time, it was a fake article about a setlist of 13 songs with a ticket price of 550,000 won.. YG needs to hit the reverse viral ba$tards with lawsuits!!
- [+107, -1] Fact: Blackpink Vietnam tickets aren't open for pre-sale yet so that comment saying "they bought 2 tickets but canceled it after seeing the 'cow tongue map' are straight lies..
- [+74, -2] They've been putting up a fake live show for a few days now.. one reporter wrote a fake article and the others copied it. That rumor came out from some delusional anti on Twitter. And since when has YG performed the same set?? And even this reporter is claiming tickets were sold?? The level of reporters is seriously jjang!
- [+36, -1] They haven't opened pre-sales yet so what type of bullsh** is this reporter writing ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- [+20, -1] They haven't even started ticketing yet so why are you doing this gijanim?? Didn't YG entertain you ㅋㅋㅋ
- [+14, -0] Why is Blackpink's stage being entrusted to a Chinese performance agency?
- [+7, -0] There are so many world class tour promoters and companies but they had to pick a Chinese company?? It's quite strange..
- [+6, -0] Why is a Chinese company doing a Blackpink's concert??? Is this a comedy? Aren't they a Korean group?