Kyoka and Riehata from Street Woman Fighter are facing heavy backlash for promoting the rising sun flag, a deeply offensive symbol in Korea.
The controversy began when a photo of Kyoka, dancer for the OSAKA Ojo Gang representing Japan on MNET’s show, wearing a t-shirt with the rising sun flag went viral in Korean online communities. The flag is widely condemned in Korea as it was the emblem of the Imperial Japanese military.
Soon after, a resurfaced picture of Riehata, a dancer from the RHTokyo crew, showing the same flag as wall art drew further criticism.
Korean netizens responded with outrage:
“This is shocking…I really liked her as a dancer.”
“I f*cking hate this.”
“This is why I keep saying you can’t fangirl over a Japanese person.”
“So please stop bringing Japanese people on Korean shows to promote them.”
“Kyoka’s popularity is insane, though?”
“At this point, a Japanese person being ignorant doesn’t even surprise me.”
The situation has added fuel to the already tense atmosphere around this season of Street Woman Fighter amid previous controversies. Fans and viewers are closely monitoring the response of both dancers and the show’s producers.
