Cops reconsider Henry Lau as ambassador of 'School Violence Prevention' after backlash
On March 15, it was reported that K-pop idol Henry Lau had been selected by the police of Mapo district as a PR ambassador for their 'School Violence Prevention' campaign. With school bullying being extremely violent in South Korea, authorities are trying out all tactics to curb the incidents. This includes enlisting the help of celebrities that young adults may look up to and listen to.
However, following Henry Lau's appointment, a lot of Knetizens were upset with the decision. With South Korea and China having tense relations at the moment, Knetz claimed that Henry, who is Chinese himself, should not have been selected as an ambassador for the welfare of Korean society. Furthermore, they brought up a past issue where he had been allegedly seen as "pro-China" and a supporter of the Chinese Communist Party by reposting their campaign on Weibo.
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Henry apologizes for past controversies
In February, under one of Henry Lau's YouTube videos, the comments were full of Chinese and Korean netizens fighting. The Chinese idol had come under fire for allegedly deleting the hateful comments of Knetz while leaving Cnetz comments that insulted South Korea. His fans tried to reason that it must have been his team and not to blame Henry. With his new post as an anti-bullying ambassador, Knetz brought back that case to which Henry apologized.
Henry apologized for his past actions that may have offended anyone. However, he also added that there was a lot of false information going around on YouTube and other websites that he hoped people would not believe. He added that he could not do anything if people were unhappy with his nationality but would continue to show his best version to his fans. However, this again caused an uproar as many were divided over it. Some accepted his apology while others didn’t.
Mapo Police reconsiders ambassador post
Some Knetizens pointed out that Henry’s apology had a lot of typos which seemed odd despite him being fluent in Korean. This created more backlash to the point that the idol had to delete the apology. While his fans have tried to defend him and give reasonable explanations for his actions, the majority of Knetizens are not having it. Unfortunately, this issue has reached the Mapo Police.
Knetz left too many comments questioning the decision on the Mapo Police’s website that it crashed. One anonymous user shared that “pro-China actions were inevitable business” for Chinese idols so as not to irk the Chinese authorities, while another expert shared that Chinese idols have to be careful regardless. Well, as for the status of Henry’s post and whether to withdraw it, Mapo Police finally released a statement, “We are looking at the situation seriously.”
This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.
