NCT WISH’s Ryo under fire: Comment about East Sea causes massive backlash - K-netizens react

NCT Wish‘s Ryo is facing backlash over a recent comment about the East Sea. The idol, while talking about crabs, said the phrase ‘Sea of Japan’, instead of referring to it as the East Sea, sparking backlash amongst Korean fans online.

Read more to find out what happened.

NCT WISH Ryo’s comment sparks backlash from K-netizens

As per reports from The Qoo, the idol had used a questionable phrase in one of the recent videos uploaded on their online channel. While Ryo and fellow member Riku were talking about crabs in the video, Ryo ended up referring to the crab as ‘Nihonkai’ crab, which directly translates to Sea of Japan crab.

There have been ongoing disputes between South Korea and Japan regarding the East Sea, which is why the comment sparked a lot of backlash online.

Many people called the idol out for using the phrase instead of just calling it the East Sea. Some came to his defence, sharing that there is no issue in the matter. Since the backlash began, the respective video has been removed from online platforms.

K-Netizens react to the phrase

There were a lot of strong and mixed reactions shared online about the idol’s phrases. One person commented, “They’re promoting in Korea??? Totally hopeless lol. It’s like throwing stones at the country”, while another shared, “So they decided to take down the video, but that also means they decided not to apologize, right?”Some remained more diplomatic, and presented a new opinion, sharing “This tree is way too much the result of Korea's nationalism education and Japan's left-wing education... Compared to what Koreans think, Japanese people don't have much pride in the Sea of Japan. They're saying it unconsciously. Koreans feel strongly about it due to the influence of nationalism education, right... Both sides are at fault... I feel like both should sit down and think of a new name geopolitically…”.