K-pop band BTS cancels collaboration with controversial Japanese producer

By Park Sae-jin Posted : September 17, 2018, 11:10 Updated : September 17, 2018, 11:10

[Courtesy of Big Hit Entertainment]


SEOUL -- From a Japanese single album, K-pop band BTS dumped "Bird", a song that was created through collaboration with a Japanese producer who has been criticized by fans for supporting right-wing anti-Korean movements.

Big Hit Entertainment said in a notice uploaded to the online fan community of BTS that it has changed the tracklist for the band's Japanese single album, scheduled to be released in November.

"Bird" was replaced with a special version of "IDOL", the group's latest global hit song. "The tracklist for the album, scheduled to be released in November, will be changed for production reasons," the agency said, apologizing for causing trouble.

Yasushi Akimoto, who created Japanese idol bands such as AKB48, worked on the lyrics of "Bird". ARMY, the BTS fan club, threatened to boycott the Japanese album, insisting the producer has shared an anti-Korean sentiment with his idea reflected on some of his works.

Fans argued that AKB48 held a concert in front of the Yasukuni Shrine, wearing uniforms bearing the Rising Sun Flag pattern. For Koreans, the flag depicting the red sun with rays stretching out from it on a white background symbolizes Japan's harsh 1910-45 colonial rule and wartime atrocities like the Nazi swastika flag.

The Yasukuni Shrine, which honors over 2.4 million who died in wars involving Japan including 14 convicted Class-A war criminals, is also regarded by Koreans and Chinese as a symbol of Japan's past imperialism.

For decades, Seoul and Tokyo have been locked in a lingering row over comfort women, school textbooks and other emotional issues related to the past. Many South Koreans still harbor deep resentment against Japan over its colonial rule, and they want Tokyo's sincere apology.

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