Karina apologizes in YouTube interview for clothing faux pas during election season

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Karina of girl group aespa apologized again for posting a picture of herself in a red-colored outfit during election season.

"I really wanted to say that I never meant anything of the sort," the singer said on a video uploaded to YouTube channel Fairy Jaehyung, run by veteran singer Jung Jae-hyung, on Sunday evening. Karina was a featured guest.

"I felt so sorry because the fans worried about me so much," she continued. "I wanted to say again that I am sorry about concerning the fans and other people."

Karina came under fire late May for breaking the "no color, no gesture" rule — a strict but unspoken guideline on K-pop idols during election season.

The singer uploaded a picture of herself on Instagram wearing a black jacket with red patterns and the number two written on the side, seemingly taken on the streets of Japan. Karina used a red rose emoji without further explanation of the picture. 

The post soon went viral on online communities, with users calling her "conservative Karina," "No. 2 voter Karina" and "patriotic Karina" — terms used online to describe conservative voters. Kim Moon-soo, the conservative People Power Party candidate, was represented by the color red and was No. 2 on the ballot.

"I was with the staff [from the agency] and we posted the pictures wearing the jacket because it was cold outside and I wanted to communicate with the fans," Karina said. "We deleted the post after I got a call about it. I realized that I had been ignorant."

"It was something that I should have paid attention to. So, I thought, 'I really need to be more aware and study more.' I really was ignorant," she said, adding, "It was obviously something that I needed to hear because it was me who did it, but it was so difficult watching the [aespa] members suffer, too."

During election season, K-pop idols are advised to refrain from wearing clothes in colors associated with political parties: red for the People Power Party, blue for the Democratic Party, yellow and green for the Green Justice Party and so on.

Other idols also came under fire for their "colorful" outfits before the June 3 presidential election. 

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]