HYBE’s girl group LE SSERAFIM continues to be under scrutiny, this time over hanbok.
LE SSERAFIM | SOURCE MUSIC
Recently, a post titled “LE SSERAFIM has never worn hanbok” went viral on the popular online community Nate Pann. In the post, the OP (Original Poster) pointed out that out of all the HYBE idol groups, LE SSERAFIM is the only one who has never worn the traditional Korean dress, hanbok. They attached a picture of the search result for “LE SSERAFIM Hanbok” on Naver, which didn’t provide any photos of the group as a whole wearing the attire.
HYBE groups like BTS, TXT, NewJeans, ENHYPEN, and ILLIT have all worn hanboks for official content, especially while greeting fans during important traditional holidays like Chuseok or Seollal. But LE SSERAFIM has not sported the traditional attire even on those occasions.
ILLIT | BELIFT Lab
At the time of writing, the post gained over 80,000 views, but netizens were on the fence about this criticism. While they do find it odd for a Korean group not to wear a hanbok ever, they also felt it was more the fault of their label than the idols themselves.
| Nate Pann “Even IVE, which has Japanese members, has worn it.” “Wow, pro-Japanese idols.” “Don’t most idols wear hanbok at least once? This is wild.” “But this is more of the company’s fault.” | Nate Pann “Did the company not create specific content where they could wear hanboks?” “It does seem odd that all other HYBE idols have worn it, but LE SSERAFIM…If it’s because Sakura has a lot of right-wing controversies, and they’re avoiding dressing her in a hanbok in fear of hearing criticism from the right wing, at least let her wear it during games. Who else could handle it if not fans of HYBE idols?
Meanwhile, LE SSERAFIM has also recently been accused of incorporating pro-Japanese motifs in its art. You can read more about it here.
