aespa’s Karina is in the middle of unexpected drama just a week before the South Korean presidential election.
On May 27, Karina shared several photos on her personal social media. One picture showed her wearing a red outfit with the number “2” on it. Another photo featured a red rose.
What seemed like a normal post quickly turned into a heated online debate. Some netizens started questioning whether Karina was secretly showing support for a specific political party—especially since the color red and the number 2 are both connected to a major candidate in the upcoming election.
The post was deleted shortly after, but by then, the images had already spread across online communities, sparking controversy.
Some people believed Karina was subtly sending a political message. A few comments on her original post even praised her as if she had taken a political side. Because of this, some netizens criticized her for possibly influencing fans during the sensitive election period—even if it was unintentional.
Others pushed back, saying the reaction was over the top. “She probably didn’t mean it,” one fan said. “She deleted it quickly, so it’s unfair to make a big deal out of it.” Many pointed out that judging someone’s political opinion just from an outfit or a flower in a photo is going too far.
In South Korea, celebrities usually stay very careful around elections. Most avoid any colors, symbols, or gestures that could be seen as political. That’s why many stars wear neutral colors and make a simple fist gesture when voting instead of doing the popular “V” sign.
Still, every election season, at least a few celebrities end up getting caught in similar situations. Some people believe this kind of extreme reaction is a form of “censorship,” where stars are being judged too harshly even when there’s no clear political message.
As for Karina, there’s been no official statement yet, but the debate continues online.
Source (1)
