aespa's Karina is unexpectedly at the center of a political controversy, and it’s not slowing down—even after she made it clear that she had no political message behind her post.
It all started on May 27, when Karina uploaded a photo of herself wearing a red jacket, showing the number 2 with her fingers, and including a rose emoji.
Some people online quickly connected this to the People Power Party, a conservative political group in South Korea, because red is their party color and “2” is their ballot number.
Karina responded soon after, saying, “There was no such intention at all.” But despite her explanation, the situation has only gotten more intense.
On June 1, a political online community called People Power Party Gallery allegedly changed its main banner to Karina’s controversial photo.
It was reportedly uploaded by a man in his 30s, but the image was swapped out about 30 minutes later—first to the People Power Party logo, and later to a photo of former Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon Soo holding a child.
Still, the influence of Karina’s photo hasn’t gone away. Some conservative supporters have reportedly started using her image as their KakaoTalk profile picture, leading many fans to worry that she’s being unfairly tied to a political group.
One netizen said, “My dad has never used a celebrity photo before, but now he’s using Karina as his profile picture.” Others wrote, “Far-right accounts are full of Karina’s photo,” and “Someone at my workplace is using her as their profile picture now.”
Even though the photo was simply a fashion post, the ongoing reaction has sparked a much larger debate.
With Karina’s image being used without her consent for political symbolism, fans are calling for people to respect her personal and non-political stance.
For now, it seems the misunderstanding is still spreading—and Karina’s unintentional involvement in politics may continue to make headlines.
Source: [1]
