Joy, member of K-pop girl group Red Velvet, is getting a lot of hate online after it was announced that she would not be joining her group to perform in North Korea because of schedule conflict with her drama.
The South Korean art troupe delegation departed from Seoul for Pyongyang, North Korea on Saturday morning aboard a direct flight.
Among the delegates were former Girls Generation member Seohyun, Cho Yong-pil, Lee Sun-hee, Choi Jin-hee, Yoon Do-hyun, Baek Ji-young, Jungin, Seohyun, Ali, Kang San-eh, Kim Kwang-min and Red Velvets Irene, Seulgi, Yeri and Wendy – who are without Joy, who currently stars on the MBC drama Tempted.
SM Entertainment, Red Velvets agency, announced Joys absence in the historic concerts at the last minute.
Back when they asked us to perform, we planned on adjusting our schedules in order to have all members of Red Velvet perform. The schedule for the concert in Pyongyang, however, isnt very short. We were informed by the production staff [of Tempted] that if Joy does not make it to filming, the drama will not be able to air on its normal broadcast schedule.
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Unfortunately, she will not be able to attend the concert, a rep of the agency said.
The South Korean artists will perform in North Korea on 1 April at the East Pyongyang Grand Theater and together with North Korean artists on 3 April at the Ryugyong Jong Ju Yong Gymnasium.
Some fans are criticising Joy and SM Entertainment for passing up a rare opportunity.
Theyre not some super popular girl group where it has to be them or bust. If a member had a schedule that was more important, I dont get why theyre being so greedy and insisting on going, said one Korean netizen.
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Another wrote: Red Velvet totally ruined their image over this. As if Joy wasnt getting enough hate already with her bad acting, now her groups image is ruined all because of that same drama.
Of course public sentiment is negative… this isnt some local concert. Its a North-South festival that took a long time to put together and theyre throwing ashes on it. How can SM think its appropriate to let everyone know just a day in advance? said one netizen.
Another added: Do they think this is some local college festival? Canceling attendance just the day before? Obviously this opportunity wouldve been passed to another group if they had alerted way beforehand. SM just didnt want to give it to another group.
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