Gov't remove Seolhyun's photos from website
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Seolhyun
By Kim Jae-heun
The Visit Korea Committee has deleted photos of its honorary ambassador Seolhyun from the official website’s main page and its social networking services on Sunday. The K-pop idol has recently been embroiled in controversy for her poor grasp of Korean history.
Seolhyun, a member of girl group AOA, rose to stardom as an “advertisement queen” ― appearing in almost every commercial, including for the government body.
The Visit Korea Committee appointed Seolhyun and actor Lee Min-ho to represent and promote the country as a tourist destination until 2018.
On the fourth episode of cable channel OnStyle’s variety show “Channel AOA” aired on May 3, Seolhyun could not identify Ahn Jung-geun, one of the country’s best-known freedom fighters who assassinated Hirobumi Ito, the Japanese resident-general of Korea in 1909. It sparked a national controversy over her ignorance of Korean history.
An official from the agency revealed that it has no plans yet to replace the honorary ambassador and deleting her photos from the online platforms is irrelevant to changing its spokespeople.