Tzuyu's apology figures prominently in Taiwan elections

Tzuyu of Twice apologizes in a video late Friday. / Korea Times

The apology for waving Taiwanese national flag by Tzuyu of the multinational K-pop band TWICE figured prominently on voting day in Taiwan Saturday. Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan’s main opposition Democratic Progressive Party was elected the island’s first female president, various media reported Saturday.

Tzuyu delivered a video apology late Friday for the controversy stemming from her waving the flag of the Republic of China on a Korean entertainment show last month. The Republic of China is the government of Taiwan. Beijing believes the island should be part of the People's Republic of China, which governs mainland China.

In the Friday video, the 17-year-old singer says that she believes in the “one-China” policy and that she is proud to be Chinese.

She also apologized for her behavior that had harmed her company and cross-Strait relations.

Park Jin-young, head of JYP Entertainment that is home to TWICE, also apologized.

"We learned that when working with other nations, it is important to deeply understand the sovereignty, culture, the history and the public sentiments of the nations involved," Park said.

Park also apologized for not properly tending to Tzuyu, who came to Korea at the early age of 13. He reiterated the company's previous statement that she will stop all activities in China.

The Taiwanese government, however, was quoted by CNA as saying that Tzuyu did nothing wrong by waving the flag of the Republic of China, and that the Taiwanese people support her.

In Saturday’s election, Taiwanese voters, worried about the flagging economy and wary of the tighter ties with Beijing under President Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang (KMT) party, cast their votes for Tsai.

Eric Chu of the ruling KMT was reportedly trailing in second, followed by James Soong of the People First Party.