Singers shamed over poor history knowledge

Seolhyun, left, and Jimin next to her are in turmoil as they try to identify Ahn Jung-geun from his picture in "Channel AOA" on OnStyle, Tuesday.

By Ko Dong-hwan

Seolhyun and Jimin from K-pop girl band AOA have sparked a national controversy after displaying their poor history knowledge on TV.

In Tuesday’s episode of variety show “Channel AOA” on cable network OnStyle, Seolhyun, one of the hottest female idols, and the band’s leader, Jimin, identified random historical figures from images. They correctly named all, including Korean naval commander Yi Sun-sin (1545-98), artist Shin Saimdang (1504-51) and Kim Koo (1876-1949), a leader of the Korean independence movement against Japan.

But when they were shown a picture of Ahn Jung-geun ― a freedom fighter who assassinated Hirobumi Ito, the Japanese resident-general of Korea, in 1909, before Japan’s colonization of Korea ― their luck hit the wall. The desperate stars’ incorrect guesses included Kim Du-han (1954-65), the leader of the Jongno street gang who was portrayed in action movie trilogy “The General’s Son” (1990-92). Despite the producers’ hints, they could not name Ahn, one of the most widely known Korean historical figures.

Netizens were merciless in their attacks, while

TV network Channel A’s news show assembled several experts on Tuesday

to discuss what caused the singers’ “horrendous level of historical knowledge.”

“Their regrettable historical consciousness is not their fault,” one of the experts said. “It’s rather a sign to remind ourselves whether we are teaching the kids right about Korean history.”

Another expert said: “Seolhyun is a role model to many kids, especially to elementary school students, most of whom want to become a celebrity these days. She even filmed a campaign ad to encourage people to vote ahead of the general election on April 13. With her social reputation like that, her ignorance is pretty shocking and shameful.”

Another said: “The stars’ parents should also be responsible for the incident. They should by now know what to teach their child. Please, parents, enlighten your children.”