Entertainers resent being called NK sympathizers

Singers Lee Seung-hwan, left, and Lee Eun-mi

By Ko Dong-hwan

Korean entertainers who are opinionated about social issues are often feeling the downside of living in a country that doubles as Cold War’s last frontier.

Singer Lee Seung-hwan and Lee Eun-mi recently found themselves fighting Internet users accusing them as North Korea sympathizers.

Lee Seung-hwan had invested in the 2012 film ``26 Years,’’ which imagines a plot to kill former South Korean military strongman Chun Doo-hwan whose brutal suppression of democratization protests in Gwangju in 1981 left 166 people dead.

Lee Eun-mi, who has always been a supporter of liberal politics, was scrutinized for her vocal support of Seoul mayoral candidate Park Won-soon.

The 2012 presidential election revealed a sharply divided electorate and Park Geun-hye, who won, appeared to benefit from the template of ideological division left by her father, Park Chung-hee, the dictator who was assassinated in 1979. Public figures who are vocal in their anti-government criticism are often accused as by the Web mob as pro-North Korean.

In his social media postings, Lee Seung-hwan snickered at the accusations and said he found them hilarious. Lee Eun-mi reacted with more anger, wondering whether the highly-politicized Internet is preventing people to speak freely about important issues.