By Lee Min-young
This time, BTS has rocked an already shaky boat by upsetting a human rights organization.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center has called for a belated apology from the K-pop group over what the organization says are Nazi-style hats BTS members wore during a photo shoot.
The Los-Angeles-based organization issued a statement on Sunday local time against the South Korean boy band for "mocking the past" and urged band members to apologize to victims of Nazi Germany and the U.S.' atomic bombings of Japan.
The latest controversy involves photos from 2014 of band members wearing caps bearing the Nazi Party symbol showing an eagle and swastika, as well as a death's head affiliated with the SS. Footage from 2017 shows the band on stage waving flags that were reportedly similar to the Nazi swastika.
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| RM wearing the "Nazi-style" hat in question. On the right are images of BTS members during a photo shoot at a Holocaust memorial. / Screengrab from Reddit |
"It goes without saying that this group, which was invited to speak at the U.N., owes the people of Japan and the victims of the Nazism an apology," the statement wrote.
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| The Simon Wiesenthal Center claims the flags BTS waved during a concert were anti-Semitic. Captured from Youtube |
Last week, the band hit the headlines after photos went viral showing Jimin wearing a T-shirt with historic photos depicting a mushroom cloud over Japan and Koreans celebrating liberation, sparking yet another controversy amid political sensitivity between Seoul and Tokyo.
BTS is continuing with its Asian tour. The group will perform in Japan through February and also play in Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong.
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