 |
| The promotional image for Maroon 5's 2022 world tour / Captured from Maroon 5 website |
By Kim Rahn
A promotional image for U.S. pop rock band Maroon 5's world tour is causing a stir as it incorporates the Rising Sun flag, which was used by the Japanese imperial military during World War II and is regarded as a symbol of its wartime aggression.
The band recently disclosed its 2022 world tour schedule on its official website, which includes a concert at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Nov. 30. It is the group's first concert in Seoul since February 2019.
Other cities also include Quebec, Orlando, Singapore, Tokyo, Osaka, Manila and Bangkok.
What drew controversy is the promotional image of the tour, which has a black-and-white Rising Sun flag design. People in Korea and other Asian countries that had been invaded by Japan before and during WWII take offense to it.
But some Western bands, such as Metallica and Led Zeppelin, have used the design in their posters or merchandise. Upon protest from fans of Korea and other such nations, they said they had not been aware of its historical meaning.
 |
| Maroon 5 / Courtesy of Universal Music Group |
It was not the first time for Maroon 5 to be involved in a row regarding the design. In a 2019 dispute about a Rising Sun pattern on a T-shirt, band member Jesse Carmichael supported a claim advocating the use of the flag and ridiculing Koreans who were protesting.
Online users are now leaving comments critical of the band, saying if they planned a tour in Asia, they should have known how sensitive the Rising Sun flag issue is here. Some are calling for a boycott of the Seoul concert.
"You can just skip Korea and perform as many concerts as you want in Japan," one user wrote.
"We are neither demanding Maroon 5 like only Korea nor demanding it to dislike Japan … If you are coming to have a concert and make money, you need to keep the 'basics.' If you ridicule and ignore the basics, you'll not be respected," another wrote.
![[INTERVIEW] North Korean-born chef delights Southerners' taste buds, breaks down cultural barriers](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/3a6dc51899d548b990f489b784a0ecd3.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[ANALYSIS] Yoon-Kishida meeting raises expectations of 3-way summit with China](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/f435e5a0dc774045ba9e051c7ea72913.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
