'Tzuyu's apology is rights violation'

Park Jin-young

By Kim Se-jeong

A Seoul-based nonprofit organization for multiculturalism has criticized JYP Entertainment for forcing Tzuyu, a Taiwanese member of its girl group TWICE, to apologize for waving Taiwan’s national flag, saying it was an infringement of her human rights.

The Center for a Multicultural Korea stated Monday its intent to bring the case before the nation’s human rights commission over the possible violation involving the pop singer.

The 16-year-old performer, whose full name is Chou Tzuyu, waved the Taiwanese flag in an online show, triggering a political storm between people in Taiwan and China. The latter regards the island state as part of its territory.

As the controversy worsened, JYP Entertainment released a video clip in which Tzuyu apologized for causing the row and said there is only one China.

“It is very natural for Tzuyu to wave the national flag of her country,” the center said in a statement. “But JYP Entertainment and its head Park Jin-young forced her apologize, succumbing to the overreaction of Chinese fans.”

The center called this a serious violation of her human rights. “This week, we’ll request the National Human Rights Commission to investigate whether she was coerced to apologize. If it concludes this is the case, we’ll file a complaint with the prosecution against JYP and Park.”

It warned that a similar incident could be repeated by entertainment agencies which are blinded by commercial gains and ignorant of multiculturalism and human rights. “We’ll also consider measures to prevent agencies’ labor exploitation of minors.”

Regarding the issue, JYP claimed the apology was not forced.

“As Tzuyu is a minor, we waited for her parents to come to Korea to discuss the apology with them,” it said in a statement. “A company cannot and should not force a specific belief on a person.”

JYP’s homepage was shut down Sunday after a cyber attack.

“It’s been a while since the website has been downed by a cyber attack,” a JYP representative said. “We’re working to recover it, but it will take time.”

Some claimed that Taiwanese members of the international hackers’ collective Anonymous might have waged a distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS), in expression of their anger toward the company.

Local media outlets in Taiwan also reported a buildup of sentiment among Taiwanese people against the Korean entertainment company. The Taipei Times reported that online entertainment magazine JUKSY offered to buy the rights to manage Tzuyu’s career from JYP Entertainment. JYP denied the report, saying it is not in negotiations with any party with regard to Tzuyu, and it has no intention to do so. “She is an important asset for us,” said Kim Hyung-woo, in charge of public relations at JYP.