A now-deleted video showing K-pop megastar Jennie of Blackpink apparently smoking a vape indoors has sparked online outcry, with the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday saying it had received a formal complaint.
In the footage, uploaded as part of a live blog on YouTube for fans, but subsequently removed even as copies of it spread across the Internet, Jennie appears to exhale vape smoke while a bevy of hair and make-up artists work closely on her face.
Smoking cigarettes or vapes indoors is illegal in South Korea and the footage triggered headlines and online outrage, with “indoor smoking” and “Blackpink Jennie” becoming top trending topics on X in the nation.
Photo: AFP
“Controversy over Jennie’s indoor smoking ... exhaling smoke in the face of her staff,” was the headline of the Yonhap news agency’s report on the incident, typical of the widespread reporting in Korean-language media.
One Internet user claimed the incident likely happened in Italy’s Capri, where Jennie had been filming, and said they had requested that the South Korean embassy in Italy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs probe the Blackpink star, the Korea Times reported.
The user urged Seoul to request “an investigation from the Italian authorities regarding Blackpink’s Jennie’s indoor smoking incident and take strict action,” the report said.
The foreign ministry said it had received a petition related to the incident.
Blackpink is one of South Korea’s most successful K-pop girl groups, with their songs topping charts locally and internationally.
“Posting such a video on her own SNS channel raises serious questions about her common sense... It is deeply disappointing,” one commentator on South Korean portal Naver said.
Smoking rates are relatively high in South Korea, but according to official data, as of 2022, only 5 percent of South Korean women smoke, compared with 30 percent of men.
South Korean pop stars undergo rigorous training for years before their debut and are held to high behavioral standards, with smoking, dating and swearing largely forbidden, especially in the first years following their debut.
Jennie has previously confessed to struggling with these expectations.
“It’s really harsh,” Jennie, who debuted with Blackpink in 2016, said in a Netflix documentary.
“We were not allowed to drink, smoke or get a tattoo,” she recalled of her training period, adding that she had to endure “being told that I’m not good at stuff.”
An American scientist convicted of lying to US authorities about payments from China while he was at Harvard University has rebuilt his research lab in Shenzhen, China, to pursue technology the Chinese government has identified as a national priority: embedding electronics into the human brain. Charles Lieber, 67, is among the world’s leading researchers in brain-computer interfaces. The technology has shown promise in treating conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and restoring movement in paralyzed people. It also has potential military applications: Scientists at the Chinese People’s Liberation Army have investigated brain interfaces as a way to engineer super soldiers by boosting
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
A highway bomb attack in a restive region of southwestern Colombia on Saturday killed 14 people and injured at least 38, the latest spate of violence ahead of next month’s presidential election. Authorities blamed the attack in the Cauca department — a conflict-ridden, coca-growing region — on dissidents of the now-disbanded FARC guerrilla army, who have been sowing violence across the country. “Those who carried out this attack ... are terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on social media. “I want our very best soldiers to confront them,” he added. The leftist leader blamed the bombing
From post offices and parks to stations and even the summit of Mount Fuji, Japan’s vending machines are ubiquitous, but with the rapid pace of inflation cooling demand for their drinks, operators are being forced to rethink the business. Last month beverage giant DyDo Group Holdings announced it would remove about 20,000 vending machines — about 7 percent of their stock nationwide — by January next year, to “reconstruct a profitable network.” Pokka Sapporo Food & Beverage, based in Nagoya, also said last month it would sell its 40,000-machine operation to Osaka-based Lifedrink Co. “The strength of the vending machine
RSS