In an infamous and now-deleted Instagram post from 27 May 2025, Karina, a member of the Korean girl group aespa, was photographed in a track jacket featuring a large red stripe across the torso and an equally bold red “2”. The caption was a single red rose emoji.

The public outcry was almost immediate, as both the colour red and the number “2” was perceived as signalling an unspoken, yet clear, endorsement for  far-right presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo. Although her agency, SM Entertainment, scrambled to control the overwhelming public relations nightmare, many in the Korean public found it hard to believe that an adult with years of experience in a high-profile K-pop group would be unaware of the blatant symbolism of her outfit. While the right-wing—which has increasingly struggled to maintain support from women in their twenties and thirties—used the post to elevate Karina to the status of “princess of the far-right”, many disheartened fans turned away; she reportedly lost more than 200,000 Instagram followers in the aftermath.

Although those outside of Korea may consider the backlash an overreaction, when one considers the anti–gender equality rhetoric of the recently impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol and the weaponisation of feminism among Korea’s MZ (or Gen Z) generation, Karina’s jacket feels like so much more than just a jacket. Instead, it’s perhaps a symbol of K-pop’s forgotten past as a celebratory expression of youthful empowerment that has since turned into a carefully polished and curated tool for political soft power.

• Tags: Issue 40, K-Pop, South Korea, Taeyeon Song