K-pop band Blackpink’s Vietnam concert in hot water over South China Sea map
- Chinese organiser iME Entertainment’s website is under scrutiny over criticism from fans that it shows a map of the waterway with disputed boundaries
- The girl group is due to perform in Hanoi for the first time ever on July 29-30
The ministry did not immediately respond to questions about the possible outcome of the inspection. It was unclear when it would announce its findings.
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Chinese organiser iME Entertainment and South Korean agency YG Entertainment, which manages Blackpink, had no immediate comment.
The organiser’s website was inaccessible on Thursday but a cached version seen by Reuters and last updated on July 4, shows a vague nine-dash line that encompasses nearly the whole South China Sea.
Vietnam and China have long had overlapping territorial claims to a potentially energy-rich stretch in the waterway. The Southeast Asian country has repeatedly accused Chinese vessels of violating its sovereignty.
Blackpink, a cornerstone of South Korea’s multibillion-dollar entertainment industry, is the latest to court trouble in Vietnam for depicting China’s controversial nine-dash line, which was repudiated in an international arbitration ruling by a court in The Hague in 2016. China refuses to recognise the ruling.
The culture ministry’s move followed complaints by Vietnamese internet users who noticed the nine-dash line on the organiser’s website.
“Bought two tickets for me and my date. Then saw the cow-tongue, and quit. I am [a] patriot,” Tu Anh Xinh, a Blackpink fan wrote on Facebook.
The world-famous K-pop girl group is due to perform in Vietnam for the first time ever on July 29-30, having been granted a government license that requested the organiser to comply with the government’s regulations on performing activities.