現實世界的必修課 ：淺談近日BTS事件(上)

我想從近日閱讀的國外媒體入手，先說說日韓的微妙關係。

討論日韓糾葛的前奏，再次附上2016年楊虔豪所寫的專文：

一位臺灣獨立記者的親身經歷，也許是一個不錯的破題方式。

在歐美國家的報導中，我搜尋了ABC、BBC、TIMES、USA TODAY、DAILY NEWS、華盛頓郵報等網站(新聞連結附於文末)，對於Big Hit發布道歉聲明一事，敘述幾乎完全雷同。皆大略呈現事情經過，並在文末附註：

“The seven members of the band, which has a worldwide following, in May became the first South Korean artists to top the Billboard 200 albums chart with "Love Yourself: Tear." The band began its Japan tour earlier this week.

South Korean K-pop and movie stars are extremely popular in Japan and other Asian countries.”

而其中內容較為不同的報導，出自CNN。文中，記者下了兩個小標題，分別是「Biggest K-pop group in the world」與「Insensitive fashion」。

“Though BTS has for years been one of the biggest bands in South Korea and East Asia, their international profile has skyrocketed in 2018.

This year, the BTS became the first K-pop band to win a Billboard Music Award; the first K-pop act to sell out a US arena; and broke the record for biggest music video debut, a distinction previously held by Taylor Swift.”

2018年是BTS在全球知名度與影響力大爆炸的一年，CNN也簡要地列出這些成績。不過，整篇報導最有趣的地方，在於「Insensitive fashion」這一段：

“Institute for Security and Development Policy Non-Resident Research Fellow Elliot Brennan told CNN that, for many Asian countries, Nazi Germany doesn't have the same historical meaning as for Westerners.

Referencing an incident in Taiwan in 2016, he told CNN that as the scourge of Nazism was eclipsed by Japanese imperial brutality in Asia, the symbolism resonated less than in the West.”

"For East Asian countries, World War II was not about the Nazis or Hitler but rather the Imperial Japanese forces. Comparatively little time is spent in Asian countries studying World War II Germany than in Europe or North America."

"'Nazi chic,' as it has become known, is an expression of subversion and its wearers in Asia are largely ignorant of its historical underpinnings," he said.”

即便記者未在報導中加以評論，「Insensitive」一詞卻多少隱含了立場。這位受訪的美國人並不代表所有人的立場，但也許能夠作為一種參考：在互扯辮子吵成一團的東亞世界裡，千里之外的人，看起來似乎全都一樣。

當然，在不同歷史脈絡中，關注層面自然有所不同，因此在道歉聲明發布後，歐美媒體並未多做延伸報導，但亞洲世界的火藥味卻愈來愈濃。

在昨日(11/16)，BTS經紀公司與「韓國原子彈爆炸受害者協會」進行非公開的懇談會。在會議結束後，「韓國原子彈爆炸受害者協會」公開表示：

最初在網路上看見相關言論時，我甚至懷疑過翻譯的準確性。直至大量閱讀報導的過程中，在「ASIA TIMES」的專欄閱讀「Apology accepted, BTS; now, what about Japan?」一文，才讓我開始相信，也許韓國人真的這麼想：

“I am not trying to advocate for BTS at all. But now that BTS have apologized, Japan must also look back at its own historical mistakes seriously.”

“However, when we look at Germany, another war criminal, there is a society that Japan could pay attention to and learn from.”

“So let’s think again. Is this a problem that only BTS should apologize for? If Japan wants an apology for the deaths of a large number of Japanese civilians by the atomic bombing, it is a good idea to apologize first for the mistakes made during the Japanese imperialism in the past.”

“There is a sage Korean proverb: “You get angry at others for your own mistakes.” So, Japanese society, please think again. Is this a problem that only BTS should apologize for?”

這是其實是一段相當偏激、情緒化的言論，但它與「韓國原子彈爆炸受害者協會」的思維竟是如此一致。於此，我感到相當惶恐。再搭配開頭楊虔豪的專文一同閱讀，就會發現這種民族情結是根深蒂固的，甚至深到超越一般人的想像。所以，朝鮮日報中文網能以「小心眼的日本電視台取消防彈少年團出演後遭抨擊」此種敘述為標題，亦是出自「就怕你不知道我反對日本」的立場。

在K-POP跨出韓國後，日韓間的糾纏，我們也許能透過一些專欄來繼續窺探。專欄中，每位筆者除了簡單解釋此次事件外，也整理出過去K-POP偶像與日本間的爭議：

“The list is long in this decade alone: girl group Red Velvet featuring newspapers with headlines about the Hiroshima bombing in a music video, TVXQ forgetting to put Japan on a world map, Korean actors swimming to a disputed island. The response? Protests against Korean pop culture, such as the ones at NHK’s year-end “Kohaku Uta Gassen” music show when K-pop acts performed.” (「Don’t worry too much over BTS」)

“This isn’t the first time a K-pop act has been at the centre of a controversy involving this difficult shared Korean-Japanese history and National Liberation Day in particular. Girl group Red Velvet and Tiffany from Girls’ Generation have also been caught up in similar incidents. Red Velvet are a five-member girl group under the SM Entertainment label, and their debut song, Happiness, was a light pop tune released in August 2014. The music video caused anger in Japan immediately upon on its release, as one scene featured a background photo of American newspapers reporting on the A-bombs.”

“In August 2016, another SM Entertainment artist caused a controversy after posting two seemingly ‘pro-Japan’ social media updates on National Liberation Day. Korean-American idol Tiffany Young was part of the girl group Girls’ Generation at the time. She was performing in Japan with them, and posted a photo of herself on Instagram with two other members, Sooyoung and Yuri. Her caption said ‘Babes’ and included a Japanese flag sticker and a heart. On her Snapchat, she posted a photo of a bag on her lap, and used a Snapchat geofilter to tell fans she was in Tokyo, Japan.”(「BTS Jimin’s T-shirt controversy isn’t the first K-pop-related historical blunder」)

“The Japanese right-wing has long been wary of increasing Korean cultural influence in Japan, from publishing a comic titled “Hating the Korean Wave” back in 2005 to staging protests outside of TV stations that aired Korean content. But K-pop stars have also stepped into international disputes before – in 2012, Super Junior member Choi Siwon stirred up controversy among Japanese fans when he retweeted a post from the Blue House supporting Korean ownership over Dokdo, an island also claimed by Japan.”

“On the other hand, Korean celebrities can also get in trouble for being too friendly toward Japan – in 2016, Girl’s Generation member Tiffany received major backlash after she posted a photo from the group’s Tokyo concert that included an emoji of the rising sun flag over the words “Tokyo, Japan,” marking her location at the time. Not only was the flag imagery offensive to Korean fans, she also happened to post the image on Korea’s Liberation Day, which celebrates Korean independence from Japanese rule. The singer apologized and was later removed from a reality TV show she was participating in at the time.”(「K-Pop Group BTS Caught in Latest Tensions Between South Korea and Japan」)

以上三篇報導，我引述的篇幅非常長。但總而言之，它們提到了東方神起《平行線》這首歌曲MV中，未將日本畫在世界地圖上的事件；以及Red Velvet出道曲《Happiness》MV中，出現了一份以英文報導廣島原爆的報紙。二個團體在當時皆遭到日本激烈抨擊，不過SM公司皆相當迅速地修改MV內容，事件也並未持續延燒。

另外兩個人物則是Super Junior的崔始源，以及少女時代的Tiffany。不同之處在於，始源是發表主張「獨島」主權歸於韓國的言論而遭到日本批評；Tiffany則是被認為有「傾日」的傾向及行為，於當時不僅從《姐姐們的Slam Dunk》節目下車，遭到公司冷凍，同時亦在社群網站發布親筆信，向大眾致歉。

可以發現，日本右翼極度反韓，韓國人民亦極度反日，即便他們並不代表兩國所有人民，但打從一開始，彼此的交流就從來離不開政治。

METRO上，「BTS Jimin’s T-shirt controversy isn’t the first K-pop-related historical blunder」一文，開頭便說：

“BTS aren’t the first K-pop act to cause a controversy linked to Japan and Korea’s difficult shared history, and they likely won’t be the last.”

這個說法很中肯，但也透露了些許悲觀。

在這篇文章中，試圖整理了最近所閱讀的相關報導。在(下)篇中，會持續歸納我的想法，以及在這次事件中，值得思考的問題。

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楊虔豪：〈夾雜於「親日」與「反日」矛盾的南韓〉

朝鮮日報網

ABC NEWS

BBC NEWS

CNN

NEW YORK TIMES

TIMES

USA TODAY

Roanoke Times

DAILY NEWS

華盛頓郵報

日本時報英文版

韓國 Digital Korea Herald

The Japan Times Culture 〈Don’t worry too much over BTS〉

The Japan Times Culture 〈Talent agency managing K-pop group BTS apologizes over A-bomb T-shirt〉

METRO 〈BTS Jimin’s T-shirt controversy isn’t the first K-pop-related historical blunder〉

THE DIPLOMAT〈K-Pop Group BTS Caught in Latest Tensions Between South Korea and Japan〉

THE OutLine〈Why BTS is in trouble over a t-shirt〉