Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
People Power Party politician Jang Yechan is under fire after his past fanfiction writing that involves sexually explicit stories about IU recently surfaced. The 34-year-old is a candidate for head of the youth division of his party.
His web novel, titled “Gangnam Huata” (2015-2016), is a web novel about an oriental medicine doctor who helps patients recover through sexual intercourse with him. The novel came under controversy as a female character depicted in the novel is a singer named Lee Ji-eun, “who is unable to sing high notes due to vocal cord nodules.” Lee Ji-eun is the legal name of Korean pop star IU.
There are reportedly a bunch of other female celebrities involved in these stories as well.
Jang proudly admitted to the charges in a Facebook post recently and defended himself.
Did I use obscenities in my essay like Tak Hyun-min, or did I sexually harass female celebrities in my comments like Lee Jae-myung’s son? What kind of movie, drama, webtoon, or novel can be made if the problem is the content of a fantasy novel. Are all directors, writers, and actors who make or appear in movies or dramas now social troublemakers? Should writers of webtoons and web novels be criticized for the content of their work? If people die in novels and movies, does that make the author a mass murderer, and if there’s a bed scene, does that mean there’s a problem with gender sensitivity?
He concluded by declaring, “I am proud of my history as a web novel and webtoon writer, and I will break new ground against the prejudices of politicians against the arts and culture.”
He also used a familiar move, alluding to this exposure being some kind of left-wing conspiracy.
Jang’s former party head felt differently, and issued a general apology, mainly cause they don’t want to lose the election.
Regarding this, former People’s Power representative Lee Jun-seok apologized, saying, “I am sorry to IU fans.” On the 26th, former CEO Lee posted on his SNS, “I don’t know what’s going on, but if IU’s fandom is touched, the general election will be in danger. People who read it faster than me send it (contents), but it seems correct that IU’s real name and lyrics were included. IU Fans, I’m sorry. Please don’t hate the power of the people. It’s just an act of one candidate,” he wrote about Candidate Jang’s web novel ‘Gangnam Hwa-ta’.
Always know you’re in for some shit when an explanation starts off with whataboutism and conspiracy. While I do get his point about fanfics, and I know there are a fuck ton of people out there who consume content like that (hell, they’ve made some rich as hell), I feel like especially if you’re a conservative politician then you’re gonna get shit for any past like this.
Also, not to start The Discourse in the comments, but with recent controversies about deepfakes and AI of public figures (or just people, in general), it does make me wonder how people feel that compares to situations like this. For me, it’s honestly always been a bit weird when it involves real people, regardless of medium.
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Update
Some of the other artists named were Kim Hye Soo, Cho Yeo Jeong, and Krystal. People also pointed out that it references IU’s “Good Day” era a lot, when she was a minor.
