During a past interview in Japan, Siwon was asked, "What pops into your mind when you think of Japan?" He answered,"I like Tokugawa Ieyasu, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Oda Nobunaga." 

The next question continued, "Which one of those figures shares the same values as you?" Siwon replied, "Oda Nobunaga. I even searched up and tried the fried oyster dish that was known to be his favorite."

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The Japanese figures Siwon named as his favorite, especially Toyotomi Hideyoshi, played a vital role in the Japanese invasions of Korea. With this in mind, netizens criticized the idol for the thoughtless answers that showed no signs of patriotism. 

In response to the criticism, a rep of SJ Label explained on October 24, "There were no (ill) intentions. At the time, he was reading the novel 'The Great Ambition' and just talked about the characters in the reading."

The explanation by SJ Label is having little to no effect on subsidizing the criticism toward Siwon. Netizens are continuing to criticize, commenting, "Seriously, Toyotomi is a big no no...", "Crazy bastard", "That is really too much. He even said he likes them", "He's so stupid", "He's worse than Tiffany", "He is thoughtless."