Director Bong Joon Ho, who is returning with his new film ‘Mickey 17’, recently revealed his fondness for BLACKPINK, drawing mixed reactions from Thai netizens.
On March 4th KST, the official BuzzFeed Celeb YouTube channel released a ‘Puppy Interview’ featuring Bong Joon Ho.
When asked about his favorite K-pop group, Bong Joon Ho answered “BLACKPINK.”
Regarding his favorite member, he responded, “Rosé, Jisoo, Jennie, all of them.” When the interviewer mentioned that Rosé had recently participated in the same interview, Bong jokingly replied, “Oh, really? I’m ruining such a great program. Beautiful people like her should be on here instead.”
While many Korean fans were surprised that the 1969-born director not only follows BLACKPINK but can name multiple members, the absence of Lisa’s name in his response sparked a backlash among some Thai netizens.
Lisa (real name Lalisa Manobal) is the only non-Korean member of BLACKPINK, while Jisoo, Jennie, and Rosé hold Korean nationality (Rosé also has New Zealand citizenship).
As a result, some Thai netizens criticized Bong Joon Ho, accusing him of being nationalistic and discriminatory, commenting:
• “He talks about diversity in his films while being racist.”
• “This is the kind of discrimination that happens in Korean society.”
• “So typical of Koreans to exclude non-Koreans.”
Some even resorted to personal attacks on his appearance.
In response, many Korean netizens defended Bong Joon Ho, saying:
• “It’s already impressive that he knows three members.”
• “This is just an overreaction.”
• “Feeling left out is one thing, but leaving hateful comments is excessive.”
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