AOA’s Seolhyun And Jimin Come Under Fire For Lack Of Basic History Knowledge

[theemii.livejournal.com]

AOA’s Seolhyun and Jimin have recently faced a storm of criticism after being unable to identify a hugely important Korean historical figure.

On May 10, they appeared on OnStyle Live’s “Channel AOA.” As part of the show, the two face a challenge where they are given a board with the pictures of several important historical figures and they must match them up with the correct names. The first line includes Yi Sun Sin, Shin Saimdang, Kim Gu, An Jung Geun, and Abraham Lincoln. The two are able to match Shin Saimdang and Kim Gu, before coming across An Jung Geun, where they become stuck.

An Jung Geun is one of the most important Korean historical figures, famous for fighting for Korean independence from Japanese occupation and assassinating a Japanese statesman and former Resident-General of Korea, Ito Hirobumi.




They turn to their smartphones for help in searching up the figure, and when they have no luck, a production staff member gives them the hint “Ito Hirobumi.” As Jimin gives another incorrect guess, the staff member repeats that he has a relation to Ito Hirobumi. Jimin replies, “Iddo Horomomi?” once more completely failing to get a correct answer.

Luckily, Seolhyun is finally able to find the correct answer with further searching on her phone. However, this scene has not been overlooked by netizens, who are appalled at the girls’ lack of general history knowledge. One netizen lamented, “No way, this must be scripted. Does it make any sense not to know An Jung Geun?” while another says, “If history is forgotten, the Korean people have no future.”



Article: Criticisms rain on Seolhyun and Jimin for not recognizing Ahn Joong Geun

Source: Herald Econ via Nate

1. [+4,424, -108] How can you claim that kids like them are representing Korea and raising awareness about Korea in the world. Their agency needs to work on teaching them Korean history before teaching them foreign languages.

2. [+4,188, -91] I'm pretty dumb myself but as a Korean even I know who Ahn Joong Geun is. That's so bad... please study..

3. [+3,280, -287] People are going to take this opportunity to hate on them but they really should know their historical figures by now

4. [+30, -2] Wow, there's a level to being dumb but how could you not know Lincoln or even Ahn Joong Geun?? But then again, what would celebrities know other than playing around and looking pretty. So pathetic~

5. [+30, -3] How dumb do you have to be to say that? There is no future to a country of people who have forgotten their history. Be embarrassed... seriously.

6. [+23, -0] This makes me so angry... what's inside their heads? Nothing but dances and song lyrics?

7. [+23, -2] This is... really bad... even fans can't shield this.

8. [+17, -3] I'm a Seolhyun fan but I can't shield this... she's super stupid...


Source: Soompi nate & Netizenbuzz nate

Comments

[funkaliciousss.livejournal.com]

so idols have to be history experts as well now

[demeulemeester.livejournal.com]

i don't think the hate is warranted at all but ahn junggeun is a really important figure in korean history so it's not really "expert" level stuff

[demeulemeester.livejournal.com]

why should they know who lincoln is tho. anyway it's nagl to not be able to recognise one of the most important figures in modern korean history but w/e, i only care about bops and visuals so.

[jasmineakaiumi.livejournal.com]

lmao exactly this

[ultraflyy23.livejournal.com]

I imagine this post is going to be full of fans acting like this is no big deal. They don't know a huge historical figure from their own country, that's not okay. Ignorance isn't cute.

[belintuchiha.livejournal.com]

IA

[myrrhcat.livejournal.com]

when things like this happen in the US it's considered a failing of the educational system, not of individual people. i mean, there are always a few grouchy ppl who come in and comment like SO THIS IS THE YOUTH OF TODAY but it's really corny.

[921227.livejournal.com]

IA the school system is what screws people over often, not necessarily themselves

[torontok.livejournal.com]

This is really nagl.Fair enough that they didn't recignize his picture but the hint given to them made it pretty obvious

[lettace.livejournal.com]

this is... pretty bad actually :/

doesn't justify some of the gross things being said about them tho

[chimpansee.livejournal.com]

I mean.... I don't know much about AOA but some idols don't really get much of an education because they debut so early. But I don't know how important this is. If someone in my country didn't know who Willem of Orange was for example, I would be very surprised.

[happydirections.livejournal.com]

my high school history teacher would probably have a heart attack if i didn't know him

[921227.livejournal.com]

I'm not Korean so I can't even imagine what his significance is/relate it to someone from US history, but Jimin is what? 6,7 years out of high school? If she even remembered half those guys I'd consider it a success tbh I know US school systems don't teach for longevity so I can't imagine SK ones do

[chibi-rei.livejournal.com]

I guess you could relate him to somebody from colonial times/Revolutionary War? Like it says above, it was during Japanese colonization, he assassinated the Japanese governor, and was executed in Manchuria.

Actually there's a Tae Kwon Do form named after him which is the only reason I know who he is haha.

[misspoirot.livejournal.com]

I remember Ahn Jung Geun from 2D1N episode and hes a pretty influential figure. I mean, he cut his fingers and all when vowing Korea's independence.. So i guess its a bit hard to miss that kind of figure?

[leopolitan.livejournal.com]

not cute

[lycorisc.livejournal.com]

agh nagl

[arysthaeniru.livejournal.com]

Most of the idols are trainees from very young ages, lbr. They won't try in school because they are too busy working their ass off to debut. And then some even debut while still in school, amd that's all around riskt for knowledge. I don't know when AOA debuted, but I wouldn't be surprised if they debuted young.

And, of course, when idols like Jungkook and Sehun struggle with basic math, it's cute....

[921227.livejournal.com]

//Jungkook and Sehun struggle with basic math//

lol What?

[iznanassi.livejournal.com]

Omg I didn't know they had gotten hints and stuff too that's even more embarrassing = =

Some of y'all in this thread though lmao there's a difference between math and knowing smth that literally encompasses your entire identity, on top of the fact that Seolhyun was marketed as ~AOA's brain~.

Companies should stop doing this to idols man I feel bad for Seolhyun especially bc she always gets shit for smth that could've been avoided if her company had just stfu or focused on playing up what is wellknown and well-liked about her.

[fabulousdoll.livejournal.com]

As someone who is good at maths but bad at history for my bad memory I feel personally offended :(
jk IA with your comment, there is some basic things about your own history that is needed to know to understand the present and even how things can work in a future.

ouch!

[fabulousdoll.livejournal.com]

I hope FNC spends some money on giving them some history lessons so it doesn't happen again and gives more munition for the hate.

[carra-mia.livejournal.com]

Idols do not have to be some book-knowledge experts, but if the guy really was so signifact to korean history, then...yikes.
I mean, no matter what your job is not knowing the super basic stuff is always embarrasing etc.

[tempestdance.livejournal.com]

it's also the fact that even with hints and everything they were laughing and joking about it, giving stupid answers like kin do kang, which is a japanese nickname of kim du han, well-known mobster in the 40s. like, not knowing ahn jung geun itself is embarrassing but the fact that they were so shameless about it... yikes.

[rachelrainna.livejournal.com]

this is what gets me about this! ignorance is one thing but to joke abt it and call him kin do kang is another

[hurtmybones.livejournal.com]

lmao yikes... how do you even grow up in a country and not have a basic grasp of the important figures in the country's history? come on now, ppl usually know the really major historical stuff (even in a simplistic way) regardless of whether they even went to school or are ~historical experts~

[jrt131n.livejournal.com]

4. [+30, -2] Wow, there's a level to being dumb but how could you not know Lincoln or even Ahn Joong Geun?? But then again, what would celebrities know other than playing around and looking pretty. So pathetic~

5. [+30, -3] How dumb do you have to be to say that? There is no future to a country of people who have forgotten their history. Be embarrassed... seriously.

6. [+23, -0] This makes me so angry... what's inside their heads? Nothing but dances and song lyrics?

8. [+17, -3] I'm a Seolhyun fan but I can't shield this... she's super stupid...

Who the fuck pissed in ya'lls coffee?

But anyway, I don't know....where they time while they were doing this, sometimes most easiest answers can escape us if we are under pressure. But Koreans pride themselves in knowing everything about their history, so the reactions from the netz, even if a bit over the top, I can see why they would react the way they are.

[senshicalico.livejournal.com]

"what's inside their heads? Nothing but dances and song lyrics?"

I mean... probably? Seems like they (idols) aren't allowed to do and breathe much else.

[aeromi.livejournal.com]

welp i dont even know basic history knowledge of my own country some ppl just dont care tbh

[10135.livejournal.com]

Can anyone relate this person to someone in US history teaching standards so I can understand better? Because so far I really don't get the big deal like, at all. As someone who sucks at history I do know some top influential people but I could not recite to you dates, or hell, even faces, let alone full names or all of what they did. It's just not on some people's radar regardless of how big it was in history.

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

Not a US citizen but I guess he would be the equivalent of a high profile Patriots during the American War of Independence, if the war was 50 years ago (these are recent events)

It's like french people not knowing Jean Moulin or russian not knowing Joukov (not an independentist but pretty huge historical figure).

[dot-rose.livejournal.com]

What show was this? Is this a purely historical based one?
In hindsight, maybe the girls should have studied a bit of history before going on if they knew the segments.
The amount of backlash the girls are getting is a bit much. I'm not saying they shouldn't get Any, but they seem to be getting A LOT.

[sjtaazrz.livejournal.com]

The article lists the show: "Channel AOA." I skimmed an episode and it seems like a run-of-the-mill variety with some free play/do whatever you want scenes.

It seems like it was just meant to be a fun quiz and he show isn't based around their intellect.

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

I think reactions are a bit disproportionate but it is a shame that they didn't know the answer

[donutism.livejournal.com]

I dunno, I personally don't care about history so to me its no big deal. I don't think it's an indicator about intelligence. I can see why its bad, esp Korea being so patriotic and shit, but It doesn't warrant the disgusting comments tho.

[rivains.livejournal.com]

There's a difference between not being a history buff and not knowing rly important people. Korea is like this about An Jung Geun for a very good reason lmfao. It doesn't warrant disgusting comments but it IS an ignorant look for Seolhyun/Jimin and IS an indicator of intelligence if you don't even know one of the most important modern history figures in your country... its like not knowing who MLK is

[miwa201.livejournal.com]

i love seolhyun and i always defended her but i can't defend this. it's a shame that it seems like it will overshadow their comeback, i can't believe the pd didn't edit this out (not blaming him, i just don't get why he thought it would be smart to leave this in)

[sirenasfun.livejournal.com]

It's unfortunate, but can you really be surprised when they spend every waking moment performing and practicing and dieting?