Super Junior member Kim Hee-chul has apologized after mistakenly criticizing a Liberation Day banner from Incheon Metropolitan City Government over what he believed was an incorrectly displayed South Korean flag.
Kim shared his apology on social media on August 9, one day after his angry reaction to the banner drew attention online. He admitted that he made a mistake because he did not look closely at the full image before reacting.
“I failed to realize that it was a person holding the South Korean national flag and reacted in anger after only seeing the flag image at first glance,” Kim explained.
He added that his reaction came from haste and poor spatial awareness, MaeilBusiness reported.
The controversy started after Incheon released a banner for the 81st National Liberation Day of Korea. The banner featured a Korean independence activist holding the South Korean flag and included the message, “The Day We Regained the Light.”
Some online users noticed that the taegeuk design appeared to be reversed, making the flag look upside down. Kim then reacted strongly to a related post, while fellow Super Junior member Choi Si-won also showed support with a South Korean flag emoji.
Kim Hee-chul Admits Mistake
However, Incheon officials later explained that the flag was not incorrectly designed. The image showed the independence activist holding the flag from a low-angle view, which changed how the taegeuk symbol appeared from the viewer’s position.
As the discussion grew, the city decided to remove the banner. Officials said they understood that the design could be misunderstood when viewed on a flat banner, even though the flag itself was created correctly.
Kim said his mistake was also linked to his frustration over seeing other cases where the South Korean flag had been displayed incorrectly, including instances where it was hung upside down.
“I think I had built up a lot of frustration from seeing those kinds of mistakes so often,” he said, while accepting responsibility for not checking the image carefully.
According to AllKPop, Kim also asked people to criticize him for being careless and said apologizing was the right thing to do after realizing his error.
“Please criticize me for being careless,” he said. He also expressed hope that the South Korean national flag would not be distorted or misunderstood in the future.