On January 24, actor Jung Woo Sung took to his personal Instagram to issue an apology for his previous words.
During a previous interview in light of his new film 'Innocent Witness', Jung Woo Sung mentioned fellow actress Yeom Jung Ah, who has been receiving endless praise for her acting in the trending drama 'SKY Castle'. Jung Woo Sung said, "She proved with her entire body that flowers do not wither."
However, some netizens found this statement problematic and claimed that it was sexist to compare a woman to a flower.
Jung Woo Sung wrote in his apology, "First, I deeply thank everyone for your affectionate criticism. Regardless of the intent of the person who expressed a thought, I believe that if one who encountered this thought found it to be uncomfortable, then that thought must be rejected in the spirit of progress, and the speaker must apologize. Through this experience, I will make efforts to look back on the discriminatory phrases and expressions which are being used in our society today subconsciously. I thank you all once again for your good lesson, and I offer my deepest apologies for the discomfort you felt."
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I don't see any problem with his comment though... it's just a metaphor, just comparing flower someone beautiful, I personally would compare a flower to anyone beautiful, no matter male or female... even the koreans say 꽃미남 (flower boy / pretty boy), which is definitely NOT sexist.....
I don't know about KPop but JPop uses flower as a metaphor in many many songs which are all very positive...
花は咲く Flowers Will Bloom
世界に一つだけの花 Sekai ni hitotsu dake no hana (The Only Flower in the World)