Jeon Han-gil, a conservative YouTuber who used to be a Korean history instructor, proposed that Choi Si-won, a member of the group Super Junior and an actor, attend an event he is hosting.
On the 22nd, through his YouTube channel, Jeon Han-gil announced that he would hold a "March 1st Independence Movement Day commemorative freedom concert" and made an official proposal to Choi Si-won, saying, "We should support entertainers like this who can represent the Republic of Korea," and "It would really be refreshing if you could come to the 'Freedom Concert,' a large-scale concert for 10,000 people, just once."
Jeon Han-gil also praised Choi Si-won as "an entertainer with sense and sincerity, whose spirit runs hot."
On online communities, it became known that Choi Si-won had previously hit "like" on Jeon Han-gil's social media post, prompting speculation about his political leanings.
Earlier, on the 19th, when former President Yoon Suk-yeol, indicted as the ringleader of insurrection in connection with the Dec. 3 martial law crisis, was sentenced to life imprisonment at the first trial, Choi Si-won posted the four-character idiom "Bul-eu-pil-mang, to-bung-wa-hae (不義必亡, 土崩瓦解—if one is not righteous, one will surely perish and crumble to pieces)" on his social media.
Amid this, internet users speculated that Choi Si-won had indirectly revealed a position related to the verdict. Choi Si-won did not make any particular statement about it. Later, on the 22nd, he additionally shared 2 Chronicles 16:11 on social media.
Singer Tae Jin-ah, former announcer Lee Jae-yong, and soprano Jung Chan-hee, whose names were mentioned as performers on the poster for the concert hosted by Jeon Han-gil, said they would not attend. They conveyed that they would not participate in an event with a political character.