SEVENTEEN’s Mingyu Receives Criticism For Wearing Red In His Latest Instagram Post — Here’s What’s Happening

SEVENTEEN’s Mingyu has been facing criticism after his latest Instagram update, which was posted on March 8, showed him wearing a red hoodie while being captioned with a red heart.

| @min9yu_k/Instagram

There is a controversy surrounding this because in South Korea, wearing red or blue on election day can be used to imply which party or candidate one is voting for. Therefore, many public figures (such as K-Pop idols) often tend to refrain from wearing either color when going to cast their vote.

| @min9yu_k/Instagram

Since Mingyu posted the pictures of himself in red around election time, netizens have pointed out that this could be taken to mean he voted for the conservative candidate (now President-elect) Yoon Suk Yeol. While Mingyu’s intention in posting the pictures cannot be confirmed without an official statement from Pledis Entertainment, many netizens feel as if Mingyu’s actions could be considered somewhat thoughtless. Yoon Suk Yeol ran his campaign under the promise of abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality And Family, which he claimed is unfair to men.

Given that SEVENTEEN’s fanbase consists largely of women, Mingyu sporting red in his latest Instagram update is receiving backlash for being insensitive. While some fans claim that there was nothing particularly out of the ordinary in Mingyu’s update because he always likes to match the color of his emojis to his outfit…

THREAD OF PROOF

Mingyu always connects his caption with the pictures. It was not unusual for him to post like that, he’s posting like that for years. These are the proof. pic.twitter.com/Zn3NWlKJOb

— kinggg | HANNIHAE (@bboongbbanggi__) March 10, 2022

…other netizens think that there is a high chance that he knew what he was doing, especially at such a critical time as this.

| /Reddit

if koreans have been cautious of using red or blue during elections he def knows what hes doing https://t.co/79gSQ4HIHN

— gen (@glossguitar) March 9, 2022

Still, fans have pointed out that other K-Pop idols have used red emojis in the past few days without it being taken to mean anything…

The reason I think this Mingyu thing is dumb & very intentional by someone trying to cause mess, is because I can tell you at least 10 other idols who either wore red or used a “red emoji” in the past few days & I am not seeing this energy towards them.

— Moonbin’s Sugar Mama (: (@ahgaseexohell) March 10, 2022

…so the backlash against Mingyu may be unfair.

While it remains unclear whether the post was simply an accident or whether there was a statement behind it, fans believe that avoiding the use of either red or blue would have been safer regardless of how he voted. Wearing either color could be considered “reckless” given the circumstances, but only an official statement can confirm Mingyu’s true intentions.

Hi, I'm a K-Carat and this is my translation I posted on Weverse regarding the issues about Mingyu. I really tried to be clear for you guys. Hope this helps. #Seventeen #Mingyu pic.twitter.com/QXUx3JWOyv

— ???????????????????? (@RequitedHeart) March 10, 2022