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Foreign Ministry denies Blackpink allegations

Published: 04 Apr. 2023, 15:35

National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong, left, attends a cabinet meeting at the presidential office in central Seoul on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

The Foreign Ministry refuted allegations that a performance by girl group Blackpink initially scheduled for the president’s state visit to Washington later this month was canceled after the U.S. government asked Korea to pay for the event.

“The cultural performance was raised as one of many different ideas, and we were not at the stage of discussing costs,” the ministry said in its statement Monday.

“As already announced by the presidential office, the current schedule for the visit to the United States includes no cultural performance.”

With the Yoon Suk Yeol administration rather exceptionally replacing key foreign policy advisers and policymakers less than a month before Yoon’s state visit to the United States, speculation has grown regarding what the individuals in question did to deserve their fate.

Yoon’s visit to the United States marks the first state visit by a Korean president to the United States in 12 years. It also celebrates the 70th year of the alliance between the two countries.

Various media outlets reported that National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han omitted a report to the president on the scheduling of joint cultural events, namely a U.S. offer to invite Korean girl group Blackpink to perform at a state dinner hosted by Biden alongside American singer-songwriter Lady Gaga.

The idea for the joint cultural event was reportedly proposed by U.S. first lady, Jill Biden.

Blackpink and Lady Gaga [YG ENTERTAINMENT/AP/YONHAP]

YG Entertainment also confirmed on March 28 that it had received an offer for the group to perform at the state dinner on April 26.

Kim resigned from his post on March 29, expressing his hope that the controversy he caused “will no longer be a burden on diplomacy and state administration.”

His resignation followed a string of replacements in Yoon's foreign policy team, including that of Lee Moon-hee, presidential foreign affairs secretary, who was also a key official handling the upcoming U.S. visit; and that of Kim Il-bum, chief of protocol, who resigned on March 10 just ahead of Yoon's visit to Japan for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The presidential office confirmed last Friday that the Blackpink concert will not happen.

Former Korean Ambassador to the United States Cho Tae-yong was named as the next national security adviser on the same day of Kim’s resignation.

Cho on Monday had his first call with Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, to discuss the upcoming state visit and other bilateral issues.

Sullivan expressed his deep appreciation for Cho's significant contributions made to strengthening Korea-U.S. relations and said he hopes to work closely with Cho to “further strengthen the strong Korea-U.S. alliance,” said the presidential office in a statement Monday.

Cho praised the close communication and cooperation between the national security councils of the two countries in the process of restoring the bilateral alliance since the inauguration of the Yoon administration, the presidential office said.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [[email protected]]