International K-pop fans know the feeling of having their respective cultures appropriated, mocked, or caricatured all too well – specifically when it comes to the Black and Brown communities.

Recently, two K-pop stars – BIGBANG’s G-Dragon and RIIZE’s Eunseok – have found themselves in hot water after two back-to-back incidents of either wearing or using racially offensive language — one has never had a scandal in his career until now, while the other is a repeat offender. With how often idols are involved in racially insensitive controversies, when does the so-called ignorance become blatant negligence?

The first incident occured on May 2 when G-Dragon performed at the K-SPARK 2026 music festival in Macau, China wearing a white shirt with the Dutch phrase, “RONNY, EEN GEILE NEGER-JONGEN” on the back. According to Korea JoongAng Daily, the phrase roughly translates to “Ronny, a horny Black boy,” which perpetuates both racist and sexual connotations. The wording rightfully sparked heavy criticisms online, with many condemning both the stylists and G-Dragon himself for presumably co-signing such harmful language towards the Black community.

However, the rapper’s agency, Galaxy Corporation, was quick to respond, issuing an apology statement the next day: “We sincerely apologize for the inclusion of wording that was inappropriate in its social and cultural context. The company has once again recognized the importance of more careful cultural sensitivity and responsible review through this incident.” The statement went on to disclose that there would be a thorough internal investigation regarding the clothing item and how the agency will operate with its stylists moving forward. While the statement is respectable and was issued almost immediately after the incident, it falls on deaf ears when remembering this is not G-Dragon’s first rodeo in cultural insensitivity, or even appropriation; it’s not even his first time wearing that exact shirt.

Following the social uproar from his K-Spark performance, multiple photos and videos resurfaced online with the idol wearing the same Dutch shirt 20 years ago, which would’ve been the same year BIGBANG initially debuted. Considering K-pop in 2006 was much more contained and considered a niche interest than it is today – especially in the Western sphere – it’s unclear whether the criticism was as loud back then as it is now. If so, the chatter was most likely contained to online blogs and forums, a considerably smaller community space than the beast of today’s social media platforms. But of course, the racial insensitivity didn’t stop there.

G-Dragon has sported box braid extensions — a protective style created by and normally associated with Black culture — on numerous occasions, including recently during one of his 2026 performances. On top of that, he’s often been criticized for performing in “gang-banger” costumes while throwing up gang signs on television appearances, in an attempt to look “cool” and “trendy.” And as if the list couldn’t get any worse, in 2013, the rapper posted a photo of himself with black face paint, commonly known as blackface.

According to The Guardian, the post was apparently meant to show “support” for Black-American Trayvon Martin, who was murdered at 17-years-old due to racial profiling. The result, however, came off as tone deaf and insensitive, as blackface in itself is historically rooted in racism and a means to dehumanize Black people. Regardless, G-Dragon’s spokesperson at the time denied malicious intent, stating that, “[G-Dragon] was simply wearing different face paint colors, and this is a huge misunderstanding. The face paint is only a color variation for his album cover which includes black, white and red. It is in no way meant to be a political or racial statement.” Nevertheless, all of these incidents have turned former fans off, tired of hearing excuses and having to see an adult K-pop idol repeatedly make the same mistakes with little to no regard for their implications.

Other than the BIGBANG star, K-pop has recently seen another idol under fire for his problematic choice of words. On May 5, RIIZE member Eunseok shared photos of himself as a child on the Dear U Bubble app. In the photo, a young Eunseok is wearing a yellow shirt and black sun hat with considerably tanner skin. The issue isn’t the photo itself though. It’s the word he referred to himself as in the caption: “깜둥이”or “kkamdungi”. Within the context of the English language, this is roughly the equivalent of saying “Blackie” and comparable to using the N-word — both of which are widely known as incredibly derogatory racial slurs.

Online criticism erupted following the incident, with many fans – both Korean and internationally – immediately shutting down the possibility of Eunseok being unaware of what that word means or its connotations. Soon after, the singer deleted the post and personally addressed his mistake, taking to Bubble again to issue an apology. “Yesterday, I used an inappropriate expression while sending a photo of my childhood,” he wrote. “I apologize to those who were offended by my thoughtless and inappropriate choice of words … I will think and act more carefully in the future. I sincerely apologize.”

While this is Eunseok’s first offense, both his and G-Dragon’s controversies have once again sparked the prolonged discussions surrounding K-pop and its lack of cultural sensitivity and awareness. For years, whenever Black fans, specifically, express frustration and disapproval of an idol’s misuse of their culture, they’re often met with rebuttals that give these artists the benefit of the doubt. “They don’t know ‘XYZ’ is offensive because they’ve always lived in Korea, surrounded by other Koreans.” But as the years pass by and the world continues to become more culturally aware than ever before, it’s hard to sit back and accept that as the case.

With global information and news more readily available at people’s fingertips than ever before, the justification is getting slimmer by the day. In G-Dragon’s case, if a stylist is putting together a look for their client, the least they could do is research the words and symbols portrayed on the clothes before styling them in it. There are so many distasteful occurrences that could’ve been avoided if this was a top priority for most labels.

With Eunseok’s case and many others like it, however, the unfavorable comments and attitudes towards tan or dark skin is much more complex and deeply rooted in South Korea’s historical classism. When an entire country has been built on such internalized colorism, it becomes much harder for society to unlearn the values and ideals that are so embedded within its culture — though, not impossible.

When looking at these two incidents side-by-side, it’s easy to point out which one seems like it won’t repeat itself versus the one that most likely will. Whether Eunseok should’ve known better or not, the singer immediately took accountability, apologized for his mistake, and vowed to do better, which fans can only hope will be true.

G-Dragon, on the other hand, has yet to make any type of statement or apology himself over the many years he’s been active. The responsibility is instead tossed to his label and reps, making any attempt at denying cultural insensitivity and promising to do better seem disingenuous. Actions may speak louder than words, but silence is the loudest of them all.