Strike the netizens, save T-ara – navigating Korean article online portals

Lately k-pop fans have been noticing this neat little Russian criminal-inspired tattoo that Jongup was wearing in B.A.P’s “Skydive” promotional imagery, and getting a bit upset over the acronym used:

bapjongupjewsrussiaclose

I’m not sure why this generated so much concern – he’s playing a bad guy, so obviously him having “bad person tattoos” is entirely appropriate and in-character.  It says a lot about the weak pussyness of our PC Internet culture when we can’t allow our fictional evildoers to be truly evil.  However, I do agree that the folks behind B.A.P’s image did miss an opportunity to customise the symbolism so it was more effective and relevant to Korea, after all it’s not Russia that needs saving, it’s T-ara who need saving from netizen bullies… and it’s not jews that need beating, but Korean netizens!  Let Kpopalypse show you how to be the kind of Internet bad-meaning-good guy on Korean portal sites that will make the likes of B.A.P’s artistic director go weak at the knees!

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