K-pop star Johyun’s League of Legends cosplay ‘too revealing’, say online critics after Berry Good star promotes e-sports show dressed as fox girl Ahri

Johyun in the cosplay costume to look like Ahri from the video game League of Legends.

By Ko Dong-hwan

K-pop star Johyun has become the latest South Korean singer to become embroiled in a controversy over a revealing outfit.

The member of girl band Berry Good sparked the drama on Monday when she dressed as the character Ahri from video game League of Legends in an outfit that some said was “too revealing”.

The star from the six-member K-pop girl band appeared as the fox character – at a red carpet event in Seoul promoting the TV e-sports show Game Dolympic 2019: Golden Card scheduled to air later this year.

Johyun was promoting the TV e-sports show Game Dolympic 2019: Golden Card.

While some online critics said the outfit was vulgar, the star’s fans defended her and said the costume was a perfect representation of the Ahri character.

Fans said those who condemned Johyun “don’t understand the game character” and “she prepared the costume after thoroughly discussing with the network”.

Johyun competes in Dolympic with other artists from K-pop outfits such as Teen Top, NCT, B1A4, Fromis 9 and Sonamoo, as well as solo artists. A clip from Sunday posted on South Korean online portal Naver showed Johyun and her bandmates practising for the competition at a PC cafe.

Johyun posted on Instagram afterwards that her “emotions and thoughts waver as a result of criticism and words of support”.

The competitors, divided into two teams, play games such as Overwatch and League of Legends. Kim Hee-chul and Shin Dong-hee from boy band Super Junior host the show and lead one team each.

After the criticism of her outfit, Johyun shared her thoughts about the controversy in an Instagram post.

“I’m also human and a regular Korean woman whose emotions and thoughts waver as a result of criticism and words of support,” she wrote.

“I believe we should respect everyone regardless of their gender because we all grew up in different environments and think differently. I love everyone that is living in the same era as I am.”

Earlier this year, K-pop star Hyolyn landed in hot water over a revealing outfit worn at a performance in Seoul that many said left her looking “butt-naked”. And late last year, Mamamoo member Hwasa raised eyebrows by wearing a revealing, skintight red costume on stage in Japan.

Read the full story at the Korea Times.