Netflix series “The Umbrella Academy 3”, starring a Korean-American actor, sparks controversy over the appearance of the Rising Sun Flag

Korean netizens got angry at Netflix’s original series “The Umbrella Academy” for showing the Rising Sun Flag in its first episode.

On June 22nd, Netflix released the first episode of “The Umbrella Academy Season 3”. Korean-American actor Justin H. Min (as Ben Hargreeves) appeared in the first episode of the drama and was described as a person born in Seoul, attracting keen attention.

However, the Rising Sun Flag suddenly appeared in the episode as a decoration on the inside door of a building, drawing criticisms from Korean netizens. 

A netizen angrily commented, “I heard a Korean-American actor starred in this drama and they also collected his opinions, but why did they even add the Rising Sun Flag into the scene?”, adding, “It ‘just’ appeared with no intention of arousing criticism”.

Netizens gave various responses to the controversy, saying “Why are these kinds of things always happen?”, “I suddenly got goosebumps when I saw that scene”, “I was really angry”, “Imperialism seems to be the selling point”, etc.

The Rising Sun Flag is the national flag of the former Japanese Empire that was widely used by the Japanese military during their invasion of Asia and World War II to symbolize Japanese militarism. 

Source: Nate