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Newspaper article [Sports Chosun Reporter Baek Ji-eun] Girl group XG is involved in an anti-Korean controversy. XG is a seven-member girl group that debuted on March 18, 2022. They made their debut in Korea through X-Gallax, the Korean subsidiary of Japan's Avex Capital, and announced "Shooting Star" on the 25th and are active. Although it is a new girl group that has just released three albums, the public's view of XG is cold. This is because the modifier "hateful girl group" followed. The beginning of the case was Masato Matsura, chairman of the parent company Avex Group. Chairman Matsura promoted XG through a live broadcast in June 2022, saying, "It's a project with a Korean producer, so I'm not doing it with a Korean label. All of them are Japanese. It's not like K-pop. "It's American," "I only used Korean producers, but Avex has all the rights," and "The premise is to advance overseas." Why do you have to lose to Korea so much? The Japanese can do it, too. In Korea, at first, the same singer came and imitated Japan," he said nonsense. The video was immediately deleted, but it was clear what a company called Avex was thinking about K-pop and K-pop artists. It was easy to infer that XG's identity was based on anti-Korean sentiment by simply belittling Korean producers for "using" Korean producers even though they were a group created through the K-pop system and staff, defining their music as "X-pop" rather than "K-pop" even though they completed the music with the help of K-pop producers and dance teams, or declaring that they would dampen the momentum of K-pop. Moreover, even in Japan, the "Star of Asia," BoA, who created the basis for entering the K-pop Korean Wave by pouring out records that her own artists could not surpass. It's not just the chairman. The team itself had problems. At the time of its debut, XG strongly advocated the title of "all Japanese group." He also disclosed that Harvey is a mixed-race Australian. However, he did not reveal that Hinata's grandparents were Korean, but suddenly revealed that they were Korean more than half a year after their debut. The behavior shown by the members was not much different from that of the company. When a Korean fan asked for a role model at a mini fan meeting held in July last year, the members gave insincere answers such as "Mom" and "No role model." In common sense, if a team debuted in Korea and is active in Korea, it would have been over if it had chosen one of the hundreds of Korean singers, but XG did not. However, in an English interview released the day after the event, XG mentioned a number of role models, including Madonna Rihanna Ladyga Doja Cat. Furthermore, XG was also suspected of using overseas media even before its debut to play the media as if it were a girl group created by YG Entertainment (hereinafter referred to as YG). In response, YG even drew the line "groundless." That kind of XG is "Music Bank" and "Show"! Domestic music fans strongly protested as they performed in all major music programs such as "Music Core" and "Inkigayo." Is there any reason to watch "hateful girl groups" on terrestrial broadcasting? Eventually, XG was scheduled to appear at a Hallyu concert organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, but his appearance was canceled due to fierce opposition from fans. As the situation worsened, Simon, the CEO of the agency X-Gallax, stepped up himself. Simon said on the 30th, "XG's agency is X-Gallax. XG has been fostered and produced in Korea and Japan, and multinational staff are participating in the process. All XG artists are Japanese, but I want to show XG's music and performance to more people without being bound by prejudice and regulations regarding the local language, etc. Since it is an unprecedented team, it may seem unfamiliar, but we will try to deliver a sincere essence step by step," he said. "Because the biggest goal is to introduce XG's music to the global market, we are presenting the message of music based on English, the most widely spoken language worldwide. Various contents communicate with fans in Korean songs and Korean. It is also different from the fact that there are unpleasing and strategies to use a specific third-party branding, and they are not aware of any specific target as a role model or competitor." However, the only clear part of Simon's long explanation of various controversies is that he did not unplet using YG. He could not explain at all about Chairman Matsura's remarks against Korea and disparaging K-pop artists or the controversy over the members' identity. Although it blurs its essence with "unprecedented team, it may feel unfamiliar" or "English song," no one criticizes the all-Japanese group NiziU, which was created by JYP Entertainment, for its activities in Korea, and no one raised the question, "Why is the Korean group singing English song?" just because BTS, Monsta X, and Twice released English songs. Currently, the sharp gaze toward XG is not because they are Japanese, nor because they sing in English. Although the team was created based on K-pop, the problem is that it denies the identity of K-pop and tries to undermine it, but XG still does not seem to realize this.