Ministry of Foreign Affairs speaks out about information related to BlackPink's concert organizers (Korea)

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang said Vietnamese authorities are verifying information related to the organizers of the BlackPink music show.

BlackPink will hold a concert in Vietnam at the end of July. (Source: YG Entertainment)

On July 6, at a regular press conference, answering a reporter's question regarding the BlackPink (South Korea) concert organizers' support for the "nine-dash line", Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Pham Thu Hang stated: "Vietnam's stance on the nine-dash line policy has been clarified many times. Regarding the reporter's question, we understand that Vietnamese authorities are conducting verification."

Regarding the movie Barbie being banned in Vietnam because it contains the "nine-dash line", the Spokesperson emphasized: "Promoting and using publications and products with the 'nine-dash line' is a violation and is not accepted in Vietnam".

Previously, on June 30, the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports issued a document approving IME Music Company Limited (headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City) to organize the art program BlackPink World Tour 2023 on July 29 and 30 at My Dinh Stadium (Hanoi).

However, some images circulating on social media claim that the company posted a photo with a map of the “nine-dash line”. On the afternoon of July 5, Mr. Ta Quang Dong, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that the Ministry had directed the Department of Performing Arts and related units to verify the information that the company organized the BlackPink music night in support of the “nine-dash line”.

On the afternoon of July 6, IME Vietnam officially issued a response to this information, and said that the company's representative had worked directly and sent an explanatory letter to the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports and related ministries and branches.

The announcement stated: “The website spreading the image is a joint website of regional offices in Asia and is not the official website of the Vietnamese company. Currently, the company does not have an official website operating domain name registration in Vietnam and only operates on some social networking platforms under the name IME Vietnam.”

IME CEO Brian Chow also said: “The map images on the site do not represent any national territory and we are aware of the need to respect the sovereignty and culture of all countries IME is present in. IME has promptly reviewed and committed to replacing images that are inappropriate for the Vietnamese people... Once again, we would like to express our most sincere apologies for this unfortunate misunderstanding.”

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/bo-ngoai-giao-len-tieng-ve-thong-tin-lien-quan-ban-to-chuc-dem-dien-cua-blackpink-han-quoc-233634.html