A 24-year-old American YouTuber, named Johnny Somali, has apologised after getting involved in a highly controversial incident in Korea.
Mr Somali sparked massive outrage when he kissed the statue of a girl, symbolising Korean victims of wartime sexual slavery, during his visit to Changdong History and Culture Park in Seoul’s Dobong district, The Korea Times reported.
The apology was shared on the YouTube channel Company on Thursday. In the video, Mr Somali can be seen standing next to the girl’s statue and apologising to the Korean public.
“I want to apologise to Koreans. I didn’t understand the significance of the statue,” Mr Somali said.
Further, Mr Somali explained that his actions were to entertain his viewers in the US. While bowing down, he added in Korean, “I’m truly sorry for being disrespectful.”
Mr Somali has also expressed his interest in learning more about the history of Japan’s wartime sex slavery and the victims, who are also known as the “comfort women”. In the video, Mr Somali shared his willingness to meet the survivors in person and interview them to learn more about their history.
Despite the apology many viewers have expressed doubt on Mr Somali, noting that he has shared multiple controversial photographs and videos on his social media accounts.
Several people have highlighted that Mr Somali hasn’t deleted the images and videos of his controversial actions from social media.
This is not the first time when Mr Somali faced criticism for his actions. A while back, he shared a photograph of himself holding an image of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and said, “I defeated Koreans for you, Shinzo Abe.”
While the post on YouTube was later deleted, it continued to be visible on Instagram with the caption, “RIP Shinzo Abe, I defeated the Koreans for you!”
In another post on Instagram, Mr Somali can be seen lying down and dancing in a local metro in Korea.
On October 31, the Seoul Mapo Police informed that Mr Somali was being investigated for obstruction of business over his behaviour at a convenience store. In addition to this, police are also looking into allegations of alleged assault and drug use as Somali is currently on an “exit ban” that prevents him from leaving the country.