The Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), one of the largest Korean music awards, will be held on Dec 4 at the Nagoya Dome in Japan amid the ongoing trade row between Seoul and Tokyo. Entertainment giant CJ ENM, the organizer, said most of its people agreed that the civil and cultural exchange should be treated separately from political issues and go on. “MAMA has positioned itself as the best music awards in Asia,” Shin Hyung-kwan, Music Content Director of CJ ENM, was quoted as saying. “We will continue striving to make K-pop and Asian music mainstream worldwide.”
The celebrity lineup has not been disclosed. Following Tokyo’s export curb in July on components needed for Korean firms to produce semiconductors and display panels, many Koreans have been boycotting Japanese products. Hence, Korean netizens are giving CJ ENM the cold shoulder for its decision.
One online user commented: “CJ is hosting an event in Japan while Koreans are boycotting Japan. The company seems to love Japanese money a lot.” MAMA began in 1999 as the “Mnet Music Video Festival.” It changed to MAMA in 2009. It was hosted in three countries in 2018 ― Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan ― but this year will be held only in Japan. CJ ENM excluded Hong Kong due to political protests there.
Source: The Korea Times
