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Vietnam 'looking into' Blackpink concert organizer over S. China Sea map

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Agence France-Presse

<p>HANOI — Vietnam is investigating &quot;an incident&quot; involving the organizer of a Blackpink concert in Hanoi, the government has said, after social media users complained its website featured a map showing China&#x27;s territorial claims in the South China Sea.</p><p>K-pop megastar girl group Blackpink is due to host two concerts in the Vietnamese capital in late July.</p><p>News of the performance has generated a huge amount of excitement in the city, which rarely hosts big-name international artists.</p><p>But early this week, reports surfaced on social media saying iME, a Beijing-based event and entertainment company, used a map on the front page of its official website featuring the &quot;nine-dash line.&quot;</p><p>China has long used the line to illustrate its expansive claims over most of the resource-rich South China Sea, often to the displeasure of Hanoi, which also claims parts of the waterway.</p><p>Some Facebook and TikTok users demanded a boycott of the concerts.</p><p>On the Blackpink Vietnam FC (fan club) Facebook page, one comment read: &quot;In support of Vietnam, we&#x27;d better... not attend entertainment shows organized by iME.&quot;</p><p>Another read: &quot;This concerns the territorial claim of a country. Although I like Blackpink, we should raise our voice.&quot;</p><p>Tickets are due to go on sale on Friday.</p><p>The ministry of culture and information said Wednesday it was starting &quot;procedures to look into the incident.&quot;</p><p>On Thursday, ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said she was &quot;aware that relevant authorities were trying to clarify these claims&quot;, admitting that Blackpink&#x27;s Vietnam show had become a &quot;hot-button issue&quot;.</p><p>On Thursday, the company&#x27;s website was &quot;under maintenance&quot;.</p><p>iME Vietnam did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by AFP.</p><p>Earlier this week, Vietnam authorities said they had banned the upcoming &quot;Barbie&quot; movie from cinemas over scenes showing the same map.</p><p>The South China Sea is home to valuable oil and gas deposits and shipping lanes, and several of China&#x27;s neighbors have voiced concern that Beijing is seeking to expand its reach.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/04/24/23/k-pop-band-blackpink-a-global-phenomenon">K-pop band Blackpink: A global phenomenon</a></li></ul><p>© Agence France-Presse</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2496366" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1631839" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

K-pop megastar girl group Blackpink is due to host two concerts in the Vietnamese capital in late July.