park president

South Korean netizens are apparently up in arms over their president’s choice of shoes that she wore when throwing the opening pitch of the third game of the Korean Series baseball tournament in Seoul on October 27. Her fashion crime? President Park Guen Hye had the “audacity” to show up wearing a Japanese brand of sneakers!

The shoes marred President Park’s surprise appearance at the match between the Samsung Lions and the Doosan Bears because they are made by the Japanese athletic brand Asics. The company is on an unofficial South Korean netizen list of “right-wing” Japanese companies because they feel it supports Tokyo’s position of ownership over a group of jointly-claimed islands, called Takeshima in Japanese and Dokdo in Korean.

▼ The shoe in question. Nothing says treason like pink

2013.10.30 park's shoes

Not even the president’s patriotic flag-adorned glove and sensible khakis could not detract from the traitorous shoes. As it is very rare for a sitting president to attend a championship game, Korean netizens wondered why she would choose to wear something from Japan!

She should have worn shoes made here in Korea…

Why would she wear Asics when we have strained relations with Japan?

How could the president wear shoes made from a company that wants to take Dokdo back?!

When you are a world leader, everything you wear and every hand you shake is scrutinized and President Park is no exception. But should heads of government have to avoid any product made by a country with whom they have diplomatic disagreements? Whatever the case, we hope Ms. Park enjoyed the game, which the Lions won 3-2 by the way.

Source: Searchina via MSN
Images: Wikipedia, Asics