Super Junior's Choi Siwon reacts to Olympic Park protest video with Korean flag emojis

Choi Siwon, a member of K-pop group Super Junior, reacted to footage of an ongoing protest at Seoul Olympic Park demanding a by-election by posting Korean flag emojis on social media.

On Wednesday, Choi left three Korean flag emojis on a video posted to the Threads platform showing the protest at Olympic Park. He did not add any written comment.

The video was filmed near the handball arena at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, where demonstrators have been gathering around a vote-counting site to protest a ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections. The protesters are calling for a re-election and a manual recount of ballots cast on election day.

Earlier this month, Choi posted a photo featuring the South Korean flag and a nighttime view of Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, only to delete it shortly after. The post was widely interpreted as a show of support for the Olympic Park protest.

Choi also replied directly to comments from users who praised him as a patriot. When one user wrote that it was "a great honor to be a fellow citizen of the Republic of Korea," he said, "I am merely proud and honored to be a citizen of the Republic of Korea."

When another user commented that he was "an anti-communist patriot" representing "not a degraded Korea but Taiwan," Choi replied, "I will do my best and return home in glory."

He drew a line at comments hinting at a political career. When one user wrote "from the Jamsil constituency in two years," Choi said, "That is too kind. I am not worthy of such a thing."

Choi opened his Threads account on July 13, writing that he wanted to "continue thinking about the future of our country together with you all and share the thoughts I have been reflecting on."

The controversy surrounding Choi's political activities has spilled into legal disputes involving some Super Junior fan accounts. In May, he filed a lawsuit seeking damages for defamation and insult against 10 anonymous users he identified as having posted malicious content about him online.