SEOUL: Japanese retail giant Uniqlo has pulled a commercial featuring a 98-year-old US fashion figure from South Korean screens, it said Monday after it was accused of whitewashing colonial history.
South Korea and Japan are both US allies, democracies and market economies faced with an overbearing China and nuclear-armed North Korea, but their relationship is deeply strained by the legacy of Tokyo’s 20th-century expansionism.
The latest example is an advert for Uniqlo fleeces showing elderly fashion celebrity Iris Apfel chatting with designer Kheris Rogers, 85 years her junior.
The last line has the white-haired Apfel, asked how she used to dress as a teenager, innocuously responding: “Oh my God. I can’t remember that far back.”
But Uniqlo’s Korean arm subtitled its version of the ad slightly differently, reading: “I can’t remember things that happened more than 80 years ago.”
That would put the moment as 1939, toward the end of Japan’s brutal colonial rule over the Korean peninsula, where the period is still bitterly resented, and some South Koreans reacted furiously.
“A nation that forgets history has no future. We can’t forget what happened 80 years ago that Uniqlo made fun of,” commented one Internet user on Naver, the country’s largest portal.
The phrase “Uniqlo, comfort women,” in reference to women forced to become sex slaves to Japanese troops during the Second World War, was among the most searched terms on Naver at the weekend, and demonstrators protested outside Uniqlo shops on Monday.
Seoul and Tokyo are currently locked in a bitter trade and diplomatic row stemming from historical disputes, and South Korean consumers have mounted boycotts of Japanese products.
Uniqlo — which has 186 stores in South Korea — has itself been one of the highest-profile targets, while Japanese carmakers’ sales dropped nearly 60 percent year-on-year in September.
The company denied the allegations in a statement, saying the text was altered to highlight the age gap between the individuals and show that its fleeces were for people “across generations.”
“The ad had no intention whatsoever to imply anything” about colonial rule, a Uniqlo representative said on Monday, adding the firm had withdrawn the ad in an effort at damage control.
Analysts said the controversy demonstrated the politicization of the neighbors’ complex history.
The reaction was excessive, said Kim Sung-han, a former foreign affairs vice minister who teaches at Korea University, involving a “jump in logic” that “assumes everything Uniqlo does is political as a Japanese company.”
“I don’t see how her remark could be linked to the comfort women issue,” he added. “This is overly sensitive.”
Japan’s Uniqlo pulls ad after South Korean fury
Japan’s Uniqlo pulls ad after South Korean fury
- South Korean and Japanese relationship is deeply strained by the legacy of Tokyo’s 20th-century expansionism
- Seoul and Tokyo are currently locked in a bitter trade and diplomatic row stemming from historical disputes
Closing Bell: Saudi main index slips to close at 10,588
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index slipped on Sunday, losing 127.15 points, or 1.19 percent, to close at 10,588.83.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR2.57 billion ($685 million), as 28 of the stocks advanced and 232 retreated.
Similarly, the Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu lost 108.53 points, or 0.46 percent, to close at 23,719.13. This comes as 22 of the stocks advanced while 47 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index lost 17.17 points, or 1.22 percent, to close at 1,393.34.
The best-performing stock of the day was Sport Clubs Co., whose share price surged 3.69 percent to SR9.00.
Other top performers included Flynas Co., whose share price rose 2.55 percent to SR72.30, as well as National Industrialization Co., whose share price surged 2.13 percent to SR10.09.
Consolidated Grunenfelder Saady Holding Co. recorded the most significant drop, falling 6.61 percent to SR8.90.
Sustained Infrastructure Holding Co. also saw its stock prices fall 5.75 percent to SR30.82.
CHUBB Arabia Cooperative Insurance Co. also saw its stock prices decline 5.72 percent to SR22.40.
On the announcements front, Wataniya Insurance Co. said it has received a notice of award for a one-year contract with Saudi National Bank to provide general insurance as well as protection and savings insurance services, in line with agreed terms and conditions.
According to a Tadawul statement, coverage will begin on Jan. 1, 2026. The contract value exceeds 15 percent of the company’s total revenues, based on its latest audited financial statements for 2024.
Wataniya Insurance Co. ended the session at SR14.35, up 1.92 percent.
Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co., or Cenomi Retail, has announced executing a SR1.5 billion facility agreement structured as a short-term loan with Emirates NBD – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A bourse filing revealed that the financing duration is three years with an option to extend for a total of two years.
Cenomi Retail ended the session at SR20.00, up 0.26 percent.
First Milling Co. has announced the Board of Directors’ recommendation to amend the firm’s bylaws Article “Company Management” to increase the number of board members from seven to eight. This change reflects the firm’s commitment to broadening the range of expertise and skills on its board, in line with its growth and expansion plans for the next phase.
The company reiterated its commitment to fulfilling all necessary procedures and obtaining approvals from the relevant authorities. The recommendation will be submitted to the upcoming General Assembly, with the date to be announced in due course.
First Milling Co. ended the session at SR49.22, down 1.06 percent.
