Boy band Kingdom apologized for its culturally inappropriate initial album design upon releasing its new EP “History Of Kingdom: Part VII. Jahan" on Wednesday.

“One thing we want to say is that the problem did not stem from disrespect [for the Islam religion or Muslims], but rather it was because we just did not know any better,” member Dann told the press at Ilchi Art Hall in southern Seoul. “We are so sorry to all the Muslim fans and to others who were hurt. As a band that aims to reinterpret different cultures into the world of K-pop, we will make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again.”

The band in September saw backlash from its fans when its agency, GF Entertainment, teased the cover image for “History Of Kingdom: Part VII. Jahan” prior to the album's release. Many fans thought it looked very similar to the cover of the Qur'an and deemed it culturally inappropriate.

Fans were especially disappointed because it wasn't the first time that the band released culturally offensive material. Its previous album “Part VI. Mujin” from earlier this year was criticized for having been too strongly influenced by Japanese cultures and motifs.

This time, GF Entertainment issued an apology after a few days, in which it announced that it would throw away the 70,000 copies of already-printed albums and reprint them with a new design.

Dann, who had lived in Dubai for 10 years, felt especially bad about the recent issue.

“[In Dubai], I went to school with students from all around the world, and actually most of my friends were Muslim,” he said. “We respected each other and never had any problem like this before. My [Muslim] friends called me after the controversy because they were worried about me. They said it was okay, but I felt so sorry. I wondered if this problem could have been avoided if we had been more careful, but to be completely honest, we saw the album design very late in the process and even when we did see it, even I did not recognize its resemblance with the design of the Quran. Again, we are incredibly sorry to those we’ve hurt.”

The reprinted version has a much simpler design, with the album logo, a sun, in the middle.



It includes seven tracks including the lead track “Coup D’Etat.” The music video was filmed in India and depicts the “Kingdom of Sun,” where the “dark powers” take over the kingdom and the band members spark a coup d'état to protect their world.

“We wanted to showcase our powerful manliness for this album," Jahan said. "That is emphasized in our music, which features our low voices. We also regularly exercised."

"History Of Kingdom: Part VII. Jahan" is the last edition of the “History Of Kingdom” series, which features each of the band’s members as a king of a different kingdom, in varying regions and countries in different timelines, all adding up to introducing the band's fictional universe.

The band hinted that its future albums will likely now tell different stories that occur in this fictional space.

Kingdom recently concluded its Americas tour, having performed in 12 cities in the United States, Canada, Chile, Brazil and Mexico.

"It was an opportunity to experience our international popularity first-hand," Dann said. "I think they really like our concept because many of them came to our concerts dressed as kings and queens."

Kingdom debuted in 2021 and it is comprised of members Mujin, Hwon, Jahan, Ivan, Arthur, Dann and Louis.

To find out more about Kingdom, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]