The group BLACKPINK was unexpectedly targeted for a boycott ahead of their Vietnam concert but appears to have safely navigated the crisis.

BLACKPINK is scheduled to perform their world tour 'Born Pink' on July 29 and 30 at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi, Vietnam.

According to local media, the audience is expected to reach 36,000 and 31,000 respectively on each of the two days.

However, a controversy arose when it was discovered that the map on the website of the Chinese concert organizer, who was preparing the concert, marked the disputed South China Sea islands as Chinese territory.

China has drawn a "nine-dash line" in a U-shape in the South China Sea, claiming about 90% of the area as its own, causing friction with neighboring countries including Vietnam and the Philippines.

This led to vehement arguments that BLACKPINK's concert should not be allowed, and signs of a boycott movement were observed.

Fortunately, BLACKPINK's concert in Vietnam will proceed as planned. The contentious map on the concert organizer's website has been deleted, and the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture has permitted the concert after investigation.

Currently, Vietnamese authorities are increasing censorship of content featuring the nine-dash line.

In fact, the Vietnamese government has previously banned the screening of movies like "Uncharted" and "Barbie" because of the inclusion of the nine-dash line. The Chinese drama "Flight to You" was also removed from all Vietnamese websites, including Netflix, for the same reason.

Meanwhile, BLACKPINK is conducting the largest scale world tour by a K-pop girl group, "Born Pink," which is expected to attract about 1.5 million people. Starting in August, they will move on to performances in New Jersey, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in the United States.

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