Singer and songwriter Henry, who was recently embroiled in controversy over his pro-Chinese stance, expressed that he was “hesitant” to appear in a new program because of the fierce attacks he’s been receiving from Korean netizens.

He was attending the press conference on Friday in Seongsu-dong, eastern Seoul, for a new JTBC show “Fly to the Dance,” which is a spin-off series of the station's hit music program “Begin Again” (2017-20). He attended the event together with other cast members: dancers Lia Kim, Aiki, Leejung, Amy, Love Ran and Harimu.

“The past few months have been definitely the most difficult times I’ve ever had to endure in my life,” he said when asked about the controversy. “All the cursing and attacks online, which are words I cannot say here, upset me really bad, and I still have to endure them. What I really couldn’t stand was the verbal attacks against my family.”

Henry said he didn’t want to appear in any programs in Korea but decided to accept this one as he has “so many good memories of ‘Begin Again.’”

“I was not hesitant just because of my feelings getting hurt, but because I didn’t want to be a nuisance let alone be a negative effect to the production team and other cast members due to my negative image,” he said. “I hope that people can see me through the lenses of music and not through nationalistic or political lenses.”

JTBC’s upcoming “Fly to the Dance,” is a dance busking reality show. A crew of Korean dancers will travel to the United States and put on busking performances on the streets.

When anti-Chinese sentiment had been building among young Koreans, Henry was caught up in controversy for his past actions, such as allegedly supporting the “One-China policy” on social media in 2018, as well as not correcting or commenting when Chinese TV personalities were introducing some of Korea’s traditional cultures as though they were Chinese. Henry is Canadian, but he’s born to a father from Hong Kong and a Taiwanese mother. He debuted as a member of the K-pop boy group, Super Junior M, in 2008.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]