Accordingly, CORTIS's TikTok video quickly attracted attention with more than 7,400 likes. In the video, members appeared in the Christmas atmosphere, celebrating and dancing to the song "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" performed by Bing Crosby. However, instead of being only received as a fun festival content, the video raised many mixed opinions.
Some netizens believe that CORTIS's posing style, hand gestures and overall image in the video evoke associations with "gangsters". From there, debate has emerged around whether the band is "imitating" or "copying" sensitive cultural elements.
On Korean forums, the reaction of netizens is quite diverse. Some criticisms say that no matter what the purpose, K-Pop idols should not use images that can cause misunderstandings or be considered inappropriate culturally.
In the opposite direction, many people believe that the controversy is being pushed too far. Some opinions point out that the video that CORTIS is said to "imitate" actually originated from a TikTok trend spread earlier, and there is no clear evidence that the group intentionally recreated or mocked a specific culture.
In addition to cultural issues, another stream of opinions focuses on the group's image orientation. Some netizens expressed confusion when CORTIS continuously posted TikTok videos with a "highly American" style, while rarely sharing singing or dancing content – which is considered the core strength of a K-Pop group. "They are K-Pop idols, they should maintain their K-Pop identity more," a comment commented.
Currently, Big Hit Music and CORTIS have not given an official response to this debate. However, the incident once again shows the fragile boundary between catching trends, cultural exchange and the risk of controversy in the context of K-Pop becoming increasingly globalized.
