Photo Of TASTY Twins With Z.Tao Incites Outrage Among Korean Fans

Online K-pop forums are abuzz as former EXO member Tao (Huang Zitao, now known by the stage name Z.Tao) and the twins of TASTY (Jung Soryong and Jung Daeryong) snap a photo together after the former's recent solo performance.

(Photo : Weibo)

On August 24, Chinese-Korean duo TASTY shared a set of photos on their official Weibo account celebrating the completion of Z.Tao's show in China. "The solo concert has finished! It was a great performance," the twins wrote on their Chinese social media account. The photos attached to the post showed Tao performing on stage, some food he received in honor of his solo tour, and most notably a selfie of the three polarizing K-pop stars.

Newsen reported that the brother duo had gone to cheer on Z.Tao. Both TASTY and the EXO member are currently seeking to have their exclusive contracts in South Korea terminated in order to freely pursue activities in China.

In response to the pictures, online commenters in South Korea have weighed in with their opinions, with many expressing feelings of outrage and betrayal.

"This is why I hate groups with foreign members. It's hard to like them and you can always count on them to go back to their countries once they've made enough money and popularity. Fans who gave them their everything during their promos are left with nothing but memories," one user expressed, as translated by Netizenbuzz.

"At least Tao has being an ex-EXO member to his name, what does Tasty have going for them other than being nugus [lesser known groups]?" another posted.

Many more also called the singers traitors while one user in particular addressed the differences between Korean and international fan reactions to these lawsuits, stating: "What's funny is that they're the ones who betrayed us but if you go on YouTube, all of the foreigners are saying that Tao was treated like a slave and call him 'our poor Tao' and promise to support him forever."

TASTY departed from Korea early in July, saying that they would be continuing their careers in China. Woollim Entertainment, TASTY's management company, expressed their confusion over the duo's departure and last week announced that they will pursue legal action against the brothers for violating their contract.

Tao left EXO back in April without much explanation beyond a letter from his father asking for Tao to leave the group. Then, on July 23, he released his solo album TAO. SM Entertainment replied by removing access to Tao's music video on YouTube and continued to insist that both parties were in talks.

However, on August 24 Tao officially filed a lawsuit against SM Entertainment to officially terminate his contract.