The online version of British daily the Guardian quoted from The K-pop Herald’s translation of singer IU’s official apology for her ongoing pedophilia scandal in a Monday post.

IU had recently come under fire for the sensual lyrics she wrote for her song in describing the five-year-old boy protagonist Zeze of Brazilian novel “My Sweet Orange Tree.”

(Loen Entertainment)

In an earlier interview with local press here, she had used the word “sexy” in explaining her pick of Zeze as a motif, which prompted the book’s Korean publisher to lash out via social media.

The public here caught on to the controversy with fierce enthusiasm online, which, according to the Guardian, resulted in “My Sweet Orange Tree” to become the most-searched-for title on Abebooks.com.

A score of artists have supported IU in her freedom to interpret a literary work to her own capacity, while IU issued an apologetic statement to all those who have been offended by the song.

Publisher Dongnyok, the initial claimant, later acknowledged the diversity of interpretation and said they merely considered IU’s song an “unfamiliar” point of view. Dongnyok said they would prefer to let go of the issue and not press it any further.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)

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