SHINee’s Taemin Criticized For “Insensitive” Comments About Japan’s Predicted Earthquake

SHINee‘s Taemin has issued a public apology after making remarks about a predicted earthquake in Japan during a recent livestream. On July 6, 2025, Taemin took to his Instagram Story to say sorry.

“I apologize for carelessly commenting on the earthquake. I only wanted to reassure fans who were worried. I reflect on the fact that I spoke lightly without fully considering the situation of local residents or the severity of natural disasters. I was also very concerned, and I’m relieved that nothing serious happened. From now on, I’ll be more careful with my words and actions.”

He also included a version of his apology in Japanese. The apology came after Taemin mentioned the earthquake prediction during a livestream on social media the day before. Taemin and fellow SHINee member Minho were in Japan to attend Show! Music Core in JAPAN at Belluna Dome. Japan was predicted to experience an earthquake during that weekend. During a car ride, Taemin had commented, “That prediction —everything is still safe so there’s no need to worry too much.”

When Minho asked about it, Taemin responded with candid comments about things that he had imagined. However, he had made light of the situation and commented that it could make his performance look better.

“As someone with a very imaginative personality, I thought, ‘What if the ground shakes while I’m singing?’ I imagined it. Would it look cool if the stage shook just as the performance peaked? With the fireworks and flames—it was like thinking in 3D.”

Taemin later added that he mentioned it as he felt that talking about scary predictions help to dispell it. Despite his intentions, some viewers criticized the comments as insensitive given the nature of natural disasters. The prediction in question stems from a Japanese manga artist, Ryo Tatsuki, who published a comic titled The Future I Saw in 1999. In it, she claimed that a major disaster would occur on July 5, 2025. Her work, based on alleged prophetic dreams, gained renewed attention after seemingly predicting the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

As the date approached, many in Japan expressed unease, prompting extra caution and speculation, which likely influenced Taemin’s comments and his later apology. The Japanese take earthquakes seriously due to it being a source of damage and loss for many in the country. Japan experiences earthquakes more often that many other Asian counterparts.