[SBS Star] Virtual Ambassador Faces Criticism as She Looks Too Similar to Red Velvet IRENE

Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) is facing criticism with their virtual human ambassador's close resemblance to IRENE of K-pop girl group Red Velvet.

Recently, KTO unveiled their honorary ambassador named Lizzie Yeo.
According to the organization, Lizzie Yeo will be starring in various promotional contents to attract more tourists to Korea.

Shortly after the announcement, however, many fans pointed out that the virtual ambassador's face look too similar to IRENE.

In regard to the concerns, KTO stated, "When designing Lizzie Yeo, we analyzed and combined more than 50,000 combinations of eyes, nose, and mouth that MZ generation (Millennial and Gen Z) prefers the most."
Then on October 19, Lee Byung-hoon, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee, compared the photos of Lizzie Yeo and IRENE during a parliamentary audit of the KTO.

Lee pointed out the infringement of portrait rights, asking, "Did you sign a portrait rights contract with IRENE and other faces (used to produce Lizzie Yeo)?"

To this, KTO president Shin Sang-yong said, "We did not sign a portrait contract as we did not model after a specific person."
 
(Credit= 'Imagine Your Korea' YouTube, SM Entertainment)

(SBS Star)