Choi Si-won, a member of K-pop group Super Junior. [Herald POP (now Herald Muse)]
Choi Si-won, a member of K-pop group Super Junior. [Herald POP (now Herald Muse)]

Choi Si-won, a member of K-pop group Super Junior, shared his views while recommending a book on modern Korean history.

On Sunday, Choi posted on Instagram, opening with the Latin phrase "Facta sacra sunt" — "Facts are sacred."

"This is a book that cross-references multiple historical sources and research to make us look anew at modern history we thought we knew," he wrote. "If we seek only comfort and self-congratulation through false fantasies, that cold and bitter history will ultimately repeat itself. No matter how uncomfortable or painful, we can only move forward by confronting history as it truly was."

He added: "The reason to look squarely at the past is not to dwell in it, but to keep future generations from repeating the same history. That was the thought that stayed with me most throughout this book."

Choi also urged followers to pick it up. "This book contains stories that are hard to find in textbooks. I strongly recommend it to anyone who loves history," he wrote, calling it "a must-read."

This is the second time Choi has recommended a book by the same author. On Aug. 23, he posted his impressions of the first volume in the same series, writing that it left him "increasingly dismayed and angry" and calling it "a must-read." The author, Park Jong-in, is a senior reporter at the Chosun Ilbo.

Choi has been using social media to speak out on social and political issues. When former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life in prison at his first trial on insurrection ringleader charges related to the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration on Feb. 19, Choi posted a four-character Chinese idiom meaning "the unjust will surely perish, and their foundations will crumble."

Born in 1987, Choi debuted with Super Junior in 2005 and has since worked as both a singer and actor.


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