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The recently concluded Beijing Winter Olympics had millions of viewers across the globe, including BLACKPINK’s Jennie. However, the idol’s support of Korean athlete Hwang Dae-heon appears to have been taken negatively by Chinese fans, who flooded the singer’s Instagram comment section with angry messages.
Hwang Dae-heon took home South Korea’s first gold in the 1,500m short track speed race. The athlete also won a silver medal as part of the team for the 5000m short track relay. While the athlete's success has made his nation proud, several Chinese viewers of the Olympics were left infuriated.
Tensions between South Korea and China have been sky high during this Olympics, with both citizens and athletes of the two nations clashing over and over again, both on and off the field.
It is in this turmoil that Jennie finds herself embroiled in, as Chinese netizens appear to target the popular idol.
Jennie sent Hwang Dae-heon a supportive message after he won the gold
Hwang Dae-heon recently revealed that the BLACKPINK singer had sent him a congratualroty message, after his gold. In an interview, the athlete, who has reportedly been a fan of Jennie for a very long time, gushed about the singer’s supportive message, saying,
"I got a congratulatory message through our team doctor. 'I enjoyed watching your spectacular game. Congratulations on your Gold medal and don't get injured.' I was shocked. It felt so good. Jennie has a (charismatic) aura. Her choreography and performance are incredible during her show."
As soon as the interview aired, there was a sudden onslaught of hate comments from what appeared to be Instagram handles of Chinese netizens on Jennie’s latest Instagram post. The idol’s support for the athlete appears to be a point of contention, with several claiming how disappointed they are with Jennie’s support of a “cheat.”
Hwang Dae-heon was disqualified in the semi-finals of the men’s 500m race at the 2022 Olympics, following a collision with another skater. This incident is something that many Chinese netizens in the comment section termed as cheating.
In retaliation for the hate wave, several Korean and international fans of both the idol and BLACKPINK left supportive messages and comments on the photo, to drown out the malicious comments.
This is not the first time during the recent Olympics that Chinese netizens have left hate comments on a Korean idol’s profile. During the initial days of the Olympics, BTS leader RM was the target of hate after he showed his support for the Korean short-track skating team.
Chinese citizens took offense at the idol’s supportive statement, and left any comments on BTS’ official Instagram account (since RM’s personal account does not allow comments.)
On the other hand, aespa’s Ningning, who is Chinese, was severely criticized by Korean netizens for showing support for China's short track speed skating team, after they won their first gold medal at the Olympics.
