"This is disgusting": Fans enraged following a restaurant staff's racist and derogatory comment towards NCT's Chenle

On Friday, September 1, NCT's Chenle was spotted at the Aewol Sikdang, a Korean restaurant in Apgujeong, Seoul, known for its barbecued black pork from Jeju. There, he was seen having a meal with his friend Tae Yi, who appeared on the reality dating show EXchange 2. While many NCTzens who spotted them posted about the incident later the same day, one of the restaurant's staff members also seemed to have uploaded an Instagram story about the two's visit.

In their Instagram story, the staff was highly disrespectful towards both of them and used a racist derogatory term towards Chenle. Upon viewing the same, many NCTzens were furious. Soon after the controversy garnered heat, the restaurant apologized by creating a new Twitter account to upload their statement.

However, fans felt that the apology was insincere and continued to call out the restaurant and its staff members for disrespectful and discriminatory actions.

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Fans outraged at Aewol Sikdang's staff members following their disrespectful and racist comment towards NCT's Chenle

As EXchange 2's Tae Yi and NCT's Chenle visited Aewol Sikdang, fans were taken aback by the post their staff members uploaded featuring the two. Many NCTzens had already spotted the duo together, but they'd been waiting to post about it later in the day to not cause any commotion or discomfort to the idol and his friend.

However, the staff member released two Instagram stories while the stars were having their meals. While this is already considered illegal, given the fact that they're celebrities and posting about their whereabouts is an invasion of privacy, the staff member continued to disrespect and use derogatory terms towards them.

The picture they posted was of the two sitting at their table. Here's what their story stated:

"First of all, to give you guys a review, Tae Yi’s physique is f*cking huge. The reason why I guessed it was Tae Yi = He’s a f*cking chain smoker. He f*cking smoked a lot and left."

Instagram Stories by the staff member (Image via X/@kinghead1e)

Below this caption, they also wrote a comment above the head of both the celebrities. For EXchange's Tae Yi, they simply labeled who he was, and for NCT's Chenle they described him along with a slur word that's considered to be derogatory or racist towards the Chinese community.

"NCT Chenle *jjangkkae."

"Jjangkkae" is a Korean word that is considered an equivalent to "Ch*nk", the English word that's equally disrespectful and discriminatory towards the Chinese community. As fans were left enraged by the incident, the restaurant apologized on behalf of their staff through a new Twitter account.

"This is Aewol Sikdang Apgujeong. We are deeply sorry to Chenle, Tae Yi, and their fans. We believe that the mistake of one staff member is the mistake of the entire restaurant. But we are firing the staff due to their unforgivable actions, and we have also personally directly apologized to Chenle, and have asked for his forgiveness. We are really sorry."

However, fans were still unhappy with the apology since the post happened through a new and fake Twitter account and wasn't declared officially, which is wy many believed that it was insincere.

Since then, fans have been demanding a proper apology and reciprocation for the damage and disrespect caused to both Chenle and Tae Yi.

On the other hand, the restaurant has been facing heavy criticism from fans and netizens in general. Several campaigns and social media posts about people recommending others to not visit the restaurant had brought down their ratings by a great difference. Fans also seem to be stubborn about bringing serious losses and financial damages to the restaurant in turn for their behavior towards the idol.