Popular Actor’s Remarks Triggers Fierce Backlash From Chinese Netizens

Recently, actor Lee Dong Wook’s past remarks have sparked a massive debate on Chinese social media.

On August 20, the hashtag “Lee Dong Wook, Korea doesn’t eat moon cakes” became a trending topic on Weibo, China’s largest social media platform.

There were a whopping 32,000 posts related to this topic, garnering 98,123,000 views, which indicates that this garnered massive attention in China.

The controversy dates back to 2022, when he made a controversial statement while answering questions from Chinese fans on the fan messaging platform, Bubble.

Fan: Do you eat moon cakes?

Lee Dong Wook: Chinese fans, we don’t eat moon cakes in Korea. We celebrate the holiday differently. Stop talking about moon cakes…

Fan: Then what do you eat?

Lee Dong Wook: We eat songpyeon (Korean rice cake).

His remarks were translated into Chinese and quickly spread on Weibo, sparking outrage among Chinese netizens.

Netizens expressed their frustration, claiming that “Korea is ignoring Chinese culture” and that “Korea will continue to claim moon cakes as its food.”

However, some Korean netizens were shocked at China’s response, “Lee Dong Wook did the right thing, I don’t see what the problem is?” and “He just said it’s something we don’t eat,” expressing confusion over why a simple cultural difference could spark such controversy.