The recently finished Beijing Winter Olympics were watched by millions worldwide, including BLACKPINK’s Jennie. On the other hand, the idol’s support of Korean athlete Hwang Dae-Heon seems to have been misinterpreted by Chinese admirers, who swamped the singer’s Instagram comment area with angry words.
In the 1,500m short track speed event, Hwang Dae-Heon won South Korea’s first gold medal. The athlete also earned a silver medal in the 5000m fast track relay squad. While the athlete’s victory made his country proud, numerous Chinese Olympic watchers were enraged. Tensions between South Korea and China have been at an all-time high throughout the Olympics, with residents and athletes from the two countries repeatedly fighting on and off the field. Jennie finds herself amid this upheaval, as Chinese netizens seem to be targeting the famous star.
hwang dae -heon won a gold medal and said he wants to be on cheered by Jennie 🥺 pic.twitter.com/b6I7x6JTUL
— 💐 (@JNKSNS) February 9, 2022
After Hwang Dae-Heon won the gold, Jennie wrote him a note of encouragement.
Hwang Dae-Heon recently reported that the BLACKPINK singer wrote him a congratulations message after his gold award. In an interview, the athlete, who has allegedly been a longtime admirer of Jennie, raved over the singer’s encouraging statement, stating,
“‘I liked watching your wonderful game,’ said our team doctor in a congratulatory letter. ‘Congratulations on your gold medal, and please avoid injury.’ I was taken aback. It felt fantastic. Jennie has a (charismatic) air around her. During her concert, her dance and performance are fantastic.”
As soon as the interview aired, there was an outpouring of nasty comments from what looked to be Chinese netizens’ Instagram accounts on Jennie’s most recent Instagram post. The idol’s support for the athlete seems to be a source of disagreement, with many expressing dissatisfaction with Jennie’s backing of a “cheat.”
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Following a collision with another skater, Hwang Dae-Heon was disqualified in the semi-finals of the men’s 500m event at the 2022 Olympics. Many Chinese netizens referred to this episode as “cheating” in the comments section. To drown out the harmful remarks, countless Korean and worldwide admirers of both the idol and BLACKPINK placed encouraging messages and comments on the picture in reaction to the hate wave. This is not the first time Chinese netizens have placed nasty remarks on a Korean idol’s page during the last Olympics. During the early days of the Olympics, BTS frontman RM faced backlash for his support for the Korean short-track skating team.
Chinese residents took offense at the idol’s supporting message, and any comments on BTS’ official Instagram account (as RM’s account does not allow comments) were deleted. aespa’s Chinese Ningning, on the other hand, was heavily chastised by Korean netizens for displaying support for China’s short track speed skating team after they won their first gold medal at the Olympics.
