In the Disney+ K-drama Tempest, Jun Ji-hyun’s character, Seo Mun Ju, raises a question: “Why China would favor war? These nuclear bombs could fall on border regions.” This line has ignited an uproar on Chinese social media, with netizens accusing the show of being anti-China and intentionally painting the country in a negative light.
Jun Ji-hyun’s K-Drama Tempest Faces Anti-China Allegations
Additional scenes have fueled the controversy. One such scene is labeled “Dalian, China, 2025,” which, in reality, was filmed in a Hong Kong slum area. The deliberate choice of a “dirty, chaotic” aesthetic contrasts with the modern, developed image of actual Dalian. Moreover, certain “shady” characters speak Mandarin, and a red carpet adorned with yellow stars—resembling the Chinese flag—appears. In another scene, Jun Ji-hyun’s character questions the Chinese ambassador, saying, “Is China aware of the situation? Why would China tolerate war in Korea?”
Social Media Fallout
These “observations” have escalated to the point that several luxury brands previously partnered with Jun Ji-hyun, including La Mer, Louis Vuitton, and Piaget, have seemingly “deleted” or at least hidden posts about her endorsements on Chinese social media, though their international posts remain active. While no official statement has been made, these actions could negatively impact her standing in the Chinese luxury market, where she has long been adored for her roles in classics K-like My Love From Another Star and My Sassy Girl.
However, some argue that the blame should not fall on Jun Ji-hyun, as she likely had limited control over the script. Some defended the show, claiming that the red carpet in question was simply supposed to be a scene from the White House or the Dalian scene fitting the narrative where Kang Dong Won’s character was trying to find a way to be smuggled out of the country. Others argue that Jun Ji-hyun’s lines were taken out of context, as yingxiaohao (marketing accounts) only included a few selected lines, not the full dialogue. This has come a time when Chinese rhetoric on cultural exchange seems to imply that the Hallyu ban will be a thing of the past, but public sentiment has turned drastically especially towards the actress.
Source: junjihyun85
Dee
Why the actress that is acting in a drama with scripts ? Wait don’t everyone do this? I rememeber a cdrama where Russia was literally the bad guy gangsters etc or other country ? So it that it is okay for them to paint other negatively but then they can’t when it is dished out ?
Kai
Those were individual characters in the stories. Every country’s drama industry has this. There are thousands of movies, dramas and cartoons from many countries, (including Hollywood, Korea, Japan ) with Chinese “bad guys”. Was there any problem? Remember the famous chinese bad guy Mr. Fu Man Chu?
But it seems that this one has used political narrative, suggesting that China as a nation, loves to have wars. This is just echoing the white West narrative and projecting into what might be. This drama also misrepresented other places as places in China. This is truly careless, if not intentional of the directors and producers. Very irresponsible too, in view of so much international political tensions and military conflicts around the world at this point in time.
Neither is this a historical context drama. Eg. a spy drama set during the Cold War period or during the Japanese war or Korean war, etc, where such dialogue could be historically accurate between warring nations.
Dee
Mmmmm well if we pick any random country cinema we would find this !
Applefish
So China, a country, that built multiple man made island to have military camps all over the South China Sea, isn’t a country that loves war? Why did they build those then 🙄 if they are so peace loving, why then that they have been harassing Vietnam and the Phillipines? 🙄 there’s a reason why we see Russian as the bad guys, because of what they did, still doing 😒 it’s about time to call China out 😒
Du
I have not seen this drama so cannot comment on this one in particular. But every actor is aware of potential repercussions if they decide to engage in politically charged projects. Scripts are read upfront, teams discuss upsides and downsides . She has obviously decided to go for this one with potential bottom line of losing one market in mind. This just happened. She should have been prepared for it. Actors have right to choose any script they like. At the same time people can choose not to like that drama/film for whatever reason. Both sides are within their rights.