Li Minmin (pesudonym), a high school student in Beijing, says that recent events have not affected her passion for Hallyu at all. She says that she still spends whole days watching videos of her favorite K-pop bands "like crazy," adding that "It totally has no influence on me, if they are banned in China, then I will save money and make other plans."
Despite the official pressure, there are still planned Hallyu events. Li recently posted a screenshot to her WeChat Moments that described the Chinese tour of G-Dragon, who will perform in cities across China in 2017, and the teenager said she was already looking forward to seeing the idol sing in Beijing.
Just like Li Minmin, Guangzhou University sophomore Hu Yu (pseudonym) is also a hardcore Hallyu fan. The 10-year fanatic, who admits she knows nothing about the tense missile situation in Northeast Asia, says she is looking for someone to come with her to see pop stars from K-pop company AOMG play in Guangzhou in September.
Motherland or Oppa
While many Hallyu fans have stuck with their idols despite the actions of the South Korean and Chinese governments, they have been known to get incredibly worked up over controversies that directly involve their beloved "Oppas," a Korean word used to refer to male Hallyu stars.
Not long after official tensions spiked, a commercial starring a famous South Korean actor outraged some Chinese fan groups. Park Bo Gum became famous in China for his role in the South Korean soap opera Reply 1988. But his appearance in an ad for American footwear brand K-Swiss was slammed as some argue that it showed China in a bad light.
In the commercial, Park plays a master of the Go board game, just as he does in Reply 1988. His opponent in the board game is a fat and furious middle aged man called the Great Wall. The Great Wall loses the game and is slapped by a girl. Some enraged Chinese fans have claimed that the Great Wall represents China and have directed their anger over how he is portrayed in the ad toward Park.
Don't Stop New K-Drama, a Sina Weibo account which covers Hallyu culture that has over three million followers, announced it will not publish any Park-related news until he apologizes to China.
On the other hand, many of Park's fans have decided to defend him. Those who still support him say that, while they also found the ad offensive, the public should not blame him solely for its content. "He didn't do it on purpose, he may not have a say in this commercial shooting, though he should have noticed, his company also needs to take responsibility in this issue," said one fan of Park. Some even speculated that this controversy was intentionally whipped up to help arouse opposition to THAAD and to turn the public against South Korea.
Hu Yu told the Global Times that if her favorite South Korean idol was involved in a similar scandal, she would feel very disappointed. "If my Oppa is disrespectful to my country, that means I was blind when I fell in love with him. I would give up loving him, why should I love a man that has personality problems?" Hu said. "Those who don't like China, please don't make money in China," she added.
Unlike Hu, who is anxious about her fandom after the Park scandal, Li is totally unperturbed. While she admits that any crackdown on Hallyu will make it more difficult for her to watch videos online or see shows, she says her passion for Hallyu cannot be quenched by the scandal.
"It is really hard for a fan to care about too many things," Li told the Global Times, "If I want, then I do, if I don't, then I quit. No matter how big the scandal is, the only thing that matters is if I like him or not," she added.
The differing opinions expressed by Hu and Li reflects what Li describes as the broadening base of Hallyu fandom in China, which she says is increasingly diverse.
"Time changes and so do people," she said.
