The controversy surrounding actor Lee Dong-wook's past remark about mooncakes being criticized by Chinese netizens has been revealed to be a misunderstanding.
Recently, reports emerged on Chinese social media platforms like Weibo that Lee Dong-wook's past comments had become a topic of discussion.
The remark in question was made during the Chuseok holiday last year when Lee Dong-wook was communicating with fans on the online platform Bubble.
When Chinese fans asked, "Do you eat mooncakes during the holidays in Korea?" Lee Dong-wook replied, "Korea does not eat mooncakes," and added an emoticon with his eyes looking upwards.
He further explained, "(Korea and China) celebrate holidays differently," and said, "Stop talking about mooncakes. We eat songpyeon."
This issue arose not recently, but during last year's Chuseok when Lee Dong-wook shared his thoughts with fans in China.
At that time, Chinese fans took issue not with the statement "Korea does not eat mooncakes," but with the emoticon that followed. In China, the emoticon is often used with a sarcastic nuance, leading to the misunderstanding that Lee Dong-wook was mocking mooncakes with Chinese fans.
After the message became a topic of discussion, local fans clarified that "Korea does not use that emoticon in a mocking sense," and the incident has already been resolved as a 'happening.'
Currently, some Chinese fans are posting on Weibo, "Why is this being reported late in Korea when it happened last year?" and "This was an issue caused by the differences in emoticon usage between the two countries."
Meanwhile, Lee Dong-wook is currently appearing in JTBC's Friday series 'The Good Man.'
[Kim Mi-ji, Star Today reporter]
