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![Jang Won-young's Instagram post filled with Chinese users' comments reading β³Happy Chinese New Yearβ³ [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2023/01/25/8a0950fd-b3c6-46d6-a044-0393693c1892.jpg)
Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year?
K-pop stars Jang Won-young of IVE and Seohyun of Girlsβ Generation have been bombarded by Chinese social media users after referring to the Lunar New Year holidays using the English term “Lunar New Year” or Korean “Seollal” instead of “Chinese New Year,” while Danielle of NewJeans got in trouble for the exact opposite thing.
Jang uploaded a post on Instagram on Sunday, the day of the Lunar New Year, reading βHave a happy Seollal!β with a picture of herself wearing hanbok, traditional Korean dress. The post was soon filled with comments criticizing the singer and calling her out for calling it Seollal not Chinese New Year.
βYou have to get out of K-pop,β βI hate youβ and βWhy do you deny 5,000 years of history?β read some of the comments on the post.
Seohyun, a singer-turned-actor whose real name is Seo Ju-hyun, suffered a similar attack on her post on Sunday, reading βHappy Lunar New Year.β
![Singer-turned-actor Seohyun of Girls' Generation's Instagram post filled with Chinese users' comments reading β³Happy Chinese New Yearβ³ [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2023/01/25/bacd767a-1a7f-49a2-a76c-3c93204ff99b.jpg)
![A Twitter post by British Museum criticized by Chinese users for calling the Lunar New Year a Korean Lunar New Year [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2023/01/25/bb459e69-142f-4718-8a2f-d9fb737c688a.jpg)
Efforts by Chinese social media users to force the use of the term “Chinese New Year” were not limited to Korean celebrities, with the British Museum also coming under attack for publishing an articleΒ βCelebrating Seollalβ that introduced it as the “Korean Lunar New Year.”
On the other side of the spectrum, Danielle of girl group NewJeans apologized Saturday after asking fans what theyβre doing βon Chinese New Yearβ in a message on fan community service Phoning on Thursday. Korean fans immediately complained.
βI immediately realized my mistake and deleted [the message], but it had already been sent to many people and now it has become irrevocable,β she said in an Instagram post. βThe Lunar New Year is a holiday that many countries, including Korea, celebrate and my expression was highly inappropriate. I deeply apologize.β
Danielle, whose real name is Danielle Marsh, is a 17-year-old member of the rookie girl group born in New South Wales, Australia, and has a multiple citizenship in Korea and Australia.
BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]
