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![Jang Won-young's Instagram post filled with Chinese users' comments reading โณHappy Chinese New Yearโณ [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 Girlsโ 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 โHave a happy Seollal!โ 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.
โYou have to get out of K-pop,โ โI hate youโ and โWhy do you deny 5,000 years of history?โ 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 โHappy Lunar New Year.โ
![Singer-turned-actor Seohyun of Girls' Generation's Instagram post filled with Chinese users' comments reading โณHappy Chinese New Yearโณ [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 articleย โCelebrating Seollalโ 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 theyโre doing โon Chinese New Yearโ in a message on fan community service Phoning on Thursday. Korean fans immediately complained.
โI immediately realized my mistake and deleted [the message], but it had already been sent to many people and now it has become irrevocable,โ she said in an Instagram post. โThe Lunar New Year is a holiday that many countries, including Korea, celebrate and my expression was highly inappropriate. I deeply apologize.โ
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]
