Jun Ji Hyun was once one of the famous Korean actresses in China thanks to the explosion of the 2013 drama Why did you come (co-starring with Kim Soo Hyun).
However, the beauty born in 1981 is being boycotted by Japanese audiences after returning with the original Disney+ drama Tempest.
The reason comes from Jun Ji Hyun's allegedly insulting of China in the film. The actresss character Moon Ju caused controversy with the line: Why does China like war? ".
The Giants also caused outrage when the scene was noted as Dai Lien, China in 2025 and was actually filmed in an old slum in Hong Kong (China). The audience believes that the producer deliberately used a dark gray filter to highlight the ruins, completely different from the real appearance of Chinese cities.
Moreover, in a scene where Jun Ji Hyun read Li Bai's ancient poem in Chinese, the actress read it wrong. This is considered an act of insulting Chinese culture.
According to page 163, initially, Chinese audiences enthusiastically supported Jun Ji Hyun. When the first 3 episodes of the drama "The Storm" aired, it was rated 7.1 points on the Douban platform. But recently, after episodes 4 and 5 with many controversial details, the wave of boycotts of Jun Ji Hyun has exploded.
The film's score on Douban dropped to 4.2 points and there were many comments questioning the Korean beauty's choice of script.
Some fans defended Jun Ji Hyun, saying that she was not entirely at fault, but that the fault was the screenwriter and producer.
On the contrary, other audiences believe that with his position, Jun Ji Hyun can suggest editing the script or refusing to act in a film with many sensitive details. But she still chose to participate even though she knew the content could be controversial.
Chinese audiences have flooded into accounts of brands that have collaborated with Jun Ji Hyun in the Chinese market, demanding that these brands terminate contracts and remove the actress's advertisements.
By the afternoon of September 20, some brands in China had deleted or hidden Jun Ji Hyun's advertising posts.
Swiss luxury watch brand Piaget has removed Jun Ji Hyun's advertising content on shopping platforms. However, the actress's large outdoor billboards are still hanging in many major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Vu Han, Hangzhou, Nanjing, etc.
The audience did not give up, continued to comment on the brand's social media account, asking to stop collaborating with the Korean star.
Meanwhile, the official Weibo account of luxury brand Louis Vuitton with Jun Ji Hyun as ambassador has not been quiet. However, the comments in the posts are filled with harsh criticism, demanding that Jun Ji Hyun leave the Chinese market.
Previously, it was reported that Jun Ji Hyun and Kang Dong Won were paid about 300 - 400 million won for each episode of "Theatrical". The total investment cost of the 9-episode drama is estimated at about 50 - 70 billion won.
