The "irony" refers to how Jun Ji Hyun, who was an exclusive model for the Chinese Evergrande Group's spring water brand, will be conferred the presidential award when it should only be given to those who solely represent Korean culture.
One netizen allegedly wrote, "The presidential award doesn't suit her when she was active as a model for a brand that referred to Baekdu Mountain as Jangbaek (or Changbai) Mountain," and yet another netizen pointed out, "She herself said that she has no patriotism for Korea."
SEE ALSO: Jun Ji Hyun and Kim Soo Hyun locked in a political controversy over a Chinese CF
Last June, Jun Ji Hyun's popularity in China skyrocketed after her role in 'You Who Came From the Stars.' She was selected as the exclusive model, along with Kim Soo Hyun, for Evergrande Group's brand 'Evergrande Spring.' The problem arose from the label on the 'Evergrande Spring' bottle, which named the water's source of origin as Jangbaek (Changbai) Mountain. Jangbaek is the name that China uses to refer to Baekdu Mountain, in a tacit attempt to make Goguryeo (one of the three ancient kingdoms of Korea) a part of Chinese history for the Northeast Project. Despite being chosen as the exclusive model for an ad that implicitly acknowledges China's Northeast Project, Jun Ji Hyun's agency pushed ahead with the actresses' endorsement. The agency stated, "The Evergrande Group is an enterprise without any political ties, and its brand 'Evergrande Spring' has no relation to the Northeast Project." You can read more about the controversy here.
Regarding this whole controversy, a rep from the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism relayed to Sports Seoul on October 28, "We didn't know about the Jangbaek / Baekdu Mountain controversy. There were no objections to Jun Ji Hyun during our public verification process; we selected her as the recipient of the award due to her significant contribution to the Hallyu wave."
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