A day before, a few photos of BTS' Jungkook in Los Angeles circulated around the web.

The photos showed the global idol taking a smoke break outside a Los Angeles restaurant. It was reported that Jungkook had flown over to LA, possibly preparing for the MTV Video Music Awards.

Jungkook visited a restaurant popular with Hollywood celebrities during his visit to LA.

While the set of paparazzi photos was expected to induce criticism towards the idol, however, many Korean netizens defended Jungkook. 

They commented in defense, stating, "He's not even born in 2007 or anything. Why is there a controversy over someone who was born in 97 smoking? There are so many people who are making a big deal out of nothing," "I'm not an ARMY, but he's pretty good looking," "He's a grown adult, who cares if he smokes?" "We already knew he was smoking because of his e-cigarette, but so what? Jungkook didn't do anything wrong. We don't know why he started smoking but kind of can guess from all the hate people give him for small things," "Jungkook's good-looking so it's forgivable," "I don't understand why people smoke. It's bad for your health and makes your breath smell. And I hate walking by people who smoke," "These small things don't faze the fandom," "I smoke too, guys, why smoking cigarettes such a big deal?" "He's still good-looking," and "He's not even underaged and he's a full grown man."