Chinese K-Pop Starlets Wade into Korean War Kerfuffle

A K-pop Twitterstorm about the Korean War shows no sign of ending after Chinese members of manufactured bands here waded into the fray with their own patriotic opinions.

Korean online warriors flew into a tizzy after a handful of the starlets praised the Chinese People's Liberation Army for helping North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War.

The affair was triggered by a member of super boy band Bangtan Boys, also known as BTS, who praised the "sacrifices" of South Korean and American soldiers in the war at an award ceremony, prompting a backlash from China.

This in turn engaged South Korean patriots, who pointed out that China had fought on the side of the aggressor, North Korea.

Then last week Lay, a Chinese member of boy band EXO, wrote on Weibo that "heroes are never forgotten," with a hashtag commemorating the 70th anniversary of China joining the Korean War.

The singer also shared a CCTV slogan urging Chinese people to remember the "great victory." China held a huge ceremony to mark the occasion, and Chinese President Xi Jinping claimed in a speech that the Korean War was started by "Imperialist invaders," i.e. the U.S.

In fact the Korean War ended in a stalemate at exactly the same frontline where it had started, but not before an estimated 5 million people had been killed.

Victoria, a Chinese member of the girl band f(x) wrote on Weibo, "Remember history, value peace, and show respect to heroes!"

Other Chinese members of K-pop groups including Zhou Jieqiong of now-disbanded project group I.O.I and Cheng Xiao, Meng Meiqi and Wu Xuanyi of Cosmic Girls, posted similar messages.

South Korean fans then gave their own two cents' worth in their hundreds of thousands, some demanding no-platforming of the Chinese starlets, while others launch a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website to stop them from working here.