Best Korean Actors HATED in Korea But LOVED Overseas

Believe it or not, some of your favorite actors are not receiving much recognition or love in Korea but are well-loved internationally. One factor why this usually happens is what we call the cancel culture. Korean netizens are known to easily cancel stars whenever they get tangled in a scandal, no matter how famous or good they are with their work. One false move and all their efforts go down the drain.

Just like what happened with actor Kim Son Ho around October 2021, Sunho was caught up in a controversy with his ex-girlfriend, which he immediately addressed and followed by an apology letter. Due to this, he had to briefly take a break and avoid the public. But not long after, his name was cleared after the investigation proved that his ex-girlfriend distorted the truth. But by that point, a lot of fans had already turned their back on him. Despite clearing his name, he still had a very rough time. And aside from receiving backlash from the public with South Korea’s cancel culture, a lot of brands dropped him as their ambassador and he was also removed from a few of his upcoming films and dramas.

In fact, even before Sunho spoke on the allegations, some brands already started to remove him from their advertisements just three days after the news broke out. Three brands had already cut ties with him. Korean brands are known to act fast whenever their ambassadors get involved in any sort of scandal since these types of issues directly play a huge impact on their sales.

He might have been rejected and received a lot of hate in South Korea, but Sunho still got his international fans behind him and received tons of love and support.

When the announcement of his leaving the variety show “Two Days and One Night” got released, his international fans immediately made a petition for him to stay with the show. He may not have returned, but the effort his fans made just proved how much support he still has. Even with his schedules overseas, we can clearly see the difference in how Sunho is being treated.

After months of staying low, Sunho made his first appearance when he was spotted at Bangkok’s Barnabumi Airport. He was in Thailand for the filming of his movie “Sad Tropics.” Thai fans made sure he was welcomed properly and that his stay in the country was warm, safe, and filled with love.

There were various billboard projects displayed all over the city with the message, “Welcome to Thailand, Kim Sun Ho.” There were also a lot of welcoming posters for him that were attached to tuk-tuks, Thailand’s local mode of transportation that can be seen everywhere. And since his birthday was approaching at that time, his fans didn’t forget to celebrate it in advance by displaying a total of three digital ads that were placed in a mall.

When he was about to leave the country, the airport was filled with a huge but organized crowd to give him a grand and warm send-off. He didn’t forget to show his gratitude towards his fans by bowing to them and waving at them cheerfully as he made his way through the airport.

Unfortunately, things were different the moment he returned to South Korea. When he was about to exit the airport, he was mobbed and got bombarded by paparazzi from every direction to the point that he struggled to move away from them. One of his acquaintances even had to help him walk properly as he was stuck in a swamp of paparazzi. He left Thailand with a big bright smile but entered Korea mostly covering his face and having his head down the whole time.

Aside from Korea’s cancel culture, another factor why some actors receive hate from netizens is the fact they don’t fit their so-called standards.

Having a clean image is something netizens want from these celebrities. Thus, having a tattoo is considered taboo in South Korea. However, a few celebrities were bold enough to go against this standard.

Actress Imjin Ah, more known as Nana, became a hot topic when she was seen with her body fully covered with tattoos last year in October. Nana attended a press conference for her movie “Confession.” Upon her arrival, people were shocked to see her body fully covered with tattoos. Nana was wearing a black dress that displayed all her tattoos from her shoulder down to her ankle.

Another similar incident happened to actress Han Sohi. The actress had her breakthrough with her 2020 drama “The World of the Married.”

Her success was followed by one of her top dramas to this day. Nevertheless, Sohi had a pure and clean image in both dramas, so fans were in shock when her pre-debut photos resurfaced on the internet.

Despite not having any visible tattoos right now, the actress still received backlash after netizens discovered her old photos. Most people were shocked to see her with tattoos. Some even left comments like, “How can she live seeing those?” and “She’s pretty, but if she was my spouse, I wouldn’t be able to live with her.” It even reached the point where Sohi’s friend had to defend her and criticize South Korea’s society for their views on tattoos.

Aside from her getting bashed for having tattoos, Sohi was also caught in a controversy for smoking. Even in her pre-debut photos, she’s seen smoking, which enraged netizens twice as much when they combined it with her tattoos. But aside from that, the actress was also caught smoking recently. She uploaded a few photos on her Instagram, and eagle-eyed fans noticed Sohi was holding a cigarette in one of her photos.

While smoking is common in South Korea, the problem here is how netizens make it such a big deal when a female actress smokes. While Korean netizens made it such a big deal, most of her international fans stayed neutral about the issue. Sohi’s an adult who can smoke and, most of all, doesn’t owe anyone an explanation on what she’s doing.

Sadly, Sohi recently…

Actress Suhi has recently faced backlash in South Korea for her appearance in Jungkook’s music video for his song “7.” This is not the first time she has starred in a K-pop music video, as she has previously appeared in Chinese singer Tell Me What to Do and Yong Yonghwa’s That Girl. However, the hate she received for her role in Jungkook’s video was particularly intense.

As soon as the announcement of Suhi being the main lead in Jungkook’s video was confirmed, it went viral. Unfortunately, the main focus of the attention was the hate aimed at her. She received countless malicious and hateful comments on her Instagram. Many of these comments claimed that she didn’t deserve to be Jungkook’s main lead and even demanded that she stay away from him and leave the project.

Despite the hate from Korean netizens, Suhi’s international fans came to her defense. They saw the situation as ridiculous and supported her. Thankfully, she persevered through the backlash. We are excited to see more of her work in the future.