Chinese Media’s Coverage of Lee Da Hae Draws Anti-Hallyu Criticism

A recent report on plastic surgery by a conservative Chinese media has drawn the ire of many Korean fans for its supposedly biased anti-Hallyu reporting.

On March 15, a Chinese press outlet called Xin Won Wang published an article titled “A check up on female stars that failed with plastic surgery.” The report, however, used multiple photos of Korean actress Lee Da Hae, explaining, “Lee Dae Hae’s failed surgery is the most evident.”

The article listed a number of different photos of Lee Dae Hae from her past to present, including her school day and Miss Chun Hyang photos. “Lee Da Hae’s face looks drastically different from her childhood photos. When you compare it to her school day photos, you start to suspect she went under the knife. Also, photos of her from the Shanghai Film Festival look completely different from her previous photos, and netizens believe she’s received multiple plastic surgeries,” the report said.

But the report didn’t stop there. It went on to list other Korean female stars, such as Chae Rim, Yoon Eun Hye, Kim So Yeon, Jun Hye Bin, Jung Ryeo Won and Kim Jung Eun, as well as Yooni, who committed suicide in 2007 after suffering from depression caused by negative netizen comments. However, it didn’t include any celebrities from China on its list.

Korean netizens who saw the news commented, “Why do we see more and more anti-Hallyu news?” “No need to respond to this type of biased journalism,” and “Plastic surgery or not, Lee Da Hae looks beautiful to me.”