After EVERGLOW Yiren, SEVENTEEN Chinese members, The8 and Jun, are now the ones being criticized as their past New Year's greeting has resurfaced.
SEVENTEEN Chinese Members' Past New Year's Greeting Resurfaces After EVERGLOW Yiren's Recent Controversy
On Jan. 7, EVERGLOW Yiren made headlines after she was spotted not doing the traditional Korean New Year's greeting at their fan signing event. While her members kneeled and bowed to the fans, Yiren just stood up and put her hands together, leaving fans divided on her actions.
Now, the SEVENTEEN Chinese members are also receiving criticism from some fans after their past New Year's greeting on a TV show resurfaced.
RELATED: EVERGLOW Yiren Draws Mixed Reactions for Not Doing Korean New Year Greetings
On Feb. 15, an article titled "Chinese members who do not bow because of Chinese customs" was made on an online community, theqoo.
The post shows a gif of Yiren and her fellow EVERGLOW members greeting the fans a happy new year at their fan signing event on Jan. 2. It can be seen that only Yiren didn't kneel and bow.
The post also includes a couple of photos of SEVENTEEN at the time they appeared on MBC's "Weekly Idol" back in 2018. It was also New Year at the time and the hosts asked the members to greet their parents.
While the rest of the boys kneeled and bowed, SEVENTEEN's Chinese members, Jun and The8, remained standing and bowed halfway. In China, they have a tradition of kneeling only to heaven and earth as well as to their parents.
READ MORE: This K-pop Trainee Is Drawing Attention for Resemblance to SEVENTEEN Hoshi
As of writing, the post on theqoo has surpassed 98,000 views and has over 800 comments. A few of the comments left under the post are "But they are making money in Korea," "They don't respect other countries' cultures," "Are they showing off their patriotism here?" and "I hope they show some respect for Korean culture when they are in Korea."
On the contrary, there are also some netizens defending the SEVENTEEN Chinese members about their New Year's greeting. One netizen pointed out that in the case of SEVENTEEN, the MCs mentioned first about people not usually doing big bows in China and so they asked Jun and The8 to do a little bow instead.
What are your thoughts on this situation? Tell us what you think in the comments section below!
SEVENTEEN's 'Power of Love' Rises to No. 1 on Oricon's Daily Singles Chart after over 2 Months of Release
In other news, SEVENTEEN found their way back up to No. 1 on the Oricon Daily Singles chart with their latest Japanese single "Power of Love."
On Oricon's daily singles chart (dated Feb. 11), "Power of Love" re-entered the tally at No. 1. It marked its seventh time to top the daily ranking of the Japanese chart.
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Back when it was dropped on Dec. 8, SEVENTEEN's "Power of Love" landed in first place on Oricon's daily singles chart - and it maintained atop the chart for six consecutive days. The Japanese single also reached No. 1 on both Oricon's weekly singles chart and weekly combined singles chart (dated Dec. 20).
On Jan. 14, "Power of Love" received a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan after selling more than 250,000 units in the first month of its release.
Watch SEVENTEEN's special video for the Korean version of "Power of Love" here!
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Written by Mhaliya Scott
