K-pop boy band BTS' Instagram account has come under attack after its leader RM posted his support of a South Korean athlete at the Winter Olympics currently underway in Beijing.
On RM's Instagram Stories on Monday (Feb 7), he posted a clip of short-track speed skater Hwang Dae-heon, who had come in first in the men's 1,000m semi-final despite going up against aggressive Chinese skaters.
However, he was given a controversial penalty for making contact with Chinese athlete Li Wenlong and failed to advance to the finals.
RM had cheered Hwang on with the emojis for clapping and thumbs up.
However, Chinese netizens took offence at that and began attacking BTS' latest posts on Instagram, posting nasty emojis for the middle finger and throwing up.
They also left petty and malicious comments, such as telling the mega popular group to stay away from the China market and launched personal attacks on RM's looks.
BTS fans, known as Army, retaliated by posting a slew of purple hearts to drown out the haters, with purple being the colour representing both the fandom and the group.
As a result of this Instagram war, the comments sections on some recent posts have been flooded with over 170,000 comments over the past couple of days, with more appearing almost every second.
According to entertainment portal Allkpop, South Korean netizens in online forums were puzzled over the outrage, as it was their country's athletes who were disqualified while the Chinese athletes made it to the finals.
One commenter wrote: "I really don't know why they're taking it out on RM or BTS."
Another South Korean netizen said: "RM is King because he still shows support no matter what malicious comments he gets."
A non-Army commenter added: "I'm not even a BTS fan and still put purple hearts there, lol." - The Straits Times/Asia News Network
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