UPDATE: BTS’ RM goes viral again! This time, it’s a happier occasion. He posted on his IG stories a clip of speed-skater Kwak Yoon-gy – who won silver in the 5,000-meter relay – dancing to “Dynamite” on the podium. RM’s clip was apparently watched by an elated Yoon-gy who posted his reaction live.
K-pop group BTS’ official group Instagram account came under attack soon after its leader RM posted his support of a South Korean athlete during the Beijing Olympics on February 7.
RM posted an Instagram video of the men’s short ice track 1,000m semifinals race in which Hwang Dae Heon, representing South Korea, crossed the finish line in first place. However, even though he maintained his lead until the end – despite the aggressive offense of the Chinese skaters – he failed to advance to the finals because he was slapped with a controversial penalty: he apparently made an illegal late pass that caused contact.
Nevertheless, RM showed his support by posting a video of the skater finishing at number 1, accompanied by a clapping emoticon and thumbs-up emoticon.
This caused Chinese netizens to flood to take offence at that, and began flooding BTS’ official group Instagram page by posting nasty emojis like middle fingers and throwing up. They also left petty and malicious comments, including attacking RM’s looks.
Many were wondering how Chinese netizens managed to post on Instagram, since the app is banned in China.
However, BTS fans – ARMY – retaliated by posting a slew of purple hearts to drown out the haters. As a result, some posts on BTS’s official group Instagram page – individual members’ IG pages restrict comments to those they follow – have received over 180,000 comments over the past couple of days.
Many netizens were puzzled over the outrage, since RM is a South Korean cheering on his own country and the Chinese athletes won gold anyway. Another South Korean athlete, Lee June-seo, was also disqualified in what many see as another unfair decision in another men’s 1,000m semifinal – he got called for a lane change that caused contact with another skater.
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics controversies
The Chinese team’s performance is mired by other controversies too. These include a Chinese skater pushing a Korean skater on the knee:
Chinese skater Ren Ziwei also used both hands to push Hungarian Liu Shaolin opponent away (causing them to fall). A skater can be disqualified for such behaviour. While Liu crossed the line first, he was then disqualified for two fouls.
Even TXT’s Taehyun expressed his displeasure at the way the games were handled.
In another incident, a Chinese team member was seen grabbing a marker and throwing it to the other team, causing the skater to fall. Watch the clip below – the Chinese team is the one with the red top – which clearly shows the left hand throwing the marker:
Chinese team’s rise
Perhaps the most interesting fact is how the Chinese team got into the finals.
Since China originally placed third in the semifinals, behind Hungary and the United States, they wouldn’t even have progressed. This was because after the semifinals, it was concluded that Team USA had violated a rule (they impeded China twice) which led to their disqualification and placed Team China into the finals.
Additionally, Team Russia was also disqualified for interfering in between two Chinese skaters during their relay exchange, causing them to miss their tap, which is also a cause for disqualification – but the Chinese team was allowed to advance to the next round.
South Korean athletes sue
The International Skating Union (ISU) rejected both South Korea and Hungary’s protest regarding the disqualification from the 1,000m short track event.
In response, South Korean athletes filed a lawsuit with the International Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) against the biased judgment. They’ve also sent protests to the International Skating Union (ISU) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which has been under extreme criticism from the South Korean general audience.
