As K-pop's popularity spreads outside Korea and attracts global attention, various rumors about K-pop stars have also received attention from foreign media. Including the controversy of BLACKPINK's Jennie smoking indoors.
CNN reported on the controversy with the comment, "K-pop stars often face tremendous public scrutiny when they step into the spotlight." The UK's BBC stated, "Korean celebrities are used to extreme public scrutiny. Korea imposes strict standards of morality and behavior on them, and no mistake goes unnoticed."
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post also criticized the Korean system, saying, "Korean pop stars undergo rigorous training before debut, and are subject to high standards of behavior such as smoking, dating and swearing in the early stages of their debut."
But Korean netizens disagree with foreign media's criticism that it doesn't take into account emotional and cultural differences. In a country that values propriety, it's natural that actions that harm others are hard to tolerate, according to K-Netz.
Netizens who heard the foreign media report said, "Don't smoke indoors, don't blow smoke into your face. How much morality do foreign countries need?" "They said blowing smoke in front of staff is a mistake," and "Smoking and swearing are strictly prohibited."
Negative opinions emerged, such as “It was the right thing to do,” and “Pretending to know someone else’s country well when you really don’t.” For your information, South Korea and Italy (where BLACKPINK's Jennie was caught smoking indoors) both have specific smoking rules.
In Italy, an indoor smoking ban prohibiting smoking indoors in all public places has been in place since 2005, and e-cigarettes have been included as cigarettes due to a revision of the Tobacco Business Law in 2014. Meanwhile, South Korea has imposed a smoking ban on indoor spaces including bars, restaurants and cafes of any size, even in any smoking room since January 1, 2015.
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