From The Straits Times    |

Love from another star giana jun jun ji hyun kim soo hyun chinese water commercial
South Korean actors Kim Soo Hyun and Gianna Jun (both left) are the leads for the drama, My Love From The Star. Image: SBS One

Seoul – South Korean actors Kim Soo Hyun and Gianna Jun, the couple from My Love From The Star, are facing criticism at home after they shot a Chinese commercial for drinking water with a controversially labelled water source.

They shot the advertisement for Hengda Bingquan or Evergrande Spring, reportedly for the record pay of 1 billion won (S$1.22 million).

However, controversy has grown after it was revealed that the Chinese mineral water company listed the water source as Changbaishan or Mount Changbai rather than the Korean name, Baekdusan or Mount Baekdu.

Koreans consider the mountain, which lies on the border of North Korea and China, the birthplace of their nation.

In 2002, the Chinese government launched a scheme to rewrite history that ignited an uproar in South Korea.

Among other things, a Chinese government study group, the Northeast Project, described Goguryeo, one of the three ancient Korean kingdoms, as part of ancient Chinese territory.

Kim and Jun’s agencies have apologised for not checking the labelling of the product.

“We made the contract only for the commercial. It’s our fault that we didn’t check the water source in advance,” said Jun’s agency. “We may need to talk to our Chinese counterpart.”

The Korea Herald/Asia News Network

This article was first run in The Straits Times newspaper on June 23, 2014. For similar stories, go to sph.straitstimes.com/premium/singapore. You will not be able to access the Premium section of The Straits Times website unless you are already a subscriber.