Disney+ Original Series "Polaris"
Concerns Raised Over Damage to China's Image
Recently, a line related to China spoken by actress Jun Ji-hyun in the drama "Polaris" has sparked backlash among Chinese netizens.
On September 21, Hong Kong’s Sing Tao Daily reported that on Chinese social networking services (SNS), a scene from the Disney+ original series "Polaris"-in which Jun Ji-hyun, who plays presidential candidate Seo Munju, a former United Nations ambassador, says, "Why does China prefer war? A nuclear bomb could fall on the border area"-has been edited and widely shared.
The outlet noted that Chinese netizens have criticized Jun Ji-hyun’s line, saying it "tarnishes China’s image," "does not reflect reality at all," and "Chinese people do not like war and pursue peace. This is slander." While some argued that the context before and after the line should be considered, these views did not gain much traction.
The report added that scenes set in Dalian, northeastern China, were actually filmed in Hong Kong, and some have claimed that the production team intentionally shot dark-toned footage of a rundown shantytown area, thereby damaging Dalian’s urban image.
Additionally, some netizens took issue with a scene where a carpet featuring five stars, symbolizing China, is stepped on, and with villains in the show speaking Chinese, which they argued reinforced negative stereotypes. There was also criticism from Chinese netizens alleging that Jun Ji-hyun deliberately distorted the pronunciation while reciting a verse from the ancient Chinese poet Li Bai (Li Taibai, 701-762).
As a result, on major Chinese SNS platforms such as Weibo, some users have called for the continuation of the "Korean Wave ban" (Hallyu restriction order), while others have demanded that brands for which Jun Ji-hyun serves as a model-such as cosmetics and watch companies-end their contracts with her. Some netizens even claimed that brands previously advertised by Jun Ji-hyun have severed ties and deleted related advertisements.
However, services such as Disney+ and Netflix are not officially available in China. Nevertheless, some users are known to access Netflix series like "Squid Game" and Disney+ titles like "Moving" through alternative channels. Recently, controversy also arose when a Chinese cooking competition show similar to Netflix’s variety program "Black & White Chef" was produced in China.
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