"You Who Came From the Stars" actors Jun Ji Hyun and Kim Soo Hyun were recently embroiled in a controversy following their selection as models for Hongda Group's mineral water company called Hongda Bingchuan.
The issue stems from the fact that the source of the water was named as Changbai Mountain. "Changbai" is the Chinese name for Baekdu Mountain, a mountain bordering North Korea and China. This posed a problem since many people think of this as coming from China's Northeast Project, which is known as an academic project aiming to prove that historical Korean kingdoms were part of and under the control of China.
The issue is purely political, and many are suggesting that the choice to name the project Changbai Mountain instead of Baekdu Mountain is an attempt to express that the area surrounding the mount is under Chinese jurisdiction.
Jun Ji Hyun and Kim Soo Hyun's agencies have both spoken on the matter. Both agencies said that they didn't realize that the company had referred to the mountain as Changbai Mountain.
Kim Soo Hyun's agency KeyEast stated, "In deciding to work with the company, we did not check the name of the water source. It was a detail that we should've looked into more carefully. We apologize for causing this controversy."
Culture Depot, speaking in behalf of Jun Ji Hyun, said, "We are currently discussing this matter with the Chinese company, and our agency is doing its best to resolve the matter as well."