The K-pop industry epitomizes trivial controversies, but one issue happens every year—an idol says “Chinese New Year” instead of “Lunar New Year,” and netizens will dogpile until they get a second-rate public apology video.
For example, RM from BTS referred to the holiday as “Chinese New Year” during a live stream in 2018. Fans from South Korea and greater Asia felt he’d overlooked them. RM later explained that he was not trying to ignore their cultures and said it out of habit. Some still haven’t forgiven him.
BTS’s global influence is huge, and though cultural exchange has always been part of their brand, the incident raised a question: In a global context, is saying “Chinese New Year” really problematic?
For countries like China, South Korea, and Vietnam, New Year’s is the best day ever. And while celebrations vary, the sentiment is universal. We love this time of year. But for Western countries and global media, the term “Chinese New Year” has dominated headlines for decades—which is why RM and other idols are used to saying so. When he says “Chinese,” he’s not erasing Korean culture, only using a term that BTS’s international audiences recognize.
Both Lisa and Chaeyol, from BLACKPINK and EXO respectively, were both cancelled for similar remarks back in 2021.
With the Trump administration’s trade war with China, saying “Lunar New Year” in America is now associated with a sense of patriotism. By using the more neutral term “Lunar,” it makes the holiday not just exclusive to China—and it never has been, it’s just what white people have been saying. “Seollal” (설날) is one of South Korea’s oldest national holidays, and while it has similarities to ‘春节,’ it’s still distinctly Korean. And Vietnamese people call it ‘Tết’, among others. So calling all of these unique celebrations “Chinese New Year,” is reductive.
In English, no one says “Chinese New Year” anymore. If I’m with Chinese people, I’ll just say “happy new year.” Mandarin speakers don’t even bother. We say “Happy Spring Festival,” or ‘春节快乐’—but for a country like Taiwan or to Hong Kong’s special administrative region, the rhetoric transcends semantics.
For example, Tzuyu from South Korean girl group TWICE, who is Taiwanese, was dragged through the mud in China for waving her country’s flag in a decade-old broadcast. She was 16 then. This year, on her Instagram story, she just wished fans a “Happy New Year” in both Chinese and Korean. NewJeans’ Hanni wished fans the same message two years ago, much to the chagrin of Chinese netizens.
Last January, girl group Everglow held a fanmeet where all the Korean members bowed to celebrate Seollal, which is traditional. Yiren, the only Chinese member, gestured to cheer for the new year—because that’s what’s normal in China, where bowing would be considered more outdated, and even then, the posture is still different in both cultures. Because she did bow—it just wasn’t Korean enough. Bowing in China is more shallow compared to the depth of movement they expected.
Chinese fans praised her for remembering where she came from, Koreans booed her—I cringed over the difference a couple of degrees can make.
It’s not just a misnomer—it’s a testament to Chinese nationalism and a reflection of how the world has framed Asian culture. For idols who often have limited global awareness of this issue, I’d understand if they’d revert to the terms they grew up with.
In 2023, Danielle, also from NewJeans, made a post on Instagram asking about fans’ plans for “Chinese New Year” and immediately replaced it with an apology. She’s Australian. They say Chinese New Year over there. She’s heard it like that her whole life.
Right now, Americans are saying “Lunar New Year,” but celebrating in a very Chinese New Year-like fashion. So what’s the point? It has nothing to do with inclusivity or tolerance. Rather, it’s about why this holiday matters to different cultures and how diversely it’s celebrated among them. Even when local efforts and corporations announce their Lunar New Year awareness, they do so by “red-washing” ever so slightly: with Chinese-style ornaments, lion dancers, and dumplings—i.e., our dining hall.
Idols are meant to be cultural ambassadors. The least we can do is let them. So can we please address these moments with conversation, not condemnation.
I’m Chinese and I don’t understand why we can’t share this day together.
