Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
Cha Eun-woo's maskless photo with 'True Beauty' production crew stirs controversy
Singer and actor Cha Eun-woo posted a maskless picture of tvN's “True Beauty” production crew Friday. Screen captured from Cha Eun-woo's Instagram
By Lee Gyu-lee
By Lee Gyu-lee
Singer and actor Cha Eun-woo has stirred controversy after posting a picture showing the “True Beauty” production crew appearing to care less about the government's COVID-19 distancing rules.
Cha Eun-woo / Courtesy of Fantagio Music
Cha, 23, shared the picture on his social media Friday, expressing gratitude to the staff and cast members of the TV series following its finale on Thursday.
The photo showed dozens of people, including Cha, standing close to each other with only a few of them wearing masks. The group has drawn criticism for violating the government's coronavirus measures, which ban gatherings of five or more people.
The photo has raised eyebrows here, as the country struggles to cope with the daily number of COVID-19 infections remaining in the triple digits.
“Why isn't this huge group of people not wearing masks? Are they living in a different world?” a user commented on Cha's post.
Another user pointed out that it's inappropriate to post such pictures and said: “This is so thoughtless. Frontline workers are battling with the coronavirus right now, and these 100 people are gathering and taking pictures without wearing masks.”
Meanwhile, others defended the actor and the production team, saying “they might have taken off their masks just for the picture.”
Cha later deleted the post. The actor and his agency have not commented on the criticism.