Disney’s New Streaming Smash Ignites Firestorm in China

Disney’s new South Korean spy thriller Tempest has blown into a geopolitical storm, after a single line from Jun Ji-hyun about China ignited a fierce online backlash—turning the show’s debut on Disney+ and Hulu into a cross-border flashpoint.

Disney has a new hit on its hands, and also a headache. Tempest, the slick South Korean spy thriller on Disney+ and Hulu, is racking up streams across Asia. It has also set off a wave of anger in China over a single line of dialogue from star Jun Ji-hyun. Yes, one line. And yes, it blew up fast.

What set this off

In one episode, Jun Ji-hyun’s character, Munju, questions China’s appetite for conflict and raises the specter of a nuclear strike near the border. The line in question:

"Why does China prefer war? A nuclear bomb could fall near the border."

Chinese social media read that as the show painting China as aggressive, and the reaction snowballed from there.

The online fallout

Within days, commenters were pushing brands to cut ties with Jun. Reportedly, luxury names like Louis Vuitton, La Mer, and Piaget scrubbed her from their social feeds. Meanwhile, nationalist posts picked up steam on Weibo, including one that bluntly said, "Keep the K-drama ban to the death, thank you," which pulled in more than 10k likes.

The bigger picture (aka why this hit a nerve)

This is not happening in a vacuum. Back in 2016, after South Korea deployed the U.S. THAAD missile system, China responded with an unofficial (but very real) freeze-out of Korean pop culture. No formal policy on paper, but K-pop and K-dramas basically vanished from Chinese platforms. Lately, that chill seemed to be thawing — South Korean acts were getting shows again, including hip-hop group Homies, who performed in China for the first time in years. Tempest has now yanked that old debate back into the spotlight.

Other flashpoints on screen

• The show’s version of Dalian: criticized for making the city look run-down.
• Set design: a carpet that some thought resembled the Chinese flag.
• Language: complaints about Jun Ji-hyun’s accent while she recites a Chinese poem.

Fans vs. critics

Plenty of people defended Jun, arguing she didn’t write the script and was just doing her job. As one Weibo user put it: "Jun Ji-hyun is just an actor. It is impossible for her to understand the history of a country."

Others weren’t having it: "She has a choice of script, she can read the script!"

Meanwhile, how’s the show doing?

Quite well. Despite the backlash, Tempest is still topping charts on Disney+ and Hulu across South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The controversy has mostly fueled calls inside China for sticking with restrictions on Korean entertainment, but outside that bubble, viewers are clearly still clicking play.

The bottom line

One brief line turned into a full-on culture-war moment, with brands reportedly ducking for cover and the old China–Korea entertainment freeze back in the conversation. Inside baseball note: that unofficial ban never really ended; it just loosened. Tempest didn’t create that tension — it just reminded everyone it’s still there.