Yoo Jae-suk’s Chinese fan club Yooniverse disbands

Top comedian Yoo Jae-suk is facing backlash in China after remarks made on the latest episode of MBC’s hit variety show “Hangout with Yoo.”

Yoo’s Chinese fan club Yooniverse announced Monday evening that the group has decided to disband and end its operation.

According to a post on the fan club’s official Weibo channel, the fan club plans to stop its operation because Yoo and the fans’ “directions are different.” No details were offered for the abrupt disbandment.

The 49-year-old comedian, arguably one of the most famous television celebrities in Korean broadcasting, provided a look at his daily life in the Feb. 19 episode of “Hangout with Yoo.”

When other hosts were talking about 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Yoo did not hide his feelings and emotions about an alleged biased judgment in a short track event, in which Korean skater Hwang Dae-heon was disqualified for late passing and making contact with other players. A Chinese athlete, who appeared to have pushed Hwang during the race, made it into the next round without any penalty.

In addition to Yoo, many Korean celebrities who showed their support for Korean national athletes and expressed their feelings about the Beijing Olympics have been bombarded by Chinese social media users posting a flood of vicious comments on social media accounts. Other well-known figures that have been targeted include RM of K-pop boy band BTS and rapper Paloalto.

By Lee Si-jin (sj_lee@heraldcorp.com)