This is a case of you certainly can but should you really? K-actor Ji Chang Wook, who recently wrapped the terribly bad poorly written and directed K-drama Melt Me Softly, is in the news this weekend for some personal posting decisions. He live streamed a close up of himself smoking and the response as been split as usual. Some chastise him for smoking in front of his fans, some of whom could be underage and susceptible to bad habit influences. Other thinks he’s totally fine smoking and doing whatever he wants as long as it’s not illegal or immoral. Sigh, I really don’t like seeing this image of him and if it’s really what he’s like in real life it will certainly add color to my impression of him. Surprisingly his Korean fan club is actually not blindly supporting him, they issued a statement that smoking is bad and will encourage Ji Chang Wook not to do this anymore. Interesting.
Wow. How is this even news? Let the man live. Lol
Exactly. They just want news.
Yes, get a life. He’s only human like the rest of us.
Exactly? How is this a news? ?
Well he achieved more feedback with his saga than his return news and news of his poor choice of drama combined. If he did it to remind viewers hes back and alive in the industry. Hes achieved what he wanted.
Yes I know right, it’s like who cares. It’s his life if he wants to smoke he can smoke. Just leave him the fuck alone
He acted well in a couple of dramas. Nice visuals, look great in pictorials & CFs. But he always gave me the impression of putting on an act in interviews to create an image of the gentlemanly, shy, good boy type. I could be wrong…
Disgusting!!!
I thought it was only me over thinking… I even felt like falling for it esp when he casted together with NJH. All the bts and promo videos made me like the casting choices for lead couple but sometimes really he feels distant and suddenly acts like another cute-ish shy boy type on cams. It feels odd somehow
I think it’s good he’s trying to be himself and not selling a perfect boy image. It must be so tiring to be restrained everytime. Smoking is bad for health, but he’s an adult and it’s his body.
Totally agree with. Leave him alone.
Right. It’s a personal choice View from a distance it’s not your life. How this is news is beyond me.
Are we even surprised he smokes? People are so quick to buy whatever public persona a celebrity puts out. What you see is never what you get
OMG he’s smoking a cigarette and if he does this often why is this news? GDragon smokes too and no one bats an eyelid. He’s still hot either way and I’m not fazed by it but it’s obvious that the anti smoke brigade have certainly got their knickers in a twist over it.
I guess almost every celeb smokes.. Its just being made a big issue
I remember Hyun Bin had pictures of him smoking in a one day journey type of photoshoot for a magazine years ago. I suppose nearly every Korean actor smokes and drinks in real life but just choose not to show it too obviously or else it will tarnish their carefully cultivated public image. Behind closed doors, who knows what other typical male habits they have. Watching porn? Normal too. In fact, many famous athletes and pastors have confessed to watching porn in the western countries so much so that people don’t bat an eyelid anymore with these kind of confessions. JCW may have been a smoker for a long time but choosing it now to be seen in public may possibly tell me he is showing his true self. In his IG, there are many photos of him going on holiday to Thailand with his male friends. In South-East Asian countries, there is a joke amongst women that when men organized an all-male trip to Thailand, it can only mean one thing. High school boys, college boys, young male adults and uncles have done it as a rite of passage like western boys doing their OE or gap year travelling.
well, smoking not smoking two different things that i won’t comment about (even though i super hate smokers) but who on earth record this kind of video and actually put it on social network like this?! & he is not even a teenager! ??
Ji Chang Wook has been taking a weird turn lately.
Because he smokes? lol
You’re the one that’s weird for thinking smoking cigarette is weird. It’s not a big deal. He’s fine.
Koala shouldn’t even need to post it, but she likes drama (fiction and non fiction). So, here we are.
No he has been doing other weird things too. Something is off about him. I will wait and watch him for now.
Idiotic move on his part to live stream this.
Second if he smokes around other people. Also bad due to second hand smoke on top of ruining his own health.
However…but… smoking does not make him a bad person although he chose this unhealthy habit.
So many korean male actors smokes. Not saying that it should be normalized but others should get grievance and criticize as well. Because yes smoking is unhealthy to yourself and others around you.
He looks kind of stressed out in the photos so I wish him good luck with whatever he deals with. From hearing from my friends and family who smoke, they generally smoked due to having life struggles. So I think he most likely is struggling with something. So I wish you well ji chang wook.
I personally could care less if people I don’t know, especially celebs smoke. I always found it weird how fans would get all up in arms and start nagging the celebs about their health. They are all adults, and they aren’t friends or fam, so if they wanna ruin their health let them do whatever.
But I’ve never gotten the hype about jcw, seems like he is only really popular for his looks. His acting I find just okay. He likes to portray himself as a shy guy and stuff but I never bought it. Also his whole thing with the burning sun/arena thing and his nightclub image just shows a whole different side to the real him.
I still like him as an actor but as for his real persona, I always find it a bit ambivalent. I hope he gets all the help he needs if he’s going through a tough time. This will teach all the shippers a lesson that any actor/actress that they idolised is not a saint in real life.
First time ever commenting on something. But hell this is ridicolous. He s smoking a cigarette that legal and legally sold and to think that his image is ruined by smoking is absolutely crazy… he s a real person not a perfect doll made for us to fantasize on. Let the man has his vice and be human with fault and all
He’s free to smoke whatever, but don’t portray it as something cool to impressionable young fans because smoking is indeed bad for health. It’s good his fanclub spoke out on this and discourage smoking.
And also, since he’s free to smoke as he wants, the public and his fans are allowed to have their own opinion of his new image as well. It’s up to individuals whether they want to like/support someone who smokes or not.
Are korean celebs starting to get tired of putting on an exhausting act 24/7. JCW got on and was like let me be real for a second…also people are obliged to be upset but hearing people say they are surprised because of his image…hasn’t been the past year been a wake up call for people when it comes to celebrities there?
It’s an act 80% of the time they are in any sort of contact with the public, it’s part of their job and the public is extremely demanding of them, it’s give and take. You get what you ask for but understand the game at the same time and be realistic. Let these celebs who are human have moments of weaknesses where they crack the facade for a second (as long as it’s not illegal or harming others). I know they make good money but I don’t envy korean celebs for a second, it just seems exhausting.
Geez….why is this news? So he smokes. What’s the big deal? He’s only harming his health and the people next to him with second hand smoke. Personally, I don’t approve of or support smokers or smoking, but this is hardly newsworthy. Let the man live his life!
I think people are upset not just because he livestreamed a close-up of him smoking. But rather he’s a celebrity and has young fans who might think it is cool to smoke. And it’s not helping that the image he projects on screen is the shy nice guy type. Plus his comeback drama was not even a mild hit.
I actually thought he was shooting a scene in a drama when he did that IG live. He is free to smoke sure, but I must admit I was also surprised that he did it on IG live, where people tend to be more careful with what they share to the public. I guess he didn’t think that it was a big deal. [on a personal note, I have allergies so I tend not to like smoking] Anyway, hope his next project will be better than the last one.
I don’t think the issue is him smoking. I, as not a fan know that he smokes. He has been vocal about it. Some fans have told him to not smoke too much (read this in a fan meet description). The issue here is him smoking in that live stream which does not fit the pretty public image of celebs in Korea. I agree that this may lead to a wrong projection of a cool image to youngsters and it may be valid for that reason even if smoking isn’t that huge deal.
I guess K-netz is very sensitive with a smoker. I remember one of running man’s member get critized because he was smoking in the show.
Obviously, he’s just doing it for the attention and publicity. I mean, is there a need to upload on IG when you smoke and tell the whole world about it? How childish!
It’s one thing to smoke, that’s legal and not an issue if he doesn’t subject others to secondhand smoke.
The criticism here is because he went and put it in his public ig, and I understand it – he’s a celebrity, he should consider his influence before broadcasting smoking via ig live (also this is cringeworthy behaviour from a man his age).
Whatever, but recording yourself smoking is so cringey.
Many Korean celebrities smoke. Am I surprised that he does too? Nope. However, it was quite stupid and cringey of JCW to post this. But then again my celebrities smoke on set knowing their fans are taking pictures.
Has my opinion of him changed? Because of the smoking, no? The posting it? Ehh. The dude looks stressed especially since his MMS flopped, so I’m willing to let this instance pass.
Plus, he still seems like a well mannered person.
As for influencing fans, LOL, have you seen how much they drink in every other drama?! Yikes.