Cosmic Girls’ Cheng Xiao And Her C-Drama Criticized For Including A Kimchi-Making Scene

It’s been awhile since we’ve last heard any news about Cosmic Girls member Cheng Xiao. While fans are aware of her China activities, the girl group member hasn’t made any appearance in the news or in her group’s Korean promotions for some time now. However, Cheng Xiao has recently began to make headlines—but it’s for all the wrong reasons.

The Cosmic Girls member has been busy filming for her C-Drama Lie to Love, which began back in November. The 32 episode series has been adapted from a novel with the same title and with Cheng Xiao’s appearance as the lead female character, the expectation of the production has remained high.

Since Lie to Love‘s premiere, Cheng Xiao has been showcasing her acting skills, but the most recent episodes have fallen under some intense scrutiny from Korean netizens due to a sudden Korean cultural reference.

In the scene, the girl group member and her male lead approaches a woman…

….who was busy making the classic Korean side dish, kimchi.

As the couple and the lady converse, one thing became more abundantly clear to Korean netizens—the Chinese drama purposely included a scene that featured kimchi without crediting the South Korean origin of the food. The series takes place in China, so the inclusion of kimchi seemed random and unnecessary.

This became problematic because this isn’t the first time China has tried to take credit for Korean cultures and foods. Previously, the country received intense criticisms for alleging that South Korea stole kimchi and hanbok from the Chinese culture, when is false. China also previously took credit for the Korean flag, which they assured their citizens was in fact a Chinese creation.

Given China’s previous attempts to claim different Korean traditions as their own, Korean netizens were infuriated upon seeing the kimchi scene in Cheng Xiao’s C-Drama. K-Netizens were quick to criticize not only the Chinese production for their attempt to once again, steal a part of the Korean culture, but they also criticized the Cosmic Girls member due to her association with K-Pop and her previous promotions in South Korea.

• “They don’t even know what they’re doing and they’re trying to steal it. That’s why it looks like that ㅋㅋㅋ f*ck.”
• “She ran away to China after gaining fame through her K-Pop group, yet she’s doing this.”
• “Why are they like that? Are they trying to be dependent on South Korea?”
• “China is just being China.”
• “They’re putting the seasoning on raw cabbage ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”
• “They have no pride so that’s why they’re able to covet others’ belongings.”
• “Why are they so obsessed with kimchi ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I don’t understand.”

In related news, the three Chinese members of Cosmic Girls—Cheng Xiao, Meiqi, and Xuanyi—made headlines earlier this year when rumors about their departure began to circulate online. While the three members have been busy promoting in China for the past few years, they have not participated in any Cosmic Girls promotions since 2018.

And while Starship Entertainment has still not addressed the departure rumors, Cosmic Girls fans remained certain that the three Chinese members are no longer a part of the girl group.