Recently, various Korean celebrities have drawn attention with their generous donations to support victims and relief efforts of the Yeongnam wildfires in Korea.

According to the latest reports, the death toll from the Yeongnam wildfires has risen to 21 – 20 civilian casualties and one helicopter pilot who died while battling the flames, while over 27,000 people were displaced. Celebrities’ efforts to donate and draw attention to the issue are thus greatly appreciated.

However, the silence from BLACKPINK’s Jennie has led to intense criticisms, especially as the female idol wrote a long heartfelt post and even attached a link to appeal for help during the LA wildfires earlier this year.

The difference in reactions during the 2 wildfires have led to criticisms directed at Jennie, as netizens accused her of favoritism and hypocrisy. Below are some comments from netizens under a topic titled “Jennie doesn’t seem to care about the Korean forest fires”, which drew over 90,000 views and 200 comments:

This is not about donating. When the LA wildfires happened, she even wrote on Instagram asking for help and made donations while doing so, but when the Korean wildfires happened, she didn’t make any statement even though the wildfires in Korean were more serious than in LA. Is everyone reading this? Isn’t Jennie a Korean celebrity? It’s a shame that she’s quiet about the Korean incident.

It’s not that Jennie doesn’t donate, but isn’t it a shame that she made a long post on Instagram when there were wildfires in the US but didn’t mention anything about the wildfires in her home country?

I’m not saying she needs to donate, but when there was a wildfire overseas, she uploaded a really long story and even a link to ask for attention, but this time she’s quiet. Our country is experiencing the largest wildfire in history, so if she were a foreign celebrity, I would understand, but she’s a Korean celebrity. It’s not just Jennie, Rosé was like that during the Australian wildfires. Of course, she has dual citizenship of Australia and Korea, but it’s a shame… 

I was a little upset about this too. She doesn’t have to donate.. but LA isn’t her home country… Jennie just went to New Zealand to study for 5 years and isn’t her nationality Korean? I wonder why she asked for a lot of attention for the LA wildfires, which weren’t in her home country, but didn’t even mention the wildfires in her own country… The wildfires in our country are worse than LA right now, but if influential people like Jennie mentioned them, it could get a lot of attention 

However, on March 28, Hope Bridge National Disaster Relief Association announced that Jennie has donated 100 million won to help restore damage from wildfires in Korea. The female idol also expressed her condolences, saying, “I felt sorry to hear that many people are suffering from the sudden wildfires. I wanted to join in the hope that even a small gesture of sincerity would provide some comfort”, and added, “I sincerely hope that everyone can safely return to their daily lives and welcome the warm spring.”

This gesture has effectively shut down criticisms surrounding the female idol, proving that she never failed to show support in dire times, regardless of the nation.