Amid the global excitement for Squid Game Season 2, a controversy has surfaced involving the sale of illegal merchandise featuring actor Lee Jung Jae's image on a major Chinese online shopping mall.

Professor Seo Kyung Duk from Sungshin University raised the alarm about the issue, sharing, "I was made aware of this by reports from many netizens. After looking through several Chinese online shopping platforms, I confirmed that illegal merchandise was being sold."

Seo explained that while products related to Squid Game didn’t appear on major platforms like Taobao and Jingdong—where controversy had occurred after Season 1—they were being sold on other platforms like Temu and AliExpress.

The biggest concern, according to Seo, is the "unauthorized use of portrait rights" of actors from the show to create and sell these goods without permission. "Most of the merchandise is being made and sold in China, and it’s a serious issue that actors' images are being exploited for profit," he said.

Following the success of Squid Game Season 1, counterfeit costumes were widely sold on Chinese online shopping malls, with many sellers based in cities like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Anhui Province, according to reports from the South China Morning Post.

Seo expressed his frustration, stating, "It’s unacceptable that some Chinese netizens are not only illegally streaming content but also profiting from creating illegal merchandise. This has to stop immediately."

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BTS’s V is proving once again why he’s a global music powerhouse! His song “Winter Ahead (with Park Hyo Shin)” has officially surpassed 210 million streams on Spotify, showing its long-lasting popularity.

On February 26, Winter Ahead crossed the 210 million stream mark on the world’s biggest music platform, Spotify. Since its release, the song has been charting for 91 consecutive days on both the Global Spotify Chart and Europe’s Apple Music Daily Song Chart, proving its strong presence.

Originally released on November 29, 2023, Winter Ahead made a huge impact on year-end charts for 2024. It debuted at No. 99 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, topped Billboard’s Holiday Digital Song Sales chart at No.1, and ranked No. 62 on Billboard’s Holiday Top 100.

Over in the UK, the song entered the Official Singles Chart at No. 86, while securing No.1 on the Official Singles Downloads Chart and No.2 on the Singles Sales Chart, proving its incredible digital sales power.

The music video for Winter Ahead also became a hot topic! V transformed into a sculptor, delivering a deep and emotional performance with his expressive acting, pulling fans into the song’s atmosphere.

Despite being 6 minutes and 22 seconds long, the video went viral, ranking No.1 on the "Music Video Trending Worldwide" chart.

On TIDAL, a global high-quality streaming platform, Winter Ahead made history as the longest-running K-pop song at No.1 on the Global Top Video chart.

It also topped Top Video charts in several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, Spain, Australia, and Singapore.

Even Billboard couldn’t resist the charm of Winter Ahead! The song was featured in "The 27 Best Winter Songs for the Season," with Billboard praising it as "evoking the feeling of the first day of winter, with harmonies as fresh as a snowflake."

They also noted that "its impact will last far beyond December 25."

Additionally, Winter Ahead was voted No.1 on Billboard’s ‘2024 Fan-Favorite Songs’ list, proving that fans can’t get enough of V’s music.

With this, V has now charted three songs on Billboard’s Holiday Hot 100, following Christmas Tree (2021) and his cover of White Christmas. He is officially the only K-pop artist to achieve this!

Even more impressively, he holds the record as the only K-pop artist to have three songs reach No.1 on Billboard’s Holiday Digital Song Sales chart, solidifying his dominance in the holiday music scene.

With Winter Ahead continuing to shine worldwide, V once again proves why he’s the ultimate ‘Winter King’ of K-pop.

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