After a four-year hiatus since her last drama in 2021, golden girl of K-dramas,Jun Ji Hyun's latest comeback drama isn't panning out quite how she intended.

Tempest, now streaming on Disney+ has blown up online, but not in the way the 43-year-old star's fans expected.

Ji Hyun is being accused by angry Chinese viewers of being anti-China.

In episode four, Ji Hyun’s character, a former United Nations-turned-presidential candidate, asks: “Why would China prefer war? That way, nuclear bombs would fall along the border areas.”

That single line set off a firestorm with Chinese netizens branding it as “fabricated” and “politically defamatory”.

“If China favours war, South Korea will no longer be a country,” one fumed.

Others took aim at Ji Hyun herself, saying she should have been smarter with her comeback choice, with many calling for a boycott.

“The good relationships she accumulated in China over the past 20 years are gone," another commented.

But Ji Hyun’s lines weren’t the only controversy.

Viewers also blasted how the Chinese city of Dalian was depicted as shady and rundown, compared to, say, American cities.

Critics say America is portrayed as bustling and modern, while Chinese ones appear shady and rundown.

To make matters worse, sharp-eyed netizens from Hong Kong also noted that Dalian’s backdrop in the show wasn’t even Dalian but is in fact the Cheung Hing Bird’s Nest Factory in Hong Kong.

We wonder if it was sloppy research (like a Singaporean who can’t speak English in an US drama) or a deliberate creative choice.

However, Ji Hyun’s fans were quick to jump in to defend their idol, urging the Chinese to remain rational and not to attack her and the cast.

Photos: Disney +, giannajunfp/IG