Greenpeace Responds To Netizens’ Criticism Of Ryu Jun Yeol’s Ambassadorship

Following the controversy over his relationship with Han So Hee, Ryu Jun Yeol is facing intense backlash from netizens.

The pushback against the actor came from the speculations that he committed “transit love,” which refers to someone moving onto a relationship very quickly after a breakup. The controversy has visibly affected the actor, who hid his face from the press recently when he returned to Korea from Hawaii. His first public appearance after the controversy didn’t garner any favorable reactions either.

As the online hate against Ryu grew, Korean netizens started putting other aspects of his life under the microscope and called on Greenpeace to remove him as their ambassador. Multiple Korean netizens canceled their donation to the organization, accusing Ryu of “greenwashing,” citing his love for golf.

Ryu started promoting Greenpeace in 2016 and later became their first ambassador in the East Asia Branch. He has frequently shot environmental campaigns with the organization and was hailed as an activist leading the carbon neutrality movement in the country. However, his well-known hobby of golfing, a sport that is known for its destructive effects on the environment, has now caught the attention of netizens. In protest, many of them reached out to the organization after canceling their donations to name Ryu Jun Yeol as the reason behind their withdrawal of support.

On March 21, KST, Greenpeace finally responded to the mounting pressure with an official statement, mentioning that the actor has been serving in his role as an ambassador voluntarily based on goodwill.

Since 2016, Ryu Jun Yeol has been actively participating in various campaigns of Greenpeace and is also a sponsor of the organization. In April 2023, Ryu was appointed as the first ambassador for Greenpeace East Asia with the intention of working together on various environmental campaigns in the future.

As a promotional ambassador, his activities are voluntary based on individual goodwill.

— Greenpeace

They added that the organization is currently looking into the issues raised by the public and will review it accordingly.

We are currently verifying inquiries from sponsors regarding this incident. Greenpeace is an organization that operates solely on individual and independent foundation sponsorships, without receiving any funding from the government or corporations. One of Greenpeace’s roles is to deliver a stronger and louder voice of citizens to drive changes within the government and corporations. We will take this opportunity to review and discuss regulations regarding promotional ambassadors.

— Greenpeace