Actor and K-pop singer Cha Eun-woo is undoubtedly one of the most popular Korean celebrities at the moment. It is no surprise that Cha has often generated buzz in the entertainment news section and among fans of Korean music and drama.

But in recent days, his name was mentioned multiple times among a most unexpected group of people here: politicians.

It started with the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea’s decision last week to nominate its deputy spokesperson Ahn Gwi-ryeong to run in the upcoming April 10 general election. The 35-year-old news anchor-turned-politician was tapped to run for Dobong-gu, which has long been a stronghold for the progressive bloc.

Controversy began brewing when critics started to point out that she was widely perceived to be an aide and supporter of the party’s current leader, Lee Jae-myung. Some within the party, including former Dobong-gu district chief Lee Dong-jin, criticized what he saw was the party favoring pro-Lee members in the candidate selection process.

It was then when YouTube footage of Ahn playing a game of “ideal type world cup,” which is a tournament-style game in which the guest chooses the ideal celebrity they would most like to date, on a Channel A talk show, went viral.

In the game, Ahn eventually chooses the main opposition leader over Cha, which drew a jokingly annoyed reaction from the interviewers.

The footage was forgotten until the rival and ruling People Power Party Interim Chair Han Dong-hoon decided to comment on it.

“If there was a candidate in the People Power Party who told me I (looked better) than Cha Eun-woo then they would never be nominated,” he told reporters as he was entering the National Assembly on Monday.

“It seems Lee’s Democratic Party has become a jungle, where only brownnosers who can pick Lee’s nose for him on his behalf and say that he looks better than Cha Eun-woo can survive,” he added, while recalling separate 2022 video footage of Democratic Party Rep. Park Chan-dae seemingly picking Lee’s nose for him.

Ahn soon fired back at Han, saying that he was taking things too seriously.

“It is not Han’s job to turn an entertainment variety show into a documentary or bad- mouth the main opposition party,” she told reporters a few hours later.

“I hope he focuses on improving the livelihoods of the people rather than on such bickering,” she added.

The issue gained further momentum on Tuesday, when Democratic Party Rep. Park Beom-kye addressed the matter in a radio interview, saying that Ahn should thank Han for throwing her into the spotlight ahead of the election.

Cha’s agency Fantagio was unavailable for comment.