KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 ― The Instagram account of K-pop boy band BTS has come under attack from Chinese social media users after its leader RM rooted for a South Korean athlete at the Winter Olympics.

RM had on Monday posted on his Instagram Stories a clip of short-track speed skater Hwang Dae-heon, who had come in first in the men's 1,000m semi-final despite going up against aggressive Chinese skaters, The Straits Times reported.

Hwang, however, was given a controversial penalty for making contact with Chinese athlete Li Wenlong and failed to advance to the finals.

RM then cheered Hwang on with the emojis for clapping and thumbs up but Chinese social media users took offense at that and began attacking BTS' posts on Instagram, posting nasty emojis for the middle finger and throwing up.

They also left petty and malicious comments, such as telling the mega popular group to stay away from the China market and launched personal attacks on RM's looks.

BTS fans, known as Army, retaliated by posting a slew of purple hearts to drown out the haters, with purple being the colour representing both the fandom and the group.

As a result of this Instagram war, the comments sections on some recent posts have been flooded with over 170,000 comments over the past couple of days, with more appearing almost every second.