Netizens clashed furiously over actress Hwang Jung Eum's recent Instagram posts, capturing her trip to the zoo overseas. 

On July 25, Hwang Jung Eum shared some photos from an overseas vacation, which included shots of her looking up at live tigers through a cage. First, in an Instagram story post, Hwang Jung Eum wrote, "Cute paw," alongside a cut of a tiger looking directly into a cage with human spectators. In another set of posts, Hwang Jung Eum looked up as a tiger stretched itself out on top of the cage above her, writing, "Nice to meet you. I even wore glasses today so I could look at you."

Notably, the actress also addressed potential concerns that onlookers may have about the living conditions of the tigers, adding on, "By the way, all you see is not all there is. It's the people who are inside a bus. The tigers are in the wild."

Yet, despite Hwang Jung Eum's explanation that the photos were "not what they seemed", many netizens still criticized the actress with comments such as, 

"This looks like animal abuse. Why would you post these photos?"

"Seeing those tigers treated like that makes me so sad. All zoos should just close down."

"Those tigers look abused and malnourished." 

"I really don't know why she thought anyone would find these photos interesting. They really do look awful, the focus is on the cage more than anything else."

"People need to stop consuming zoos of any kind altogether to bring about actual change."

"Sure, Hwang Jung Eum didn't do anything illegal herself. But there are only a handful of zoos in the world that actually respect the rights of animals."

"Some people might see these photos and want to visit the zoo to try it out themselves, and that contributes to zoos making profits from animals."

Meanwhile, others felt that those leaving critical comments were only "taking out their anger on the wrong person", and argued,

"Take your anger out at the zoo, not Hwang Jung Eum."

"Whether the tiger looks mistreated or malnourished or whatever, Hwang Jung Eum wasn't the one responsible for it."

"Whether the tigers are living in cages or in open spaces, a lot of people can agree that zoos are horrible. However, what is taking your anger out on Hwang Jung Eum going to do?"

"Go join an animal rights group or something. Stop overreacting on random people's SNS accounts."

"Some people just want an excuse to go off on a celebrity."

"She already explained that it's a safari experience on a moving bus. They're lashing out angrily without full knowledge of whether or not the tigers at this zoo are mistreated or not."

In other news, Hwang Jung Eum signed on with a new agency, Y-ONE Entertainment, earlier this month to resume her entertainment activities.