9:32 pm - 03/07/2012
Japanese Netizens react to ifuaskedmeto shedding light on racism in Hallyu
A massive debate has been sparked with netizens from around the globe revealing racism against black people rooted in the influential and invasive Korean Wave.
The online entertainment community, 'Oh No They Didn't' (ONTD) featured a post on the 29th of February entitled 'K-Pop or KKK-Pop?' which made anti-black discrimination accusations about Korean pop music. Black netizen, 'IFUASKEDMETO,' (t/n: the Korean sources called her a black netizen not me!) created the post and included photos and screen captures of artists like Big Bang and Girls' Generation caricaturing black people. The photos and videos from Korean shows like 'Invincible Youth' featured Hallyu stars mocking black people and wearing makeup to impersonate blacks (t/n: SNSD's Yuri, Brian Joo, etc). It also pointed out a singer (t/n: Taeyang) using the racial slur, 'nigga,' on his Cyworld minihompy, as well as a 4-member female group whose main gimmick was dressing up like black people.
The community, which has a membership of 100,000 people, saw the post amass approximately 2,000 comments, exploding in a huge controversy. Most comments included things like, "Seeing anti-black racism and prejudice like this makes me so shocked and sick to my stomach," among other negative things, and reactions to the article spread around Twitter and other social networking sites rapidly.
This issue was brought about due to the spreading of Korean TV shows from the domestic market onto YouTube and other video websites, causing them to be spread throughout the world. Fans of K-Pop artists put up the videos of their favorite stars and the videos are then spread throughout SNS sites on the Internet. However, stars and staffs of these programs don't realize their ignorance on racial matters and so this type of comedy, which was meant only for Korean audiences, spreads too.
Recently MBC’s ‘Quiz that Changes the World‘ has left international netizens outraged and furious. During the episode, comedians Lee Kyung Shil and Kim Ji Sun parodied Michol by wearing similar costumes and both covered in black makeup. Unfortunately, overseas fans did not find the parody to be entertaining and furiously commented saying that it is a “racial discrimination.” MBC said, "This is something that occurred because we did not think carefully at the time about the fact that many international viewers also have gained a high interest in the show with the spread of the Hallyu wave."
The article sent Korean netizens into a frenzy, as bloggers across the country took to their computers to voice their opinions, mostly supporting ifuaskedmeto:
"If anyone had doubts about 'ifuaskedmeto,' just look at the Jenny Hyun controversy. That is proof. The conclusion? The atmosphere around K-Pop is showing it really is 'KKK-Pop.'"
"This might turn the world against the Korean wave. I'm not sure [...] giving these kinds of excuses and attitudes in K-Pop must not go global."
"KKK = Kimchi Kusai Kankoku (t/n: Kimchi kusai means smells like kimchi, Kankoku means Korea)."
"They think 'I want to sing and be cool like black people' yet they have these narrow-minded views of the world. It's like they think foreigners don't exist."
The blogs and articles that have been splashed across the front pages of Korean news sites about ifuaskedmeto have been full of confusion, controversy and fear as the Korean secret of racism has finally leaked.
The post sent shockwaves across Asia as well, as ifuaskedme to's article was re-posted on message boards and blogs all over the continent. Some Japanese netizens reacted with disgust:
"Jenny Hyun, the composer for Girls' Generation said on her Twitter that black people are disgusting idiots. This behavior is all over the Korean Wave. Sometimes people have called K-Pop 'Krap-Pop' but this time it's 'KKK-Pop.' The person who came up with that did well."
"KKK = Kimchi Kusai Kankoku (t/n: Kimchi kusai means smells like kimchi, Kankoku means Korea)."
"They think 'I want to sing and be cool like black people' yet they have these narrow-minded views of the world. It's like they think foreigners don't exist."
Source: nate, nate, weinweipo, livedoor, logsoku [the article is basically all of these articles/comments compiled]
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