The hashtags ‘#CancelKorea’ and ‘#SorryToFilipinos’ trended on Twitter over the weekend following an online clash between South Koreans and Filipinos—which involved racial slurs.
The entire issue began when Filipina-American TikTok influencer Bella Poarch posted a video showing her arm tattoo that looked like Japan’s wartime symbol when it occupied Korea before.
South Korean netizens called her out and said her tattoo was offensive to their culture and history.
Poarch immediately apologized and promised to have the tattoo removed and covered. “I didn’t know the history behind the tattoo and I will educate others about it. Please learn from my mistake,” she told her 16 million followers.
However, the Korean netizens reportedly continued to leave rude comments on her social media accounts, dropping racist comments against Filipinos in general.
The alleged racism from these netizens sparked the hashtags #CancelKorea and #ApologizeToFilipinos on Twitter as Filipinos criticized the Korean’s reported discrimination. The online clash got huge enough to draw the attention of Korean media.
In a report by Latest Chika, Korea Times cited local news agency Yonhap as saying that the “incident is raising concern in South Korea that the popularity of Korean entertainment could be hit hard in the Philippines.”
Put down your lightstick let’s raise our flag🇵🇭#cancelkorea pic.twitter.com/XKDvH7R4jU
— ShainaKim (@shainaV_Kim) September 9, 2020
Latest Chika furthered that following the controversy, many South Korean netizens and influencers took to social media to apologize for alleged discriminatory comments of their fellow citizens—resulting in #SorryToFilipinos trending on Twitter.
#SorryToFilipinos #cancelkorea
I’m so sorry. 🇰🇷🤝🇵🇭 pic.twitter.com/apNVIHeBQf— 플텍계 대화가능 그외🚫 김우우🕶 (@kim__oo614) September 10, 2020
Jessica Lee, who lived and studied in the Philippines for nine years, said: “Any form of racial discrimination is unacceptable for me, and pretty sure with many of you guys as well. So, about this and to those people who got offended by these comments of some Korean netizens, I would like to apologize from the bottom of my heart.
“I’m very sorry for you guys. I feel very uncomfortable around guys because I also grew up in the Philippines so I would like to apologize on behalf of those rude Korean netizens,” said South Korean influencer Jessica Lee who lived in the Philippines for almost a decade.
Another influencer, Kuya Koreano Ricky Park also said the racist comments were uncalled for, apologizing to Filipinos for what happened.
“I’d like to apologize to those Filipinos who were hurt by this issue. The way they bash is totally off-topic. Attacking on this kind of, like, racial discrimination is totally irrelevant. I think they are the ones who (are) uneducated for focusing on something that is totally off topic,” he said.
