Pop stars ‘blacking up’ on national TV are just a symptom of a wider malady, writes Andrew Farrell
In July 2010, the website Oh No They Didn’t! carried the bizarre story of South Korean music icon Lee Ki-kwang transforming himself into a black man on a national television show, Hot Brothers, which involves people being put under testing and potentially embarrassing situations in order to keep their composure.
Kim Ki-kwang was apparently made up in ‘blackface’ and, according to reports and blogs released at the time, there were certain racial undertones and stereotypes involved, such as watermelons.
It is commonly assumed in South Korea that it’s ‘K-Pop’ stars are products of huge entertainment companies who decide the public appearances of their talents. It is possible, therefore, that Kim Ki-kwang was following orders of some kind. But that should not detract from what was a repulsive situation.
Ki-kwang’s incredibly naive appearance is far from the only example of racism or insensitivity by Korean celebrities. A cursory glance on YouTube shows sketches involving Koreans imitating African-Americans, gaining huge laughter and applause from the audience.
And only last month, the group Block B came under enormous pressure for comments made on Japanese TV by one member, Kyung, who was quoted as saying: “Right now there’s a typhoon raging outside. We will sweep over here like a typhoon.” The comment did not reference the tragic tsunami that destroyed the northern Japanese coastline in 2011, but given Japan was recognising the one-year anniversary of the tragedy, the wording was wholly inappropriate.
However, the mother of all scandals involved the Korean singer-turned-songwriter Jenny Hyun, who sparked a massive controversy after a barrage of racial slurs appeared online.
Hyun was responding to a message on Twitter from boxer Floyd Mayweather, who accused breakout NBA basketball star Jeremy Lin of attracting star attention solely because he is Asian, and that black players never receive the same praise. On 16 February, Hyun unleashed a flurry of insults against the African-American community with comments like “Imagine a world with NO BLACK PEOPLE” and “The only way black people are able to advance in any way is through white people.”
Hyun was subsequently admitted to hospital suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. An apology for her actions then appeared on a website with the tagline ‘Jenny Uncensored’ on 19 February.
The issue is where South Korea goes from here. This is hardly the most multi-cultured society on the planet, and apart from well-known districts in Seoul and Busan, the presence of foreigners, apart from native English speakers, is not common.
Certainly attitudes in schools need to be looked at, especially at an early age. My students often make the connection between African men in their course book to US President Barack Obama, but that could just be linked to Obama’s surreal popularity in this country.
Nevertheless, it certainly looks like Korean attitudes towards racial humour need to be addressed.
Andrew Farrell works as an English language teacher in Korea.
