Chinese TV personality Zhang Yuan resumes activity after 2-year hiatus over anti-Korea remarks

Zhang Yuan / Captured from Zhang's social media

Chinese television personality Zhang Yuan has resumed social media activity two years after suspending his career following controversy over remarks widely criticized as anti-Korean.

Zhang posted a new profile photo on his social media account Friday along with the Chinese greeting, "Long time no see." It was his first post in two years on the account he used while working in Korea.

Zhang, a Chinese national and former Chinese-language instructor, rose to prominence through JTBC's variety show "Non-Summit" and later appeared on a number of Korean entertainment programs.

His Korean career came to a halt in May 2024 after remarks from a personal livestream drew intense criticism.

Zhang said Korea was "stealing Chinese culture," citing the Dano Festival, Confucius and Chinese characters, and said he planned to conduct street interviews to hear what Koreans thought.

He also said he would wear clothing resembling that of an emperor from China's Ming or Song dynasty and visit a Korean palace, adding that it would feel as though "an emperor from the suzerain state had come to inspect a tributary state."

Zhang further claimed that "if Koreans trace their ancestry back three or four generations, a considerable number of them would be Chinese."

He also commented on a music video by girl group IVE, saying it reminded him of the "Wanrenkeng," a term referring to mass burial sites associated with killings carried out by imperial Japan, and demanded an explanation if the resemblance was accidental.

As the controversy intensified, Zhang's scheduled events and other activities in Korea were canceled.

He later said on social media that the remarks did not reflect his true intentions.

"The one principle I stand by is that I hope relations between the people of the two countries will improve," he said.

However, about a month after issuing the explanation, Zhang uploaded a video showing himself visiting a Korean palace in Chinese imperial attire, as he had previously said he would. The move effectively ended his career in the Korean entertainment industry.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.