Little Psy cyber-bullied

By Kang Hyun-kyung

‘Little Psy’ Hwang Min-u

Hwang Min-u, better known as “Little Psy,” has become the target of online racial abuse.

Starzon Entertainment, which represents the eight-year-old born to a Korean father and Vietnamese mother, said cyber bullies have posted racial slurs, calling Hwang the “child of an inferior race.”

Hwang’s agent filed a complaint against them.

This case is not an isolated one.

Choi Young-il, executive director of the non-profit group Borderless Village, which helps migrant workers, said some Koreans hold inexplicable grudges against migrants and people with multiracial backgrounds.

“Some blue-collar workers, such as laborers and temporary workers, feel that foreign workers have stolen their jobs. Some experienced steep cuts in wages because employers are trying to take advantage of undocumented workers,” he said.

“There is another group of people who consider themselves the victims of interracial marriages after their relationships with foreign spouses went wrong. I think these people are the main sources of the backlash against multiculturalism.”

As a social worker, Choi said, he is often confronted with accusations of being a traitor because he helps foreign workers and troubled migrant brides.

The xenophobic incident targeting Little Psy came weeks after a conservative Internet cafe Coalition Against Foreigner Crimes, filed a complaint against four former welfare ministers, including Chin Soo-hee, for their alleged contribution to an increase in undocumented workers.

Cho Dong-hwan, the founder of the group, insists that the ministers should pay back billions of won spent on medical support for illegal workers since 2005. The claim was dismissed by the prosecution.

Cho said the government “overprotected” immigrants, and undocumented workers, causing some Koreans to feel they were being reversely discriminated against.

“The government is mainly responsible for an increase of foreigner crimes here because it supports undocumented workers,” Cho said.

The backlash against diversity emerged as a major policy challenge from last year when Rep. Jasmine Lee of the ruling Saenuri Party came under attack from netizens after she became the first naturalized Korean lawmaker.