Violent incidents reignite anti-Chinese sentiment in Korea

Murder suspect Cha Cheol-nam, center, is escorted to Siheung Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, Monday. He is accused of killing two people this month at his home and stabbing two others. Yonhap

A chilling emergency alert was issued across Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, Monday afternoon, warning residents: "A stabbing has occurred. Police are searching the area. Please stay indoors and remain cautious."

Just hours later, a photo of the suspect, an ethnic Korean Chinese man named Cha Cheol-nam, dominated the front pages of major Korean news websites, as police issued a nationwide search for his capture.

That afternoon, Cha allegedly stabbed a woman in her 60s — the owner of a convenience store he often visited — and fled. When officers traced him to his one-room apartment, they discovered a severely decomposed body believed to have been dead for several days. In the meantime, Cha also stabbed a man in his 70s about two kilometers from the store, and police later discovered another body near his residence.

Police arrested him just an hour after starting the open search.

Between Sunday and Monday, three knife-related incidents involving Chinese nationals occurred across southern Gyeonggi Province. Two of them triggered a “Code Zero” alert — the police’s highest-level emergency response.

The incidents quickly reignited a wave of anti-Chinese sentiment online and reinforced long-standing stereotypes about ethnic Korean Chinese, known as "Joseonjok." Comment sections on YouTube videos were flooded with remarks like “Deport all Chinese nationals” and “Don’t call Joseonjok our fellow Koreans.”

The origins of the Joseonjok date back to the 1860s, when many Koreans migrated to Manchuria to escape famine, forming close-knit communities — particularly in what is now China’s Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture.

A sign reading "Chinese OUT, including Joseonjok" is posted on a tree outside the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, Seoul, March 18. Korea Times file

After Korea and China normalized diplomatic ties in 1992, many began returning to Korea in search of better opportunities. According to Statistics Korea, 532,100 ethnic Koreans of Chinese nationality were living in Korea as of 2023.

Korean society often holds unfavorable views of the Joseonjok community.

In a 2022 CBS survey featuring in-depth interviews with 127 Korean university students, 83.5 percent described their image of the Joseonjok as “rough” or “dangerous.”

When asked if they would accept help from a Joseonjok individual while studying, traveling or doing business in China, 58.3 percent said no — 16.6 percentage points more than those who said yes.

Films have played a major role in fueling negative perceptions.

In the survey, 70.9 percent of respondents said movies and television dramas were a key influence in shaping their image of ethnic Korean Chinese.

In Korean cinema, they are often portrayed as ruthless villains. In the 2010 film "The Yellow Sea," the protagonist beats dozens of thugs to death with an animal bone. In "The Outlaws," which drew more than 6.8 million viewers in 2017, gang members casually mutilate debtors.

Actor Yoon Kye-sang plays a ruthless Joseonjok gang leader in the film "The Outlaws." Courtesy of ABO Entertainment

However, in reality, the crime rate among Chinese nationals, including ethnic Korean Chinese, is not significantly higher than that of Korean nationals. In 2023, they accounted for just 1.2 percent of all criminal suspects, according to the National Police Agency. In contrast, Koreans made up 97.4 percent.

“Foreign nationals may be more hesitant to commit crimes due to unstable legal status, fear of deportation or language barriers,” Park Seong-hoon, a senior research associate at the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice, told The Korea Times.

He added that people native to the country often have broader personal networks — including school ties, hometown connections and family — which can be leveraged when motivated to commit a crime. In contrast, foreigners typically have limited social networks, making it harder to act on criminal intent due to lack of necessary information.

Experts warn that focusing on a perpetrator’s nationality rather than the root causes of a crime can distort public understanding.

“In the United States — a country long grappling with racism — a suspect’s nationality or ethnicity is typically omitted in news reports, as it’s seen as irrelevant,” Kim Hee-gyeo, a professor of Northeast Asian Cultural Industries at Kwangwoon University, told The Korea Times.

“Their Chinese identity has no connection to the crimes themselves. This should be treated as a criminal matter — not framed as a ‘Joseonjok problem,’” Kim said. “This kind of thinking plays a major role in driving our society toward racial prejudice.”