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| A Korean online streamer has come under fire for his "thoughtless" livestreams in Brazil, sparking hashtag movements on social media demanding an apology. Screen capture from Twitter |
By Lee Hyo-jin
A Korean online streamer has come under fire for his "thoughtless" livestreams in Brazil including his disrespectful behavior toward local residents.
The 26-year-old man surnamed Baek, better known by his channel name "Sijosae" on Afreeca tv, a local streaming platform, streamed live videos from Brazil recently during his visit to the southern city of Sao Paulo for several days from Feb. 12.
During his livestreams with thousands of viewers, he deliberately filmed random women in the street without their consent and made sexually explicit comments about their bodies.
He also made disparaging remarks to residents at "favelas," a Brazilian type of shantytown, saying that he will visit them to "become the victim of robbery and other crimes which occur daily there."
Baek's disrespectful behavior caught the attention of Korean nationals living there as well as local residents.
Internet users from both countries denounced his behavior and engaged in an online movement demanding an apology using hashtags such as #RespectBrazil and #RespectFavelas, and some made reports to local diplomatic agencies.
The Consulate General of Korea in Sao Paulo released a statement expressing regret and disappointment over the streamer's behavior. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul, which was also informed about the incident shortly after, asked Baek to return to Korea immediately and delete the videos.
Following mounting criticism, Baek, who is currently under self-quarantine in Korea, made an apology during a livestream on Wednesday.
He did however, claim that there was no sexual offense, nor did he intend to make any malicious remarks against Brazilians. "I am sorry to have shamed my country, but I only wanted to make interesting content for my viewers," he said.
