'We don't want Chinese song on Korean show': Anti-Chinese sentiments sweep through K-pop

Xiaojun, left, and Kun of WavY, the Chinese sub-unit of K-pop boy group NCT / Courtesy of SM Entertainment

By Dong Sun-hwa

Last month, one of the performances featured on MBC M's music show, "Show Champion," irritated many Korean viewers: two members of WayV, a Chinese sub-unit of K-pop boy group NCT, crooned their latest ballad "Back to You" in Chinese.

After WayV's performance hit the air, many took to the internet and complained about the Chinese-language song being played on a Korean program, which they could not understand without Korean subtitles. But the issue wasn't mainly about the language. Experts say it had more to do with the anti-China sentiment that has been sweeping through the Korean entertainment scene.

"Seoul and Beijing's recent feud over the 'origins' of traditional Korean assets like kimchi and hanbok, as well as the latter's inclination toward egocentrism, appears to have ruffled the feathers of Korean viewers," pop culture critic Kim Hern-sik said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.

"Since President Xi Jinping took power in 2013, China has been striving to cultivate and disseminate its own cultural products instead of consuming ones from other countries. China's restrictions on Korean cultural content (triggered by diplomatic friction) still remain in place and are unlikely to be lifted in the foreseeable future… Moreover, a lot of cultural content from Korea including K-pop contains messages such as freedom and democratization, which China sees as threats to its regime."

Korean singers have been practically prohibited from performing in Beijing since 2016, the year Seoul deployed a U.S. missile defense battery ― the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system ― on Korean soil in spite of Beijing's objections.

In contrast, Chinese stars, as members of "K-pop" groups, are allowed to perform and pursue their careers in Korea. Many Koreans believe that this inequity is unfair.

"Millennials and generation Z, who were born between 1980 and 2010, are the major consumers of pop culture here and they highly value fairness," Kim pointed out. "To them, China's one-sided crackdown on Korean culture can be regarded as inequitable."

Lee Gyu-tag, a professor of cultural anthropology at George Mason University Korea, echoed this view.

"WayV members are not the first foreign acts to sing in their own language on a Korean music show," he noted. "But the growing anti-China sentiment here seems to have triggered negative reactions."

Many Koreans no longer believe that the mainland Chinese members of K-pop groups will stay loyal to their groups, after quite a few of them abruptly left their bands and returned to their home country, experts say. In the case of K-pop behemoth EXO, it was initially a group consisting of eight Koreans and four Chinese, but three members hailing from China ― Kris Wu, Lu Han and Z. Tao ― quit the act only a few years after their debut in 2012.

From left, Lu Han, Kris Wu and Z. Tao, the Chinese former members of K-pop act EXO / Courtesy of Produce Camp 2020

"Nevertheless, K-pop record labels still include Chinese members in their groups in order to target lucrative Chinese markets," critic Kim said. "But that seems too unpredictable now. I am quite skeptical that K-pop will have another heyday in China anytime soon, like it did in the past."

"Patriotic" and "nationalistic" remarks made by several mainland Chinese members of K-pop groups have also negatively affected how Korean fans feel about them. On July 1, mainland Chinese singers, including NCT DREAM's Renjun and Chenle, Seventeen's THE 8 and (G)I-DLE's Yuqi, caused a stir here for sharing their messages on social media to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Numerous Koreans reckon it is inappropriate for them to support openly their one-party rule while taking advantage of Korea's free, democratic systems for their careers.

"Why are they promoting communism using K-pop?" an internet user commented on an online forum.

A wave of singers also showed their support for cotton produced in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China ― where the Chinese government is accused of using the ethnic Uyghur Muslim minority as forced labor ― and supported China's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, too. In fact, Chinese people who were born after 1990 ― or "jiulinghou" ― are known to have received intensified "patriotic education" as the country seeks to ensure loyalty among its young people.

Lee, however, pointed out that it might be inevitable for these singers to make nationalistic comments, as freedom of speech is limited in their country.

"These singers are Chinese, but they are also part of the K-pop industry," he said. "To maintain a harmonious relationship with their international followers, they should be more open-minded. I think Korean management companies should provide education concerning cultural diversity for their singers so that they can be more prudent about their words and acts."

He added that K-pop fans in Korea have to be more open-minded, too.

"We are proud to see K-pop singers singing in Korean on foreign shows or programs," he said. "But why are we reacting so negatively to mainland Chinese K-pop stars singing in Chinese? As K-pop becomes more global, we also need a global mindset to understand others."