Filipinos angered by racist comments from internet users in Korea

Filipinos are outraged by racist comments from several internet users in Korea during a row triggered by a tattoo of 19-year-old Filipina TikTok star Bella Poarch. /Screen capture from Bella Poarch's TikTok

By Lee Hyo-jin

Social media users in the Philippines appear to have been angered by racist comments made by some internet users in Korea during a row triggered by a tattoo of Filipina American TikTok star Bella Poarch.

Poarch, a U.S.-born social media influencer, 19, has over 15 million followers on TikTok and more than 2.4 million followers on Instagram.

The controversy began with Poarch's TikTok video of her dancing uploaded on Sept. 5. In the video, a tattoo on her left arm with the pattern of the Rising Sun flag was revealed to millions of viewers.

The flag, which was widely used by Imperial Japan during World War II, to some symbolizes the country's wartime aggressions. It is perceived as highly offensive to Koreans as it harkens back of the tragic history of Japan's 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula.

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Following criticism from Korean internet users, Poarch issued a public apology the next day, claiming that she was unaware of what the flag means.

"I apologize to Koreans because 6 months ago I got a tattoo of the red sun with 16 rays. At that time, I didn't know the history. But when I found out, I immediately had it covered and scheduled for removal. I am ashamed of myself for not doing my research. I sincerely apologize," said Poarch.

She added several more apologies via TikTok and stated that she will try to educate others on Korea's tragic history and warned her followers to learn from her mistake.

However, some Koreans responded to her apology with malicious comments, aimed not only at Poarch but to all Filipinos in general. They used provocative expressions such as "poor country" and "uneducated short people." Some even left comments calling Filipinos' skin color "ugly."

The comments immediately sparked anti-Korean posts on social media channels in the Philippines, with hashtags #ApologizetoFilipinos, #ApologizeKorea, #CancelKorea and #Cancelracism. As of Thursday, more than 350,000 tweets with the hashtag #CancelKorea are posted, according to the TrendListz.

Some Filipinos heavily condemned Korea and its people by sharing incidents of racism they had experienced from Koreans while others expressed how they were proud to be citizens of the Philippines.

Several Twitter users noted that Koreans must be grateful for the Philippine war veterans, who participated in the 1950-53 Korean War to fight for a country that garnered little global awareness or interest prior to the war.

But some netizens in the Philippines seem to have decided to fight racism with racism. They made memes to mock Koreans with descriptions such as "plastic surgery faces" ― referring to Korea's visible obsession with appearance over personal character ― and "poorly educated" to mock the country's low level of English-language skills.

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