Chinese Netizens Shower Excessive Malicious Comments on Photos of Korean Celebrities Wearing Hanbok

Park Shin-hye, Suga, Hyo-yeon and Others Post Hanbok Photos on SNS
Hyo-yeon Closes Comments Amid Chinese Netizens' Malicious Comments Attack

Actor Park Shin-hye. Photo by Park Shin-hye Instagram screen capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Amid escalating controversy over China's 'Hanbok Project' following the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, recently, Hallyu stars such as BTS's Suga and actress Park Shin-hye have been posting photos of themselves wearing hanbok on social networking services (SNS) one after another. However, Chinese netizens continue to criticize these posts by leaving malicious comments.

On the 12th, Park Shin-hye posted a photo on her Instagram with the caption, "I thought I wore it to my heart's content while filming the movie 'Sanguiwon,' but it still feels good to wear it again." In the photo, Park Shin-hye is dressed in a green hanbok, resting her chin on one hand and smiling brightly. She also added hashtags such as 'hanbok', 'hanbok', and 'koreantraditionalclothes'.

BTS Suga (left) and Girls' Generation Hyoyeon (right). Photo by Instagram screenshot.

Earlier, Girls' Generation's Hyoyeon and BTS's Suga also posted photos of themselves wearing hanbok on their Instagram accounts.

Hyoyeon posted a hanbok photo with the caption, "Our country's hanbok is beautiful." Suga uploaded a photo of himself wearing hanbok during the filming of the music video for his 2020 solo song "Daechwita." Suga's solo song "Daechwita" samples the traditional Korean military music Daechwita.

Additionally, actor Han Sang-jin posted a photo wearing a gonryongpo (dragon robe) on Instagram, writing, "It's truly beautiful. It is ours. To all those who say it is not, bring them here! Thank you for the great inspiration. Korean traditional clothes."

Also, singer Chungha, during a live broadcast, said, "I have a small wish to perform a stage with the hanbok concept to share our country's beautiful culture," emphasizing, "Hanbok is hanbok. It is our country's traditional clothing."

On the afternoon of the 4th, at the National Stadium in Beijing, China, a performer wearing a hanbok waved their hand during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding Korean celebrities' hanbok-related posts, some Chinese netizens have been flooding the comments with criticism. They wrote comments such as, "Hanbok is a garment developed by modifying traditional Chinese clothing," "Hanbok belongs to China," "You hurt the feelings of Chinese fans," and "Why do you claim it as Korean?"

In particular, some comments included vomiting face emojis and excrement emojis. Some even spammed the comment sections with Chinese flag emojis. Due to the continuation of malicious comments, Hyoyeon closed the comment section on her hanbok post.

Meanwhile, on the 4th, at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, a woman wearing hanbok appeared as one of the representatives of ethnic minorities in China, sparking controversy.

As criticism intensified, voices were raised in the political arena as well. Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, criticized, "Do not covet culture. Oppose cultural projects." Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party presidential candidate, also pointed out, "Goguryeo and Balhae are proud and brilliant histories of the Republic of Korea," adding, "They are not someone else's."