Controversy Over Japanese Cultural Experience Leads to Event Cancellation
"Not a Japanese Cultural Event but for Social Integration"
Yeonsu-gu, Incheon canceled a Japanese culture experience event after controversy arose just before Liberation Day (District Chief Lee Jae-ho).
On the 9th, Yeonsu-gu had planned to hold a 'Japanese Culture Experience Enjoyed at Home' event for children and youth aged 6 and above. The event was composed of ▲ Kingyo-sukui (a traditional Japanese summer festival game) ▲ Kendama play (enhancing concentration, agility, and dynamic vision) ▲ Yukata experience (Japanese summer festival attire) ▲ trying on costumes of popular manga characters.
The event was organized by a resident group consisting of five multinational members. It was selected as part of Yeonsu-gu's village community support project in May and was scheduled to receive about 4 million KRW in support over five months starting last month. The plan included introducing Korean food culture in July, Japan in August, North America in September, East Asia including China and Vietnam in October, and activities to help settle into Korean life in November.
The problem was that the Japanese culture experience was scheduled for August, the month of Liberation Day. Criticism of the event first arose within the local community, and as this information spread through online communities, the controversy grew.
Yeonsu-gu stated that the schedule was planned by the residents. "This was not a Japanese cultural event but intended as a social integration effort. The event was assigned to August because the residents supporting the village community project planned it that way," they explained. "It was simply scheduled then because the person who was going to teach the Japanese culture experience was only available at that time." They added, "Nevertheless, we failed to carefully consider public sentiment, which led to many complaints, and thus the event was canceled."
There have been other cases where local governments canceled events due to a lack of sensitivity. Last month, Dong-gu, Gwangju (District Chief Im Taek) faced criticism for canceling a cafe featuring the girl group NewJeans just one day before its opening, which aimed to revitalize Chungjang-ro. The project was pushed forward without consultation with the agency or artists, leading to criticism over copyright ignorance and waste of public funds.
The agency representing NewJeans explained, "Considering the circumstances and purpose of the cafe event, we judged that the public institution, a local government, was using the artist's IP without permission for commercial purposes to promote tourism." They added, "Taking into account that fans were renting the space and that related product promotions could enable other companies to generate profits, we decided to take action."
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