Graduate Student Council of the Department of Sociology Requests Human Rights Committee Meeting
Raises Issue: "Need to Address Baseless Disparagement"
A professor at Seoul National University has become the center of controversy after allegations surfaced within the university that he made hate remarks about China and Chinese people during class. On June 13, Yonhap News reported that the Graduate Student Council of the Department of Sociology at Seoul National University recently sent an email to professors requesting the convening of a departmental human rights committee. In the email, the council pointed out that “repeated hate remarks about China and Chinese people have been made in undergraduate classes taught by Professor A,” and raised concerns that “conspiracy theories regarding Chinese intervention in Korean politics and other current affairs have been mentioned.”
In particular, the council claimed that during a lecture last month, Professor A made remarks such as “China is backward,” “China is a barbaric country that systematically collects ideological information to control its entire population,” and “There are pro-China forces operating covertly in our country, including among political groups.” The council further stated, “Such remarks by Professor A reveal baseless disparagement of China and Chinese people,” and emphasized, “Given the large number of Chinese international students in the department, these remarks must be rectified.”
Professor A responded to the council’s criticism by stating that he had never made any hate remarks about China. He explained that his comments were made in the context of criticizing the complacent attitude of Korean society toward China’s ‘technological rise.’ In a phone interview with Yonhap News, Professor A said, “It was my fault to use strong language toward students,” but added, “My remarks were made in the process of expressing concern about our lack of preparation in the face of China’s rise.” He further stated, “Rather than criticizing China from an anti-communist perspective, we should carefully consider how China’s rise will affect Korea.” Regarding Chinese immigration to Korea, he remarked, “Multicultural policies in a small country neighboring a large country should be approached with caution and prudence.”
Amid controversy over the alleged hate remarks by the Seoul National University professor, a survey conducted by Korea Research in January of this year (2025 Public Perception Survey?China’s Image and Korea-China Capability Comparison) targeting 1,000 adults nationwide showed that overall perceptions of China in Korea have recently been negative. When asked what kind of country they think China is, 67% of respondents answered ‘distrustful,’ 59% said ‘irresponsible,’ and 72% said ‘dishonest.’ In a favorability survey where respondents rated their feelings from 0 to 100, the score for ‘Chinese people’ was a low 31.8. In Korea Research’s “January 2025 Favorability Survey of Five Major Countries,” China’s favorability was 30.2, much lower than that of the United States at 59.0 and Japan at 41.7.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
