Chinese Nationalism Makes Life Harder for South Korean Companies

Multiple clashes between Korean culture and Chinese netizens this fall have some companies in both countries worried about how to navigate doing business internationally at a time when anything from a video with a panda to virtual clothing can become a major incident.

Three back-to-back moments involving Korean culture drew attention and patriotic uproar among Chinese netizens. First, they came for BTS, who dared to acknowledge the sacrifices that South Korean and American soldiers made during the Korean War. After a speech at the New York-based cultural organization The Korea Society, where the band was accepting the prestigious Van Fleet Award for their contribution to U.S.-Korea relations, Chinese netizens were up in arms, apparently because the group should have also acknowledged Chinese sacrifices during the conflict. China, of course, fought on the side of North Korea in the war.

Then, Blackpink became the next K-pop group to go under the microscope. Weibo users criticized the girls for supposedly playing with a baby panda with bare hands and putting the panda, which was recently born in a South Korean zoo, at risk. In the preview clip posted online, the girls were seen wearing masks and gowns, and in the one shot where a person is using bare hands it is unclear whether it’s a member of the group or a staff member from the zoo. YG Entertainment, which represents Blackpink, pulled the video, but both they and the zoo maintain that all proper safety protocols were followed. 

Finally, Chinese gaming company Paper Games pulled the hanbok-inspired outfits it made in honor of the South Korean launch of its fashion game Shining Nikki, after it drew outcry for implying that hanbok – a traditional Korean outfit – was Korean. Instead, the style should be considered Chinese, commenters argued, because it was originally inspired by Chinese-style outfits and is now worn by ethnic Koreans in China. Amid growing anger from both Chinese and Korean netizens, the company decided to completely pull out of the South Korean market.

Of course, these claims drew plenty of backlash in South Korea, with many pointing out the absurdity of the “controversies.” Why would BTS, a South Korean group speaking at an American event, honor the soldiers who fought against the United States and South Korea in the Korean War? Why should Blackpink be held to a different standard than Chinese celebrities, who have also posted photos of themselves playing with pandas? And how could Paper Games not only remove the hanbok outfits but shut down its South Korean operations entirely, just because commenters wanted to claim that hanbok is actually Chinese?

Some Korean media outlets have called these recent moves 갑질 (gapjil) on the part of the Chinese – referencing a Korean neologism for abuse of power typically used to describe how older people or authority figures use their positions against others. As of now, the Chinese government has not had a direct hand in the online outcry surrounding these incidents – although the central role that Chinese state media outlet the Global Times has played in covering these events and bringing the incidents to the attention of netizens suggests at the very least a tacit support.

In many cases, the companies, whether Chinese or Korean, are caught between a rock and a hard place. Fail to apologize, and netizens from one country will be angry. Apologize, and the netizens from the other will be up in arms. This is hardly new – Korean celebrities have been criticized alternatively for saying too much or too little about various international incidents for years.

At least in previous cases involving hot-button issues like speaking up on the 2019 Hong Kong protests or using a Republic of China flag on TV, the backlash was somewhat expected. In some ways, the absurdity of the recent controversies makes them even more nerve-wracking for companies trying to navigate international activities – if even not mentioning China can ignite the ire of Weibo, how can firms predict when their stars or products may be caught in a similar situation?

This growing trend may also be particularly frightening in South Korea, as they fully remember what can happen when China decides to use economic levers to get its way in foreign affairs. The situation is reminiscent of 2016-2017, when the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in South Korea raised Chinese hackles, leading to widespread, if never openly acknowledged, bans on Korean products, companies, and even travel. Korean companies, from large to small, are still feeling the effects of this dispute. In the entertainment industry, which was particularly hard-hit by the boycotts, the specter of a THAAD-like problem still looms large.

As of now, despite the pattern emerging of Chinese netizens reacting strongly to South Korea-related cultural content, there does not yet seem to be a growing pattern of behavior as a result of these “controversies.” In the case of BTS, for example, neither the group nor their company really acknowledged the issue, and it died down rather quickly. But not all Korean companies or celebrities have the clout of the biggest boy band in the world, and others may not have a choice but to listen to what Chinese netizens have to say, regardless of the logic behind their claims. And for Chinese companies like Paper Games, it is even harder to ignore the online furor, especially when it so directly invokes Chinese national pride.

Even if this trend of increased scrutiny from Chinese netizens continues with just isolated incidents, it may have ripple effects for a Korean entertainment industry still picking up the pieces after becoming collateral damage during the THAAD furor. Unfortunately, merely avoiding the Chinese market may not be enough in this case, as two of these three recent incidents – BTS’ speech and Blackpink’s video – had nothing to do with targeting Chinese viewers or directly invoking Korea-China relations. This, in the end, may be the scariest part for entertainment companies, who are now operating with international eyes constantly on their content – you never know who might be watching, ready to spark some nationalist backlash.