To bow, or not to bow: Should Chinese K-pop stars adhere to Korean culture?
Anti-China sentiment triggered by recent Olympic controversies has spilled over to the K-pop scene, with internet users from Korea and China fiercely quarreling over whether Chinese K-pop stars should bow like Koreans even though both cultures have different customs.
The heated debate started a few days after Korean short tracker Hwang Dae-heon was disqualified from the men's 1,000m semifinals during the Beijing Olympics, Feb. 7, despite finishing first. In the wake of his disqualification ― which most Koreans believe was due to unfair officiating ― two Chinese skaters advanced to the final and ended up winning gold and silver, respectively. The incident has prompted an online war between Korean and Chinese people, with the former insisting that the host country's athletes were given home advantage.
As the war of words continued, some Koreans switched their target to Ningning, a Chinese member of the K-pop girl group aespa, who celebrated the Chinese team's success after it clinched its first gold medal in the mixed team relay, Feb. 5. They criticized the SM Entertainment star for celebrating an "undeserved victory," saying that the Chinese skaters ranked first despite missing the controversial exchange during the race.
Then, they started to share a photo of Ningning standing when other aespa members were sending Happy New Year greetings while on their knees to their fans in 2021. The photo, which is a screen capture from a video posted on aespa's official YouTube channel, quickly went viral, and social media users began posting photos of other Chinese K-pop singers, such as Seventeen's Jun and THE 8, who were also noticed for not bowing in the past.
"They should leave Korea if they do not want to respect our culture," reads one comment.
In Korea, bowing is used as a respectful greeting during the New Year as well as to elders and people who are more senior. In China, however, it is an expression of loyalty and worship, so Chinese people reportedly bow only to the heavens, earth and their parents. Hence, a wave of Chinese social media users are showing their support to Chinese K-pop singers, praising them for following their own cultural practices.
The dispute over bowing first erupted in January, when Wang Yiren, a Chinese member of K-pop girl group Everglow, refused to bow to her fans during a fan event held in Korea. Instead of bowing, she did a Chinese-style greeting, but this still provoked numerous Koreans' frustation. Following the fuss, her management company Yue Hua Entertainment announced that Wang would temporarily put a hold on her musical activities in Korea and stay in China for the time being.
K-pop experts point out that the ongoing dispute is the result of the growing anti-China sentiment here, which has intensified as Korea and China continue to clash over the origins of Korean cultural assets, such as kimchi and hanbok.
"Under normal circumstances, the incident involving Ningning and Wang Yiren might not have been a big deal," Lee Gyu-tag, a professor of cultural anthropology at George Mason University Korea, told The Korea Times, Thursday. "Koreans' negative sentiment toward China is adding fuel to the fire, but they should not force Chinese K-pop stars to conform to all Korean customs and slam them for not doing so, unless these singers undermine crucial Korean values."
The professor underlined that Koreans should also put themselves in others' shoes.
"For instance, Koreans would also be offended if people in the U.S. asked Korean singers to act more like Americans because that is their primary market," he said. "Thus, I think we should respect cultural differences instead of going overboard."
Lee drew a parallel between this issue and the controversy surrounding Sana, a Japanese member of girl group TWICE, which occurred in 2019. Back then, Sana was in the hot seat for commenting on her country's new emperor ascending to the throne.
"We cannot ask foreign K-pop stars to abandon their identity, just because they are active in Korea," the professor added.
On Feb. 2, Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) also issued a statement, saying, "We respect different opinions about the controversy, but we need to remember that the role of music and K-pop is to connect people of diverse backgrounds regardless of their nationalities, races or religions."
source: The Korea Times
The heated debate started a few days after Korean short tracker Hwang Dae-heon was disqualified from the men's 1,000m semifinals during the Beijing Olympics, Feb. 7, despite finishing first. In the wake of his disqualification ― which most Koreans believe was due to unfair officiating ― two Chinese skaters advanced to the final and ended up winning gold and silver, respectively. The incident has prompted an online war between Korean and Chinese people, with the former insisting that the host country's athletes were given home advantage.
As the war of words continued, some Koreans switched their target to Ningning, a Chinese member of the K-pop girl group aespa, who celebrated the Chinese team's success after it clinched its first gold medal in the mixed team relay, Feb. 5. They criticized the SM Entertainment star for celebrating an "undeserved victory," saying that the Chinese skaters ranked first despite missing the controversial exchange during the race.
Then, they started to share a photo of Ningning standing when other aespa members were sending Happy New Year greetings while on their knees to their fans in 2021. The photo, which is a screen capture from a video posted on aespa's official YouTube channel, quickly went viral, and social media users began posting photos of other Chinese K-pop singers, such as Seventeen's Jun and THE 8, who were also noticed for not bowing in the past.
"They should leave Korea if they do not want to respect our culture," reads one comment.
In Korea, bowing is used as a respectful greeting during the New Year as well as to elders and people who are more senior. In China, however, it is an expression of loyalty and worship, so Chinese people reportedly bow only to the heavens, earth and their parents. Hence, a wave of Chinese social media users are showing their support to Chinese K-pop singers, praising them for following their own cultural practices.
The dispute over bowing first erupted in January, when Wang Yiren, a Chinese member of K-pop girl group Everglow, refused to bow to her fans during a fan event held in Korea. Instead of bowing, she did a Chinese-style greeting, but this still provoked numerous Koreans' frustation. Following the fuss, her management company Yue Hua Entertainment announced that Wang would temporarily put a hold on her musical activities in Korea and stay in China for the time being.
K-pop experts point out that the ongoing dispute is the result of the growing anti-China sentiment here, which has intensified as Korea and China continue to clash over the origins of Korean cultural assets, such as kimchi and hanbok.
"Under normal circumstances, the incident involving Ningning and Wang Yiren might not have been a big deal," Lee Gyu-tag, a professor of cultural anthropology at George Mason University Korea, told The Korea Times, Thursday. "Koreans' negative sentiment toward China is adding fuel to the fire, but they should not force Chinese K-pop stars to conform to all Korean customs and slam them for not doing so, unless these singers undermine crucial Korean values."
The professor underlined that Koreans should also put themselves in others' shoes.
"For instance, Koreans would also be offended if people in the U.S. asked Korean singers to act more like Americans because that is their primary market," he said. "Thus, I think we should respect cultural differences instead of going overboard."
Lee drew a parallel between this issue and the controversy surrounding Sana, a Japanese member of girl group TWICE, which occurred in 2019. Back then, Sana was in the hot seat for commenting on her country's new emperor ascending to the throne.
"We cannot ask foreign K-pop stars to abandon their identity, just because they are active in Korea," the professor added.
On Feb. 2, Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) also issued a statement, saying, "We respect different opinions about the controversy, but we need to remember that the role of music and K-pop is to connect people of diverse backgrounds regardless of their nationalities, races or religions."
source: The Korea Times