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Dear Filipinos, let’s just cancel #cancelkorea campaign

Writer's picture: Second Class CitizensSecond Class Citizens
Sep 15, 20204 min read

Updated: Sep 20, 2020

It is not an uncommon thing to see trending topics about Korea on Filipino Twitter. The craze over the Hallyu wave is very prevalent that Filipinos talk about the recent scenes in certain Korean dramas (and analyze it together), laugh over memes of their favorite idols, or make a newly released K-pop song hit the charts by tweeting about it. This week, however, cemented a history in Filipino Twitter kalat when the #cancelkorea campaign had trended. So, why is everyone saying this on Philippine social media? And why should we Filipinos be bothered about it?


What happened, really?


The root cause of the issue started when a famous TikToker Bella Poarch posted a video of herself dancing to a song. Unlike other videos she made—close-up portraits of herself vibing to certain tunes— this specific clip showed her tattooed arms. Her ‘rising sun’ tattoo sparked controversies in the online realm especially among the Korean community. Because of the backlash Bella Poarch had received, she since apologized for it and vowed to remove the controversial tattoo.

Koreans' reaction to the controversial tattoo 


The ‘rising sun’ tattoo holds an unpleasant meaning to the Korean community because of the history Koreans had against Japanese imperial powers during World War II. In the year 1910, Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan. The Korean peninsula was part of Japan until 1945. During this period, Koreans were subjugated under Japanese tutelage and control—Koreans were not allowed to speak their own language, historical documents got burned, their land domains were forcibly taken by the Japanese. To establish a stronghold in Japan’s new protectorate this time, they waged an all-out war against the Koreans. As with any other costly wars, Korean history rendered a story unfavorable to thousands of sexual slaves unjustly hired by Japanese soldiers in their brothels. They are what we now know as ‘comfort women’. Thus, the ‘rising sun’, which is a symbol of imperial Japan’s power is an emblem so frowned upon by Koreans. 


This sentiment resulted in criticisms of Bella Poarch’s video. Some even reached greater heights, albeit unsolicited, such as giving side remarks about Filipino physical regards. Comments of stereotypical and racist profilings flooded comments under Bella Poarch’s video. 




But Filipinos were always quick to offer retorts to anyone who misaligned with their fellow kababayan’s views and of course, the way Koreans were racist toward their fellow Asians. Filipinos then took to social media to fight racist comments by posting racist comments themselves.


Some Filipino Twitter users even called out Koreans for their lack of utang na loob for seemingly forgetting Filipino war veterans who served in Korea during the 1950’s Korean War. 


Call it pinoy pride or whatever, but the #cancelkorea can be summarized as a petty show of hands that does not really solve anything but instead caused fires that have not benefited both parties—Koreans and Filipinos alike. 


Cancel the #cancelkorea campaign, shall we?


Some of my fellow Filipino countrymen might be enraged when I say there was actually nothing wrong with the reactions of the Korean community on Tiktok to Bella Poarch’s video. Although racist comments cannot and should not be excused, their agitations were valid. In fact, I actually found it amazing that the history of Koreans had forged a nationalism deep in their hearts and minds rooted in a narrative that they all can relate to. 


One comment from a Filipino I chanced upon was that the Koreans should not make it everything about themselves as they are not the center of the universe. That person even proceeded to post some videos showing ‘proof’ that they should be like Filipinos—that is, not always sensitive to comments like such— because the ‘rising sun’ flag also graced the motherland in the 1940s. I just laughed at this exchange.


So to specify, here are some reasons why I am so opposed to the #cancelkorea movement:

  1. Replying to racial banters of Koreans is counter-productive. We all know that ever since, some Koreans have already harbored deep-seated predispositions against our race and called us names so derogatory. But making the same degrading attacks on Koreans does not solve this issue of racism. As some Filipino ‘woke’ individuals are campaigning instead, why don’t we focus on cancelling racism instead? #cancelracism

  2. Did you forget our history classes? The Philippines was also colonized by Imperial Japan, although shorter than in the case of Koreans. However, the same scenario of political and social machinations were forced upon us. The issue of comfort women were still prevalent now as it was back then. These people left the earth without even receiving proper apology and compensation from the Japanese government. So, why do we seemingly see it as an issue of a Korea-versus-Philippines matter when we both are bound by similar pasts? Shouldn’t we also be enraged? Or is this matter too small to merit such reaction?

  3. The fact is that, unlike Koreans, Filipinos are so quick to forget our history. As a society, we keep on repeating the same mistakes all over again because we don’t learn from our past. This has been the case when we continuously forget the atrocities done by the Marcoses and appoint another Marcos-like (maybe even worse) leader now. This has been the case when we still continue to patronize politicians who have been proven guilty of plunder and corruption cases. This has been the case when we forget the sacrifices of our heroes and proceed to actively hold hands with dominant neocolonial powers without politically, economically, and socioculturally checking its possible effects on our nation. 

I don’t know about you but I say let us just altogether forget the #cancelkorea campaign and all the motives behind it.


Sincerely, 

Your fellow Filipino 

 
 

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