As a Korean, I’m writing this because I’m genuinely curious about how people from North America or Europe view this situation.
I checked out her Instagram apology, and the comment section was really interesting to read. While most Korean commenters were generally hoping she would retire from the industry, many of her international fans were cheering her on and criticizing the Koreans who wanted her to step down. In response, Korean netizens were telling those fans to stay quiet and butt out if they don’t know Korean history.
Speaking as a Korean, it feels like non-Koreans don’t quite get the deep-seated emotional response Koreans have toward pro-Japanese collaborators from the Japanese colonial era.
So, while it might not be a 100% perfect analogy, I created a hypothetical scenario to help you see it through our lens, and I’m really curious how people in North America or Europe would react to this:
Here’s the setup: Imagine a woman from the Middle East becomes a rising star actor in the US. She gets a huge fanbase and starts making serious money from major ad deals. It’s well-known that she comes from a wealthy family with four generations of doctors, and that she received a very expensive, elite education growing up. She constantly boasts about her great grandfather in public, saying he was a dedicated doctor and a true patriot who sacrificed for his country.
But it turns out her great grandfather was actually Osama bin Laden’s personal doctor. It was also revealed that her great-grandfather was not just a doctor, but an active participant in bin Laden’s terrorist activities.
(For Europeans, you can swap bin Laden with Hitler: Her great grandfather was Hitler’s personal doctor, but somehow avoided punishment because his name managed to slip through the list of Nazi collaborators.)
If a situation like this actually happened in your country, how would you guys react? I’m asking out of genuine curiosity.
submitted by /u/DevWooks
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