Controversial Controversial Streamer Desecrates Korean Comfort Women Memorial And Gets Assaulted
A controversial streamer named Johnny Somali has sparked public outrage in South Korea after desecrating a memorial of comfort women.
Somali livestreamed himself while kissing the Statue of Peace at Itaewon, a memorial dedicated to the countless Korean women who were subjected to unspeakable horrors as comfort women during World War II under Imperial Japan. Somali’s actions, accompanied by his insensitive banter, sparked immediate backlash.
On October 24, Somali was assaulted by a Korean man while doing a live broadcast after the man recognized him. The man approached the YouTuber on the street suddenly and punched him square in the face. Before leaving, he grabbed Somali’s phone and threw it far away. The streamer and his companions followed the man briefly while shouting profanities, but he got away. Somali was visibly wounded from the scuffle as he appeared later in the broadcast with a bandage over his right eye.
johnny somali and his friends all got taken out 3v1 pic.twitter.com/5qzyvIMx95
— decoy (@decoyposts) October 26, 2024
The incident has gone viral in Korea, with many netizens expressing their support for the man who punched Somali as his problematic conduct while traveling in Korea has ticked off many. For instance, on October 17, he uploaded a video of him pouring instant noodles on the table at a convenience store after an employee prohibited him from drinking inside. He was also removed from a Seoul subway train for playing explicit sounds on his phone while livestreaming himself.
This is not Somali’s first rodeo of ticking off locals while traveling to a foreign country. Last year, he was detained by the Japanese police after a series of provocations, including yelling “Fukushima” at construction workers and publicly playing music that contained the words “atomic bomb.”
As of now, the Korean man who punched Somali has not been identified. While netizens hailed him as a hero, they have also called for the YouTuber and his friends to be deported from the country.
