South Korean Professor Defends Han So Hee Against Hate Comments From Japan
Professor and social activist Seo Kyoung Duk has spoken up in defense of actress Han So Hee after her social media was flooded with hate comments from Japanese netizens.
The incident happened a few days ago when the actress posted a picture of Korean freedom fighter Ahn Jung Geun on her Instagram, celebrating the successful global premiere of her new show Gyeongseong Creature. She commemorated An’s martyrdom with a thoughtful caption.
It’s not about the romance in Gyeongseong. Not about the creatures mid-Japanese rule. These stories are from the people of the brilliantly dark times. Those who had to fight head on against the monsters born from the dehumanizing experiments. It’s about the spring of that year, when embracing one another in love was the only way to become stronger.
— Han So Hee
Ahn is remembered for his 1909 assassination of the Japanese politician Itō Hirobumi, who had served as the Resident-General of Korea during Imperial Japan’s rule. He was imprisoned and later executed by Imperial authorities in 1910.
Han So Hee’s post attracted quite some negative attention from Japanese netizens, who barraged her comment section with criticism.
A day after this incident, on December 27, Sungshin University’s Professor Seo Kyoung Duk took to social media and defended the actress. He labeled the reaction of Japanese netizens as “absurd” and said it reflected the poor knowledge of unbiased history in Japan. He also added that this reaction pointed to possible anxiety around the rising popularity of K-Content. Seo hinted that some groups of people might be afraid that K-Dramas and movies might expose their unpleasant history in front of the world. He emphasized the need for South Korea to amp up global promotions using Korean content to counter historical distortions backed by “Japan and China.”
Meanwhile, Han So Hee’s drama Gyeongseon Creature premiered its first part on December 22, 2023 on Netflix. The second part will be released on January 5, 2024.
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