On March 30, a video was posted on Weibo, China's largest social network. This video was shot by a Chinese man while on a recent trip to South Korea with friends. The man claimed that while he was standing in line to go to the toilet at a tourist destination in South Korea, a South Korean woman suddenly became abusive. He said he ignored them just because he was Chinese. The video features profanities in Korean, such as "China XX." This man spoke Korean. I understood the profanity and protested. It is said that they protested not only in Korean, but also in English and Japanese.



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▲ Video posted on Weibo in China. The man in the video allegedly "verbally abused me because a Korean woman was Chinese."

"Korean women swear" video gets over 1 million views

In a way, it could be a simple happening. Because wherever you go, there are bound to be people who view foreigners in a bad light. But the Chinese escalated the case. On Weibo, the hashtag "#한 man was ignored in South Korea#" quickly surpassed 1 million views. It received over 5,6 comments, which couldn't have been a good thing for Korea. There was a lot of inclination of infatuation. Some comments blame the man who posted the video, saying, 'That's why you went to Korea.'



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▲ The hashtag "A man was ignored in South Korea" appeared on Weibo, and it has received 1 million views and more than 5,6 comments.


I've been summoned to the past. On Chinese social media, photos of Chinese people who went to South Korea in January wearing yellow cards around their necks resurfaced. At that time, the COVID-1 situation in China was serious, and the South Korean quarantine authorities handed out yellow cards to identify short-term residents from China. The Chinese protested against this, calling it "discrimination against Chinese people."



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▲ On Chinese SNS, photos of Chinese people who entered South Korea in January wearing yellow cards around their necks reappeared.

Xi Jinping's visit to South Korean companies was optimistic about China-South Korea relations

This reaction of the Chinese people does not seem to have anything to do with the recent relations between China and South Korea. Until the middle of last month, a relatively optimistic view of China-South Korea relations prevailed. China's state-run CCTV broadcast introduced the trade fair in its country and interviewed Korean company officials on behalf of foreign exhibitors. Earlier, a planned report on the business environment in Guangdong Province, China, also interviewed and broadcast executives of large Korean companies. Due to the nature of China's state-run broadcaster, which broadcasts every interview in strict coordination with the authorities, it was interpreted that the Chinese government was sending a friendly message to South Korean companies.

The culmination was President Xi Jinping's visit to South Korean companies. Xi personally visited the LG Display production base in Guangzhou on 12 March, the first visit to a foreign company since Xi's third consecutive term and an extremely unusual visit to a South Korean company during Xi's entire presidency. At the time, Xi reportedly weighed Japanese and South Korean companies and chose South Korean companies. Korea's participation in the semiconductor supply chain consultative body "Chip 3" and the suspension of mutual visa issuance have made the conflict between the two countries seem to sink below the surface. There was a hint of China's intent to draw South Korea into its side amid the U.S.-China hegemony competition.


Relations change after President Yun's 'Taiwan issue' remarks

However, when the contents of President Yoon Seok-yeol's Reuters interview were released on 19 March, the situation took a sharp turn again. China took issue with President Yun's remarks that "we oppose the change of the status quo in the Taiwan Strait by force" and that "the Taiwan issue is a global problem that goes beyond the region, just like the North Korean issue." China, which considers Taiwan its territory, has repeatedly used harsh language against President Yun and the South Korean government, saying that "the Taiwan issue is a key part of its core interests." Statements such as "no speech allowed" and "if you play with fire, you will be burned" flowed through public statements by Chinese officials, and Chinese state-run media added that "President Yun's remarks are the worst since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea in 1992." On 2 March, state-run media continued to go on the offensive by heavily reporting the ROK opposition's criticism of President Yun's visit to the United States, saying, "I just sang a song at the most expensive karaoke bar called the White House, and there was no result."



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▲ China's official Global Network carried the South Korean opposition's criticism of President Yun Seok-yeol's visit to the United States, saying, "He sang a song at the world's most expensive karaoke bar."


Korean companies and Korean residents operating in China are perplexed by the sudden change in the attitude of the Chinese authorities and the reaction of the Chinese people. There are growing concerns that antipathy may be at its peak like the THAAD crisis in 2017 and that the Chinese business may have to fold. Of course, it's not just infatuation in China. There are still favorable views on Korean culture, with pre-orders for the Korean Film Festival held in Beijing from 24th of last month to 2nd of this month ending in just 30 seconds. This time, however, the prevailing view is that the repercussions will not fade easily in view of the fact that the ROK leader directly mentioned the "Taiwan issue," which China considers the most sensitive, and "opposition to changing the status quo by force."