00:00Right now, anti-Korean sentiment is growing in Southeast Asia.
00:02Just recently, there was a controversy over stream sniping in PUBG.
00:05Even though the Vietnamese side was clearly in the wrong,
00:06they brazenly acted as if the Korean victim was at fault instead.
00:09As Vietnamese netizens swarmed in with abusive comments,
00:11an online clash between Korean and Southeast Asian netizens has reignited once again.
00:15To be honest, this online war of words between Southeast Asian countries and Korean netizens
00:19isn't the first time.
00:20It has happened multiple times before.
00:21Even in late January 2026, an incident at a Day6 concert
00:24sparked an argument between Southeast Asians and Koreans.
00:27Back then, a Korean fan used professional filming equipment that was banned from the venue
00:31and got caught filming without permission,
00:32then posted an apology after being escorted out.
00:34However, after a local fan filmed a person suspected to be that fan and shared it on social media,
00:38the conflict between both fandoms began.
00:40The real issue was why it happened.
00:41As the online battle raged on,
00:43some Korean netizens belittled Southeast Asians' economic status or physical appearance,
00:47while some Southeast Asian netizens also attacked Koreans by mocking their plastic surgery and appearance.
00:51On top of this, posts emerged mocking Korea's history,
00:53independence movement, and comfort women victims,
00:55escalating what began as a simple concert etiquette dispute
00:58into an issue of race and history.
01:00Additionally, posts calling for a boycott of Korean products and content
01:03spread in some online communities,
01:04accompanied by hate posts targeting each other and suspicions of fake accounts.
01:07So, as things went on like this online,
01:09this kind of online war of words isn't a one-time thing.
01:12That being said, I think we need to look into why this keeps happening.
01:14Several factors are intertwined here,
01:16and one of them is how they view each other,
01:17a feeling of not being respected by one another.
01:19And when these feelings are combined with national identity or a sense of community,
01:22there's a strong chance that a conflict between individuals could escalate into an emotional battle between nations.
01:27Looking at Vietnam first, its historical background is quite significant.
01:30Vietnam has experienced long periods of foreign domination and war,
01:33with a history of achieving independence and unification against powers like France and the United States.
01:37This historical experience has been studied as a crucial factor
01:39that shapes pride in their nation and people within Vietnamese society.
01:42In fact, in a Win Gallup international survey,
01:45when asked if they were willing to fight for their country if a war broke out,
01:4789% of Vietnamese respondents answered yes.
01:50Since this survey is based on results from 2014,
01:52it may not perfectly reflect the current mindset of Vietnamese people today,
01:55but we can see that a remarkably high sense of national unity was evident in the survey at that time.
02:00Indonesia also emphasizes national integration in a different way.
02:03Indonesia is made up of countless islands and diverse ethnic groups,
02:05making it a country where various languages and cultures coexist.
02:08Due to these social characteristics,
02:09education that emphasizes national integration and a sense of community is treated with great importance.
02:13In particular, Pankasila is a core concept that explains Indonesia's national values and integration,
02:17and it holds an important place in the educational curriculum as well.
02:20Indonesian educational authorities also emphasize Pankasila as an important foundation for national unity
02:24and a sense of community.
02:26In such a society, when outside,
02:27outsiders are perceived as looking down on their country or its people as a whole,
02:31the backlash can be quite intense.
02:32Especially on the internet,
02:33criticism of an individual and that directed at an entire nation often get blurred.
02:37When one person attacks a specific country or its people,
02:39the other side tends not to respond to that individual alone,
02:42but escalates the fight by retaliating against the person's entire country.
02:45In the past, regarding Indonesia's military strength,
02:48I uploaded a video arguing that it was premature for them to introduce a South Korean aircraft carrier.
02:52And if you look at the comments,
02:53you'd see that a massive number of Indonesian users swarmed in and raided the comment section with hate.
02:57Weirdly enough, I wasn't offended,
02:58but seeing Indonesians respond so aggressively even to a foreign video
03:01was quite a spectacle to see, plain and simple.
03:04On top of that, when combined with their perception that they have experienced racism
03:07or contempt toward Koreans,
03:08the situation becomes even more complicated.
03:10In Korea, while there are criticisms that
03:11there is an issue with how Southeast Asians are viewed abroad,
03:14on the flip side,
03:15some Southeast Asian users take issue with Korean society's beauty standards
03:18or racial discrimination.
03:19In a situation where both sides feel disrespected by each other,
03:22like this,
03:23emotional reactions can blow up far beyond the actual scale of the incident.
03:26That's why we repeatedly see petty online conflicts escalate into full-blown attacks
03:30targeting entire nations and ethnicities.
03:32Above all, between Southeast Asian countries and Korea,
03:35the past,
03:35there are also differences in how past economic conditions are perceived.
03:38It's easy to take Korea's current economic prosperity for granted,
03:40but just a few decades ago,
03:41Korea's economic situation was drastically different.
03:44Right after the Korean War ended,
03:46Korea's industrial base and infrastructure were largely destroyed,
03:49leaving it an economically struggling nation
03:50that had to rely on international aid.
03:52Back then, Korea's per capita income
03:54was lower than that of today's major Southeast Asian nations.
03:57But as you all know,
03:58Korea succeeded in its economic growth.
03:59Because the pace of change was so rapid,
04:01Korea's economic growth was watched by neighboring countries
04:04who often perceived Korea as a nation drastically changed from its past.
04:06What matters here is less about the economic level itself,
04:08but how each side perceives the other.
04:10In some Southeast Asian countries,
04:11people might still remember Korea as a nation
04:13that in the past wasn't much different from their own economically,
04:16or was even lagging behind,
04:18but has now grown into a developed country,
04:19especially among the older generation.
04:21There is a massive gap between the Korea they remember and Korea today,
04:24meaning perceptions of Korea can vary across generations.
04:27Of course, we cannot say this transformation causes jealousy
04:30or resentment among all Southeast Asians.
04:32In fact, many people view Korea's economic growth positively
04:34and prefer Korean companies and products.
04:37However, some may feel that alongside economic success,
04:40Koreans occasionally project an attitude of superiority over other nations,
04:43especially when remarks evaluating other countries
04:45or people are based on economic status,
04:47they can trigger even greater backlash
04:48by tapping into memories of past economic disparities.
04:51These perceptual differences are important factors to consider
04:53when understanding online conflicts between Korea and Southeast Asia.
04:56But there's another crucial aspect we need to examine here.
04:59It's the growing perception among Southeast Asian youth
05:01that they are facing racial discrimination from Koreans.
05:04Of course, this doesn't mean all Koreans discriminate against Southeast Asians.
05:07In reality, it's shaped by personal experiences and instances
05:09encountered online,
05:10along with stories heard from those around them,
05:12coming together to shape perceptions of Korean society and its people.
05:15The problem is that as these experiences are repeatedly shared,
05:18it can lead some young people to perceive
05:19that Koreans look down on Southeast Asians.
05:21In particular, perceptions regarding appearance and skin tone
05:24are cited as a major factor.
05:25Korean beauty culture has a massive influence in Southeast Asia as well.
05:28As Korean beauty standards favoring pale skin
05:31and specific features are constantly showcased through Korean media,
05:34some young Southeast Asians perceive this
05:36not merely as personal aesthetic preference,
05:38but as tied to a hierarchy based on race and skin color.
05:40When you add in personal experiences of feeling disrespected by Koreans
05:43or coming across remarks that belittle Southeast Asians,
05:46the chances of their perception of Korea turning negative
05:48increase significantly.
05:49What makes this issue even more complicated
05:51is the influence of the Korean wave.
05:52In Southeast Asia, Korean culture has spread far beyond a niche audience
05:55and gained massive mainstream reach.
05:57It is easier to understand if you just think of Korean culture
05:59as having melted into Southeast Asia.
06:01Since things that become popular in Korea usually spread across all of Asia,
06:04listening to K-pop and watching K-dramas has become second nature,
06:07and many young people also use Korean cosmetics,
06:10eat Korean food, and follow Korean fashion.
06:12Why this matters is that the more exposure people have to Korean culture,
06:15the higher their expectations become for Korean society and its people.
06:18If someone enjoys Korean music, watches Korean dramas, and buys Korean products,
06:21they naturally develop a sense of familiarity.
06:24However, if they experience discrimination against Southeast Asians
06:27from the very homeland of the culture they love,
06:28their disappointment can be just as immense.
06:30Compared to when something happens in a country they care little about,
06:32experiencing this from a country they genuinely like
06:34and are heavily engaged with makes them react far more sensitively,
06:37therefore we can't simply view the current conflict as just a rejection of Hallyu.
06:41Rather, as they grew familiar with and deeply embraced Korean culture,
06:44their expectations and interest in Korean society grew as well,
06:47which ultimately created a dynamic where they react more sensitively
06:50when they feel they've been discriminated against.
06:52That is how it can be seen.
06:53The fact that the Korean wave has become deeply embedded in Southeast Asia
06:55means interest in Korea has grown that much,
06:57but it also means that interest in how Koreans behave abroad has grown as well.
07:00And here, there is also an interesting case.
07:02Writers recently reported evidence that an organization suspected of being linked to China
07:06used fake accounts in the Philippines to spread pro-China, anti-American content.
07:10Similar phrases were repeated across multiple accounts,
07:12and some accounts
07:14were even found using stock photos from image providers as their profile pictures.
07:18Meta and TikTok also stated that they took action against related accounts and fake followers.
07:22However, directly linking this
07:23to the current conflict between netizens in Korea and Southeast Asia lacks verified evidence.
07:27The crucial point is that this proves organized public opinion manipulation
07:30can indeed occur in Southeast Asia's online space.
07:32Going forward, when we see anti-Korean or anti-Hallyu content spreading online
07:35looking into who made it,
07:36how many people actually agree with it,
07:38and whether it was systematically spread will be necessary.
07:40Since China has previously targeted certain countries,
07:43with numerous attempts to drive wedges between them,
07:45we also need to see if China is interfering in the battle over public opinion
07:48between Southeast Asian nations and Korea.
07:49We can obviously report this from both fears of the Mexico City,
07:50act like Russia continues to change,
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