[Courtesy of ParkBogumTH YouTube channel]
Park Bogum came under fire this week in China over accusations that the South Korean actor mocked the Great Wall in an advertisement.
In an advertisement film produced by sports apparel brand K-SWISS in China, Park appeared as a Go Player playing against a personified Chinese player named "the Great Wall", which was slapped in the face by a random lady and was robbed of victory in the match.
[Courtesy of ParkBogumTH YouTube Channel]
At the end of the clip, Park shows off his face full of a confident smile with a caption reading "I am fun", sparking widespread anger among the Chinese.
A user from Weibo, the Chinese counterpart of Facebook, said: "The Chinese government should ban all South Korean video contents. They earn money in our country and backstab us at the same time by mocking our nation."
Some experts in South Korea said Park was caught up in something more than just the entertainment market disaster but China's media manipulation to create a negative image against South Korea. It's part of Beijing's apparent retaliation against the deployment of an advanced US missile shield on the Korean peninsula.
Park was not the first South Korean celebrity to suffer from China's cultural retaliation. A series of fan meetings planned by South Korean celebrities have been cancelled after a top media regulator warned of a setback in exports of South Korea's pop culture wave "Hallyu" to China.
Kim Woobin and Suzy, the main actors of South Korean TV drama "Uncontrollably Fond", were scheduled to hold a fan meeting in China Saturday, but the event organizers cancelled the meeting due to "irresistible" reasons.
Although South Korea and the US insisted that China is not the target of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, Beijing warned it would "seriously" hurt strategic interests of China and other countries as well as the security balance in Northeast Asia.
Concern is growing in South Korea that China would continue to bash Hallyu or take much more serious steps if a THAAD battery arrives in South Korea.
Aju News Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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