Security guards accused of racism at K-pop concert in Paris

K-pop

Published: 17 Oct. 2023, 15:10

Security guards accused of racism at K-pop concert in Paris

A video from X (formerly Twitter) shows security guards forcing an Asian male on the ground and escorting him from the arena, sparking accusations of racism towards Asians. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A video showing security guards manhandling fans at a K-pop concert in Paris has gone viral on social media, with guards accused of racism and excessive violence toward Asians.

The video shows numerous security guards forcing a male presumed to be Asian on the ground and ejecting him from the arena.

The “Mcountdown in France” concert took place on Sunday at the Paris La Défense Arena, with around 22,000 fans attending. The show featured many K-pop acts like Ateez, NCT Dream, ZeroBaseOne, EL7Z UP and Treasure.

K-pop acts to hit Paris for M Countdown concert

Fans claimed that the guards were particularly violent toward Asians. On social media, especially X (former Twitter), online users claimed that security made Asians open their bags despite standing still and leave if they had a camera.

The problem was, according to the user, that security didn’t do the same for white people who were taking pictures.

Other online users also claimed that they saw “a bunch of Asians being dragged out of the stadium simply because they had a camera inside their bags.”

The staff members told the Korean press that the man in the video was holding a professional long-range DSLR camera banned from the concert. The European fans were OK because they were using their phones.

To find out more about K-pop, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]