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Political rhetoric fuels anti-Chinese sentiment in Korea as election season approaches

Published: 06 May. 2025, 10:56 Updated: 06 May. 2025, 19:48

A lamb skewer district in Jayang-dong, eastern Seoul, on May 5 [JOONGANG ILBO]

Chinese nationals living in Korea are suffering from anti-Chinese sentiment sparked by political campaigns pursued during the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, which has increased hostility toward China amid the presidential election season.

Last month, one Chinese national running a malatang restaurant in Jayang-dong, eastern Seoul, started seeing a surge of abusive online reviews targeting his business on delivery apps. The reviews included comments like, “I’ll crush Tiananmen Square with a tank,” referencing the Chinese landmark.

As of Monday, more than 100 negative comments have been posted on the restaurant’s online review section since April 19. Many of the reviews included racial slurs and comments such as, “Go back to your country,” while also bombarding the ratings with low reviews. Only a few of the reviews on the section referred to the restaurant’s food or service. Some even falsely claimed the food contained illegal substances or that the business employed undocumented workers.

The problem extends beyond a single business. Several restaurants in areas like Garibong-dong in Guro District and Daerim-dong in Yeongdeungpo District — Seoul regions with concentrated Chinese populations — have reportedly also been targeted with negative reviews simply because their owners are Chinese nationals.

One review for a restaurant in Garibong-dong stated, “A good place to get attacked by joseonjok” — using a term referring to ethnic Koreans from China.

An anti-Xi Jinping poster is hung up in front of the Constitutional Court in central Seoul on March 18, before former president Yoon Suk Yeol is ousted by the court. [NEWS1]

“We work hard and pay taxes faithfully,” said Kim, 48, who works at a lamb skewer restaurant and is originally from China’s Jilin Province. “Most of our customers are Korean, and the place is popular — so I don’t understand why people would interfere with a legitimate business.”

Anti-Chinese sentiment lives on in the aftermath of former president Yoon’s impeachment, particularly among those who opposed his removal. Conservatives accuse the Democratic Party of being pro-China.

Despite speculation that such rhetoric would fade following the Constitutional Court’s decision to oust Yoon on April 4, Chinese business owners say they are increasingly becoming scapegoats.

On April 17, an ultraconservative student group that supported Yoon held an anti-China rally in the lamb skewer district in Jayang-dong. Protesters shouted slogans like “Yoon again” and “Get the Chinese out of Korea,” prompting a confrontation with Chinese shop owners that required police intervention.

Chinese nationals say the hostility has now taken shape in targeted review attacks.

An anti-Korea rally is held in Japan in 2018. [YONHAP]

“Some customers cause scenes in the restaurant, saying things like ‘We need to kick out the Chinese,’ or leave one-star ratings for nonsense reasons. They seem to be coordinating these attacks online,” said one restaurant owner in Garibong-dong, who wished to remain anonymous. “Most of us don’t even follow Korean politics. We have no idea why this is happening.”

Observers warn that the rise in anti-Chinese sentiment in Korea could become as extreme as the anti-Korean movement in Japan, where far-right groups staged protests in Tokyo’s Koreatown in 2012 after then-President Lee Myung-bak visited Dokdo. According to the Shinjuku Korean Merchants Association, the number of Korean-affiliated shops around Shin-Okubo Station fell by 36 percent by 2016, compared to 2012.

“It’s deeply unfortunate that our younger generation is repeating the discrimination and hate that Koreans faced in Japan and the United States," said Yoon In-jin, a sociology professor at Korea University. “This behavior damages our national dignity and could develop into a diplomatic issue.”

Hong Sung-soo, a law professor at Sookmyung Women’s University, warned, “Today’s anti-Chinese sentiment has become a direct social threat. It’s necessary to launch awareness campaigns to clearly show that this is not the prevailing public mood in Korea.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KIM SEONG-JIN [[email protected]]