CANCEL KOREA, REALLY?

 

I will say this early on, I will not give up on K-Drama, K-Pop, K-Variety just because of this shit.

It all probably started when a Filipino tiktoker, Bella Poarch, who is not even living here, posted on tiktok, it’s not clear whether she has that tattoo or her father, a tattoo of the rising sun flag of Japan. To those who not know, that flag was the flag of the Imperial Japan. The time when Japan conquered a fourth of China, the whole of Korea, and almost the entire South East Asia, along with it, our own country the Philippines. With that imperialism, atrocities follow. And with all the countries that fall under their rule, Korea, or then Joseon, suffer the most of it. Girls were kidnapped, and force to have sex with the troops, in brothels. Man were force to served in the Japanese army, as frontline troops, and the others are emigrated also to do force labor. They are treated as second class citizens in their own land. So you would imagine, how deep is the hatred between South Korea and Japan. I dont know if South Korea, and also the North, had not fully forgiven, or not really forgiven Japan for it.

So seeing the rising sun flag, is offensive for Koreans. Had Bella Poarch just post it, their would not have been any problem. But she tagged the word Korea, along with the words I Love Korea, with the tattoo of the rising sun. If you’re a Korean, how would you feel seeing that? Knowing all the history behind the flag. I will feel insulted if I am one.

But the excuse was, she doesn’t know anything about the history of it, and apologized. And the series of insults and counter insults began. And Cancel Korea was born. Asking to boycott K-dramas, and kpop idols. As I have said early on, I wont give it up for this shit.

Its not that I am defending racism. Racism is evil, not just bad. But we Filipinos, are also guilty of it. In fact all nations, are guilty of it. And our racism are much worse. Just look, why many from Luzon, hates Duterte even if they have not known him personally. Some of have even edited the picture of Duterte, paying respects to the fallen of Jolo blast, making him look like eating dog food. Why is that? Because of the mere fact, that Duterte is from Mindanao, a Bisaya, and they that hate him, are Tagalogs.

So before we called Cancel Korea, we must cancel racism first, in our own ranks. We cant counter hate, with hate. It will just produce more hate. And Yoda said, hate leads to suffering. If they are down at that level, we should up the level, not go down with them. We should be the better person. If they are generalizing, we should not. Share love instead of hate.

THE KID WHO LOST HER SMILE

There is a confusion, or a debate in my mind, on how I should entitled this essay of mine. Whether I should put idol on it or not. But Sulli, is not only an idol. She is many things. I appropriately put kid, rather than idol. For Sulli was still rather young, when she passed away.

I am not an avid fan of her, neither of her girl group f(x). And I have not watched any of her dramas. It’s just when I heard the news, that she suddenly passed away, there is this feeling of sadness, and I can’t pinpoint the right word in English, but the Tagalog word is panghihinayang, in her passing. She is still very young, 25 years old. She still has alot of potential.

Although she was more famous for being a member of a girl group f(x), Sulli or Choe Jin Ri was first an actress, when she was still a child. In her teens she became a member of the said girl group. In that period. Pictures, videos, capture Sulli’s smile, it was bright and sincere.

But then, Sulli suddenly dated Choiza, a member of Dynamic Duo, a rap group. And she was heavily criticized for it. Resulting on her leaving the group. Their relationship didn’t last and broke up. Ever since then, Sulli’s smile was not that bright and sincere anymore.

Before her death, a suicide and an suicide attempt happen among her colleagues. One is Jong Hyun, who died by briquette poisoning. The other was of Goo Hara. Sulli even attended the funeral of Jong Hyun. But there was no signs of things to come.

Then just before that, f(x) finally disband. One by one they leave the group and SM, starting from Amber, Krystal, Luna, and Victoria. Only Sulli, didn’t leave SM and stayed. I even commented on an article, that only Sulli will stay, and they will all leave. And she did stay, and can’t ever more leave.

I will not try to defend her, and her actions, that has led to the criticisms of her. One is because I don’t entirely know all the details. And the one’s that I know, I just can’t agree with her too. It’s true that not wearing a bra, is a healthy practice for girls. But picturing yourself without one, is not right. But some of the words, thrown at her, were just really bad, and K-netz are the worst bashers in the world. They are very cruel and savage. That is why some K-celebrities, dont have any social media sites, just to avoid being hurt by comments.

Another thing that I don’t like about the K-showbiz, is that they have to hide just to date. I remember Lee Sang Yeob, when she was with her former girllfriend, who is not with him anymore, apologizing to his fans, that she dated someone. Sulli dating, was the start of her ordeal of harsh comments. Hope that will not continue, and celebrities could freely date, whenever and to whoever they want.

Although the title says that she lost her smile. Its not the only thing she lost. We lost her entirely. Annyeong Sulli Ya! 안녕 설리 야