Arts & International Affairs: Volume 3, Issue 1, Spring 2018 | Page 65

ARTS & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
presidential election, making the dormant sentiment of Taiwan’s majority that they considered
themselves Taiwanese visible above the surface. 14 The next section will investigate
the reactions to the Tzuyu Incident in South Korean society.
Reactions in South Korea
Koreans ended up joining the Taiwanese in rebuking JYP Entertainment, despite the
centrality of hallyu in their lives. South Korea’s news and social media widely covered
the Tzuyu Incident. One of the news articles posted on 17 January 2016 on Daum, the
country’s one of the most popular news portals, was “The Spread of the ‘Tzuyu Issue’
in Taiwan: 10,000 People Willing to Participate in an Anti-Huang An Protest” by Yonhap
News. By 19:21 (South Korean Time) on 17 January 2016, 1,185 Korean netizens
had responded to the comment that Tzuyu’s apology video resembled an ISIS hostage
video.
Comments from Korean netizens massively supported Tzuyu. A dominant stream of
reactions was that she should not have had to apologize at all, as the following examples
show. To Korean netizens, Tzuyu had been coerced into doing so:
“Poor Tzuyu. Don’t use her any more!!” (Uni, 어니 , 644 likes, 11 dislikes)
“Cheer up, Tzuyu!” (Let’s Cheer Up, 힘을내자 , 550 likes, 12 dislikes)
“Why does she have to read a text of apology when there is nothing
wrong with holding a flag of her birthplace? I am so sorry. I can’t imagine
how distressed she was when she was reading the apology text.
Cheer up! Tzuyu!” (Ginger Cookie, 생강쿠키 , 54 likes, 1 dislike)
“I am so sorry to Tzuyu as a Korean person. JYP should have made an
official apology. Tzuyu did nothing wrong. She was used simply for
business” (moon, 37 likes 4 dislikes).
Netizens felt that Tzuyu was simply instructed to hold the ROC flag to show that the
members of Twice came from different places outside of South Korea. Netizens were
frustrated with and saddened by the circumstances that put her in such a difficult situation
and led to her innocent act. For this reason, another wave of comments criticized
and registered disappointment with JYP Entertainment. For example:
14 Steven Phillips notes: “Whether one supports unifying with the mainland, maintaining the current
status of the ROC on Taiwan, or becoming an internationally recognized sovereignty, that stance
is entangled with the question of whether one identifies oneself as Taiwanese, Chinese, or both”
(2006:59). For more information on the historical relationship between China and Taiwan and the
struggles between mainlanders and islanders in Taiwan, see Chen (2013), Chu (2000), Hughes
(1997), and Lin (2016).
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