The criticism got worse when the idol later posted a picture.
Netizens are angry because a reporter said things about 2PM‘s Taecyeon at a recent press meeting that were seen as rude.
In the new Korean drama Heartbeat, Taecyeon plays Seon Woo Hyul, a character who is half human and half vampire.
During the press meeting, one reporter got some bad press after making a comment that netizens thought was racist.
“Vampires are usually pale and fragile, but you’ve gotten paler, so I was wondering if you had something else in mind to show a different kind of vampire.” — Reporter from Korea
Having “pale” skin is considered attractive in Korea, but having “tanned” skin didn’t make the comments worse for commenters. It wasn’t a surprise that the comments about the hero made fans angry.
Netizens were also angry about colorism after Taecyeon shared a picture of a vampire on Instagram with “darker skin.”
“My heart is racing, the first week is over,” said the post’s title. Even though the post as a whole showed many more photos from shooting and promoting the movie, fans didn’t like that the first picture was of the vampire after the comments.
International netizens are aware of the ongoing problem of colorism in K-Pop and Korea in general. Fans are upset, even though they are trying to raise awareness.
Source(1)
