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Chungha weighs in on China-South Korea culture debate on Hanbok at 2022 Olympics

China and South Korea clash over the origin of the traditional dress 'Hanbok'

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is not going as smoothly as one would have hoped. From diplomatic boycotts to an athlete claiming that cheating was involved, the viewers have not been able to enjoy the games. Some of the scandals have all of South Korea speaking up indignantly including celebrities. Apart from the supposed short-track speed skating cheating allegation which had the likes of BTS’ RM and TXT’s Kai addressing it, there is political tension between China and South Korea with the former trying to take credit for certain cultural elements.

During the opening ceremony which was hosted by China, there was a female torchbearer wearing a ‘Hanbok’. With South Korea popularizing the Hanbok as their cultural outfit, the general public was furious as they felt China was claiming it as their own. Knetizens also pointed out other instances where they felt China was taking credit for their Korean ‘Pungmul’ dance, ‘Daenggi’ hair ornament and ‘Janggus’ drums in the ceremony. With the Hanbok being the most recognizable Korean traditional dress, K-pop idol Chungha also weighed in on the matter.

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Chungha says the Hanbok is Korean

While answering fan questions on VLive, Chungha decided to talk about the Hanbok. She said, “This time, I wore Hanbok in all of my 'Seasons Greetings' pictorial. Everyone, it's Hanbok. Hanbok. Please keep that in mind well. It's is our traditional clothing, Hanbok.” Fans concluded that Chungha was indirectly addressing the cultural debate from the Olympics ceremony as she continued to link the Hanbok to South Korea. At one point she added, “I want to perform on stage with Hanbok as the concept so that I can share the beautiful culture of my country.”

With China claiming that the Hanbok originated from their Chinese traditional dress ‘Hanfu’ only in recent years, Knetizens think that the country is trying to take credit due to the Hallyu Wave and Korean culture going global. Additionally, the organizers of the opening ceremony revealed that they were just trying to represent the different ethnic communities of their country which includes the Korean population residing in China. But due to their contradicting statements, Knetizens are angry.

'Good job Chungha'

We had some fans supporting Chungha as one tweeted, “Good job Chungha! Hanbok belongs to South Korea.” Another added, “Well, at least we now have a clear-cut example of what cultural appropriation actually looks like.” One user posted, “Good for Chungha, her performances and vocals just keep getting better! And now a well timed jab to defend her culture! So very proud of her!”

However, some were afraid that she would get canceled by her Chinese fans, “Bet shes going to get canceled for absolutely nothing.” There were also some users who felt, “Korea was once under Chinese rule and learned Chinese culture like their original outfits and pickled vegetables. They adapted, changed and added a little here and there, gave their versions Korean names as Hanbok and Kimchi and now Koreans claim them as their original culture.” Another felt that China was simply representing their Korean community, “During the opening of Olympic games, the flag was passed to the people who were representing ethnic minorities living in China. Since there are Korean minority living in China, of course there would be a person wearing Korean clothes.”

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