TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Netflix’s smash hit series Squid Game has become the latest battleground in an ongoing culture war between hyper-nationalist netizens in South Korea and China.
Recent days have seen a wave of online debates break out over which country the green tracksuits worn in the hit series originated from, according to a Straits Times article.
Online debate was ignited on Tuesday (Oct. 5) when a South Korean professor at Sungshin Women’s University Seo Kyungdeok posted an impassioned rant on Instagram criticizing Chinese netizens for watching Squid Game via illegal streams and claiming the Chinese are riding on the popularity of the series by peddling pirated versions of the dramas’ iconic green tracksuits.
Despite a ban on Netflix, the show has taken China by storm, with crowds queuing up in Shanghai for dalgona — a Korean sweet eaten in the show — and sales spiking more than 30% on e-commerce platform Taobao for related merchandise.
The professor then accused Chinese people of “ignoring copyright and plagiarizing” the efforts of Squid Game's creators.
“China needs to learn how to respect the cultures of other countries,” Seo wrote.
Seo posted a screenshot taken from Taobao that showed Chinese actor Wu Jing (吳京) — the lead actor in the movie “Wolf Warrior 2” — wearing a green tracksuit next to Squid Game lead actor Lee Jung Jae. Unbeknownst to Seo, the image of Wu Jing was a still from a 2019 movie Song of Youth (老師好). Chinese netizens were quick to respond, accusing Seo of hypocrisy, saying South Korea’s Squid Game was copying Chinese movies.
Other netizens went further, saying this outfit design is commonly used as school uniforms in China and have been so for the past two decades, according to a report by Today Online.
Sensing he had been cornered, Seo backtracked on his earlier statement, deleting his post and claiming he didn't wish to “cause unnecessary controversy.”
It seems it was too late to erase the damage though, with Chinese netizens calling on Seo to issue an apology to Wu Jing for smearing his reputation as a “national hero” with “false accusations.”
Others vowed to lodge formal complaints to his university in an attempt to get him canceled.
