More South Koreans are apologizing to Filipinos for the inappropriate behavior of their fellow countrymen.
Recently, South Koreans have turned to online video-sharing platform, YouTube, to express their apologies to Filipinos who were offended when their fellow citizen posted a video of him destroying the Philippine flag.
One of these is YouTube ambassador, “HiJoy” which has created a video apologizing to the Filipinos and asked that the friendship between the Philippines and South Korea prevails over animosity.
HiJoy is a Youtube ambassador promoting cordial relations of Korea with different nations.
The apology, with the caption, “I’m sorry, citizens of the Philippines,” can be viewed at youtube/SZ043HG1dPo.
Filipinos earlier made the #cancelKorea trend on Twitter as a response to the nasty remarks of South Koreans about the Filipinos. The controversy started when they saw TikTok star Bella Poarch sporting an arm tattoo that resembles the “rising sun” flag of Japan.
South Koreans find the rising sun flag offensive as it reminds them of the 35-year forced Japanese occupation in their country.
Poarch is a Filipino-American who is based in Hawaii, U.S.A. She has since apologized to the South Koreans for her “ignorance of history” and said she would have her tattoo covered and eventually removed.
A lot of South Koreans, however, lambasted Poarch and posted nasty remarks about her and the Filipinos.
In turn, Filipinos on social media have also expressed their displeasure over the Koreans, which led to the #cancelKorea trend.
To ease the animosity, HiJoy created a video apologizing to Filipinos, especially those who were hurt and disappointed for the South Koreans’ inappropriate behavior and their nasty remarks about the Filipinos.
“We thought a lot of Filipinos got angry and we would like to say we are really sorry. We extremely love and respect the culture of the Filipinos. The Philippines and South Korea are both located in Asia and we share similar culture. We really hope we don’t hate each other,” a portion of the video stated.
The video added some of the common interests of Filipinos and South Koreans, such as their love for food and sports like soccer and their admiration for Philippine boxing legend Manny Pacquiao.
Through the years, a lot of South Koreans have been flocking to the Philippines to learn English. Baguio is one of the cities in the country that hosts South Koreans who came to study and do business here.
Baguio is also a sister-city of Taebaek City in Gangwon Province, South Korea.
The Filipinos are also among the huge fans of K-Dramas and K-Pop. – Jane B. Cadalig
