Copyright scmp
A cafe near Seoul Forest has come under fire after posting a “No Chinese customers” notice on its social media page, sparking accusations of racial discrimination. The district’s mayor has pledged to intervene and convince the owner to remove the message. Seongdong district Mayor Chong Won-o said on Monday on social media that he was aware of the issue and would “make every effort to persuade the establishment”. His post was in response to a citizen’s question asking whether the district could take action against such “racist behaviour”. Chong wrote: “I deeply share your concern. As Seongsu-dong has become one of Korea’s representative tourist destinations for both locals and foreigners, we will do our best to convince the cafe to reconsider.” The controversy began when a cafe in Seongsu-dong updated its social media account’s bio in English to say, “Sorry, we do not accept Chinese customers.” Soon after, several Chinese visitors posted accounts on social media saying they were turned away. The issue went viral after Henry, a Chinese influencer living in South Korea with 190,000 Instagram followers, shared the story on October 22, calling it “the most racist cafe I’ve seen in Korea”. Henry wrote, “A Chinese customer made the effort to visit this cafe only to be rejected for being Chinese. I can’t understand this level of hatred towards my country.” His post received nearly 1,000 comments, with opinions sharply divided. Some defended the cafe owner, saying “Chinese tourists should behave more politely; there must have been a reason”, while others criticised the action as “hypocritical for a country that has suffered from discrimination to now do the same”. A few commenters expressed regret, saying “As a Korean, I apologise, but I understand the owner’s frustration after bad experiences with certain Chinese tourists.” The cafe stopped accepting Chinese customers on October 21. The owner told a local media outlet, “There’s a strong anti-China sentiment in society, and when Chinese customers come in, the atmosphere among Korean patrons changes. I didn’t want to create that reaction.” The owner added that they might reconsider “once anti-China sentiment dies down”. The incident comes amid growing anti-Chinese sentiment in South Korea following the government’s recent decision to allow visa-free group travel from China. The far-right and conservative groups have fuelled such rhetoric, recently proposing a “three-stop” bill to curb Chinese investment in real estate, medical services and elections – a move critics say deepens social division by exploiting xenophobic sentiment. This story was first published by The Korea Times
