Teenage male model Han Hyun-min’s long legs and powerful strut have made him a rising star on South Korean catwalks, but his agent knew there would be a problem in the ethnically homogenous country: he is half black.
SEOUL: Teenage male model Han Hyun-min’s long legs and powerful strut have made him a rising star on South Korean catwalks, but his agent knew there would be a problem in the ethnically homogeneous country: he is half black.
Han, 16, has a Nigerian father in a society where racial discrimination is widespread and people of mixed race are commonly referred to as “mongrels”.
“A dark-skinned fashion model like Han was unheard of in South Korea, so recruiting him was a big gamble, ” said agent Youn Bum.
Now Han is posing for top glossy magazines as the country’s first black fashion model.
South Korea has for years sought to foster the image of a modern, sophisticated and tech-savvy nation whose pop culture has made waves across Asia.
But behind the facade of an economic and cultural powerhouse lies a deeply-rooted racism – even as its immigrant population creeps up, doubling over the last decade but still only four per cent of the population.
Most foreigners in the country are from China and Southeast Asia, migrant workers or women who marry rural South Korean men unable to find local spouses willing to live in countryside.
Discrimination against them is widespread. Many are openly mocked at public transport for being “dirty” or “smelly”, or refused entry to fancy restaurants or public baths.
A government survey in 2015 showed that 25 per cent of South Koreans do not want a foreigner as a neighbour – far higher than the 5.6 per cent in the US and China’s 10.5 per cent.
Mixed-race children are bullied at school and constantly taunted as “tuigi”, a derogatory term that literally means cross-bred animals.
Many complain of poor opportunities in many aspects of life, including difficulties socialising, getting a job or finding a spouse.
Han was no exception.
GAME OVER
Han grew up in Seoul. “When I was playing with other kids at school, some mothers whisked them away from me, saying things like, ‘Don’t play with a kid like that’, ” he told AFP.
