Commentary
The opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics in February angered viewers around the world. It especially angered South Korean viewers.
During the performance, a Chinese woman emerged wearing a hanbok, a dress that is an inextricable part of Korean culture. When asked for comment, the Chinese Embassy in Seoul insisted that the performer merely represented China’s many ethnic groups.
Critics, however, were slow to accept the embassy’s explanation. Instead, they argued, the performer (and performance) was nothing more than a representation of “cultural appropriation.”
The critics were correct. The “hanbok affair” was not without precedence; on numerous occasions, China has appropriated parts of Korean identity and culture, all in the hope of antagonizing a country that it considers a threat to its Asian agenda.
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