What started as a mistake of a Filipino-American TikTok user turned into a word war between some Koreans and Filipinos that dominated Twitter since Tuesday.
The mudslinging later prompted conversations on counter-racism and history between South Korea and the Philippines on the micro-blogging platform.
It started on TikTok
A TikTok star named Bella Poarch, a Filipino who lives Hawaii, posted a TikTok dance video over the weekend where a tattoo that looks like the infamous Rising Sun symbol could be seen on her arm.
The Rising Sun symbol or flag, a sunburst with 16 rays, was used by the Japanese military during World War II and continued to appear in some advertisements and commercial products in Japan after.
For South Koreans, the symbol reminded them of the Japanese militarism rule and even sees it as comparable to the Nazi swastika.
Despite the dark history associated with it, the Rising Sun symbol inspired many similar artworks and logos, such as the tattoo art on Poarch’s arm.
Following intense criticisms from some Korean accounts on the platform, Poarch uploaded another video where she apologized for the tatto design.
“I’m very sorry if my tattoo offends you. I love Korea. Please forgive me,” she said.
Poarch also tweeted her apology on September 6. She admitted that she was not aware of the history behind the rising sun when she got the tattoo six months ago.
“At that time, I didn’t know the history. But when I found out, I immediately had it covered and scheduled for removal. I am ashamed of myself for not doing my research. I sincerely apologize,” she said.
Her tweet
I apologize to Koreans because 6 months ago I got a tattoo of the red sun with 16 rays. At that time, I didn’t know the history. But when I found out, I immediately had it covered and scheduled for removal. I am ashamed of myself for not doing my research. I sincerely apologize.
In another tweet, she bared that the Rising Sun symbol could be seen everywhere in Hawaii.
“I live in Hawaii and I see a lot of people using the red rising sun symbol in clothing, cars and jewelry. Please educate yourselves and learn more about it because it came from a terrible history. It is very offensive to a lot of people. Please learn from my mistake,” she said.
Unfortunately, the public spat did not end there. Some Filipinos came to defend Poarch against some name-calling and other derogatory terms against Filipinos in general.
They made screenshots of these supposed insult-laden comments and shared them on Facebook and Twitter under the hashtags #CancelKorea and #CancelToxicKoreans.
The messy exchange between these Korean and Filipino accounts became the hot topic online on Wednesday.