Cha Eun-woo, Byeon Woo-seok and RIIZE’s Sungchan Mentioned in Viral Pann Post on Japanese Fans’ Subtle Bias
A recent Pann post is gaining traction for calling out subtle condescension from some Japanese fans toward Korea, using Korean actors Cha Eun-woo, Sungchan, and Byeon Woo-seok as examples.
According to the author, a Korean fan who had befriended Japanese fans through Twitter, the issues surfaced through casual but telling remarks. One friend described Byeon Woo-seok as having a “typical Korean guy face,” but claimed Cha Eun-woo and Sungchan “look Japanese,” implying higher visual standards.
Other offhand comments included surprise at Korea’s cost of living and disbelief at seeing luxury cars on Korean streets. When questioned, the friend justified it by saying Korea is “a small country,” which the poster found offensive and outdated.
The viral post has sparked heated discussions online, with many netizens pointing out that such microaggressions stem from a lingering perception of Korea as inferior to Japan, a mindset that still seeps into fan interactions today.
Comments on Pann:
- You should’ve clapped back like, “Typical of Japanese people, with your passport ownership rate barely over 10%—no wonder you know absolutely nothing about other countries lol.” Why did you just sit there and listen to that crap like an idiot…?
- In RIIZE, it was so obvious that Shotaro is Japanese, but she picked Sungchan instead that was just ridiculous.
- Japanese people are usually really proud of being from a “developed country”… They get seriously annoyed when Japan gets grouped together with China and Korea as just “Northeast Asia.”
- It’s obvious they were looking down on Korea and being subtly anti-Korean and you were being looked down on too.
- Isn’t that obvious? Abroad, when people think of Korea, they still often think of things like dog meat and Kim Jong-un. At best, some of them know a little about K-pop.
