The spreading Sinophobia among far-right groups is disturbing to the overwhelming majority of the population, including those identifying as conservative.
According to a report by local Korean-language Kyunghyang Shimnun on a survey conducted by WinGkorea Consulting, 79.4 percent of respondents who had seen signs with accusations of election rigging and hate toward other ethnicities said they felt uncomfortable. Most of the banners included open disparaging of Chinese nationals, who conspiracy theorists claim aided the supposed election rigging.
The survey was conducted on 1,004 adults nationwide on Sept. 29-30, and was commissioned by Rep. Lee Hae-sik of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.
The alleged link between China and election rigging stems from a claim made by conservative former President Yoon Suk Yeol and the far-right faction, who have denied the legal grounds for Yoon's impeachment. The far-right faction says the liberal bloc rigged recent elections in their favor, allegedly aided by Chinese spies in the country.
Yoon's administration failed to find evidence for such a claim, and an online media outlet that falsely reported on a "Chinese intervention" recently announced its business closure.
Despite a lack of proof, some minor political parties have hung banners across the country displaying aggressive messages toward Chinese residents. Slogans include "Chinese students (in Korea) are 100-percent potential spies," "No visa entrance for Chinese, invasion instead of tourism?" and "Insurrection just by mentioning election rigging?"
The WinGkorea survey showed that 88.4 percent of liberal respondents were uncomfortable with such banners, as were 83.7 percent of respondents who identified as politically neutral. Even among the conservatives, 65.2 percent said they were not comfortable with the banners.
Around 66.9 percent of the respondents said the signs aggravated social conflict, while 71.2 percent said groundless rumors, expressions of hatred and slander should not be allowed to be printed on banners by political parties.
"The legal and Constitutional right for freedom of political activity does not mean encouraging social conflict via falsehood and slander," Rep. Lee said, vowing to work on effective measures against the banners.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
