READ MORE: Pyeongtaek: A US base, Americana in rural South Korea ‘Mixed Blood’ and ‘Amerasian’īiracial Koreans have come up against an entrenched concept of what it means to be Korean that’s based on a supposed “pure bloodline”, Gi-wook Shin, director of the Walter H Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University, tells Al Jazeera. “When I met him I told him to do a test walk down the street and I was immediately struck by his presence.” “I thought he could look good in a lot of different styles,” Youn says. Youn Bum saw some of Han’s pictures online and arranged to meet him in person. Two years ago, the owner of a PC bang, a type of internet cafe popular with online gamers and where Han says he spends much of his free time, persuaded the teenager to model for a friend’s clothing line. “I got a lot of dirty looks and I felt people were disgusted by me.”īut Han says he doesn’t dwell on those unpleasant memories, preferring to focus on his budding career instead. “Some classmates used to say things like, ‘You have a Korean mum, so why do you look black?'” he recalls. Growing up in Itaewon, a Seoul neighbourhood that’s long been an enclave for migrants, Han says he has many friends who are “mixed blood”, the literal translation of the Korean term for “biracial”.īut that diversity didn’t mean that Han was immune from bullying. Han, born to a Korean mother and Nigerian father, has only ever lived in South Korea. He admits to “not knowing much” about Nigerian culture. The number of multi-ethnic persons is expected to reach 300,000 by 2020, up from 40,000 a decade ago, government statistics show. Close to two million foreigners live in a country of 50 million. Immigration has brought with it an increase in the number of children who are the offspring of a Korean citizen and foreign national, primarily from Southeast Asia. Han is coming of age in South Korea, one of the world’s most ethnically homogenous countries, as it undergoes the greatest demographic shift in its modern history. WATCH: The Stream – South Korea’s multiculturalism (25:24) Shifting demographics He says he appreciates the positive attention, but acknowledges that his success comes on the heels of what is often a “difficult life” for people like him. Since his first runway show last year, Han has appeared on Korean television and his Instagram followers have surged to more than 26,000. Fans sometimes approach him on the street and ask to take selfies with him. Then he adds: “But I sometimes feel upset when Korean models backstage at a show don’t talk to me because they think I don’t understand Korean.” “People assume I’m a foreigner,” says Han, who only speaks the Korean language. Han is his country’s first black Korean model. He has what Youn Bum, his agent at SF Models, calls a “distinct look”, making him a rare commodity in the domestic market – and a victim of prejudice. Keep reading list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Paul Lynch: Is Prophet Song a mirror of modern-day fascism? list 2 of 4 South Africa seeks to stop auction of historic Nelson Mandela artefacts list 3 of 4 Death threats for a Stalin vandal prompt soul-searching in Orthodox Georgia list 4 of 4 Malaysia charges two with ‘wounding religious feelings’ in now-banned film end of list
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