Anti-Korean sentiment in China

Konghanzheng (Chinese: 恐韩症), a term coined by Chinese football fans, refers to a persistent phenomenon where the Chinese national football team has played about 30 matches against the South Korean national football team since 1978 but has never been able to beat them. Frustration has possibly led to several violent outbreaks against South Koreans in football games hosted in China, such as the Olympic preliminary match in 1999, friendship match in 2001, and another Olympics preliminary match in 2004.[9]

In a Korea-China friendship football match held in Beijing, in 2000, South Korean spectators were violently beaten by Chinese spectators as the Chinese team lost.[10] In 2004 during an Athens Olympics football preliminary match held in Changsha, Chinese spectators responded with violence as the Chinese team lost, resulting in the injury of one Korean spectator.[9][11]

During the 2002 FIFA World Cup hosted in Korea and Japan, the incidents surrounding the Korean team's matches were well-known, and they would become a popular topic for some Chinese to bear sentiments of disapproval against South Korea, while certain Chinese media have reported negatively on the Korean side's demeanor.[12] As the South Korean team progressed through the tournament to the semi-finals, it was evident that the South Korean team won surprisingly against strong European teams like Italy and Spain, because of unfair play and preferential treatment, due to a number of controversial judgments by the referees.[13][14][15]

Ironically, the Chinese themselves did not perform up to expectation in the "most controversial" 2002 World Cup. While the Korean side progressed on their own efforts plus the referees' poor judging, the Chinese side collapsed horribly in their only World Cup appearance up to date, losing all three group stage matches, conceding 9 goals without scoring 1. Some Chinese fans may have resorted to blaming the Korean scandal rather than reflect on their own national team's poor performance over the years, even years after what happened in that World Cup.[16]

Anti-South Korean sentiment was also apparent among ordinary Chinese in China. It has been reported that ethnic Koreans in China were afraid of openly cheering for Korean teams due to hostility from local Chinese.[12]

Within the Republic of China animosity between Taiwanese and Koreans is present as a result of the rivalry between the two sovereign states in relation to baseball.[17][18][19]

Although baseball is one of the most popular sports in Taiwan, Taiwanese baseball team have lost to South Korea at the international matches many times. This caused frustration and resentment towards South Korea among baseball fans.[20] Taiwanese media made various controversial reports on South Korean baseball players;[21] in one instance, the Taiwan edition of Now News called Shin-soo Choo, a then-Korean outfielder in the Cleveland Indians, Gaoli bangzi (高麗棒子), a derogatory slur against Koreans.[22] The slur was later removed, but not before South Korean media reported on it.[23] Chinese Taipei baseball fans often refer to the South Korean baseball team as "高麗泡菜" (pinyin: Gāolí pàocài; lit. 'Goryeo Kimchi') and Gaoli Bangzi,[20] whilst verbal attacks against South Korean Major League players are also common.

During the 2007 Asian Winter Games held in Changchun, a group of South Korean athletes held up signs during the award ceremony which contained text that read "Mount Baekdu is our territory". Chinese sports officials delivered a letter of protest to criticize that those political activities violated the spirit of the Olympics. This incident has become a source for anti-Korea sentiment in China.[24][25][26][27]

A young man at the relay in Seoul wearing a Daegu University shirt with the phrase "Tibet belongs to China" written on it

Those sentiments in China, along with similar anti-Chinese sentiments in Korea, became more prominent as a result of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.[28] During the Seoul leg of the 2008 Olympic torch relay, Chinese students clashed with protesters.[29][30][31] Numerous projectiles were thrown towards the South Korean protesters, injuring one newspaper reporter. Chinese supporters of the Beijing Olympics also engaged in mob violence, notably in the lobby of Seoul Plaza Hotel, against South Korean protesters, Tibetans, Western tourists, and police officers.[32] This generated a strong statement of regret from the South Korean government to China and fanned a surge of anti-Chinese protests in Korean Internet portals.[1]

Further controversy was generated when Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) leaked footage of rehearsals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. A Beijing Olympic official expressed his disappointment over the leakage.[33][34] This incident has been widely reported in the Chinese media, as can be seen as the impetus to the dislike and distrust towards South Koreans amongst Chinese.

Throughout the events, the Chinese spectators often booed the South Korean athletes and cheered for competing nations and these even included Japan.[35][36] These attitudes were widely reported within the South Korean media, however the issue which became the subject of most attention was that Chinese spectators chose to cheer for Japanese athletes when competing against South Korea, an action previously seen as taboo in earlier years as a result of Anti-Japanese sentiment in China. Analysts in China and abroad claim that Chinese are supporting Japanese players in return for their goodwill gestures towards China, noting a notable improvement in relations, which were previously mounted with arguments regarding topics such as World War II atrocities.[37][38]

During the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, anti-Korean sentiment exposed once again when South Korea and China faced each other in order to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The sentiment came largely from the THAAD factor, when South Korea decided to install THAAD in the country, China viewed it as threatening its sovereignty, and unleashed anti-Korean boycott which led to the revival of anti-Korean sentiment in China.[39] Thus, the World Cup match between two countries got huge attention, as China managed to overcome South Korea 1–0 in a match where police had been on high alert due to tensions between two countries.

• Snyder, Scott (2008), "China-Korea Relations: Post-Olympic Hangover: New Backdrop for Relations" (PDF), Comparative Connections, 10 (3)