Activist calls for ban on Chinese game over hanbok dispute

A Chinese game company that abruptly ended services in South Korea four years ago amid a controversy over its presentation of hanbok, has announced the launch of a sequel, stirring calls from an activist for the game to be banned here.

Seo Kyoung-duk, professor of general education at Sungshin Women’s University in Seoul, a self-styled promoter of Korean culture and history, on Wednesday called for the South Korean government to block the game “Infinity Nikki” from entering the market.

“I recently discovered that ‘Infiniti Nikki’ began taking pre-orders on app markets,” Seo wrote on his Facebook. “The Chinese game company that had withdrawn from the Korean market after defending the claim that hanbok is a traditional Chinese attire is now quietly releasing a sequel in Korea, which is an act of deceiving Korean gamers.”

He said a ban would create an “important precedent to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.”

“Infiniti Nikki” is a sequel to a 2020 game “Shining Nikki” by Chinese mobile game developer Paper Games.

When “Shining Nikki” was released in Korea, the dress-up RPG game featured an in-game items with hanbok motives, which sparked backlash after Chinese users asserted that hanbok is traditional Chinese attire. Korean users argued that it was an attempt by China to appropriate their culture.

In response, Paper Games backed narratives by Chinese users. It publicly criticized Korean users, stating that it would protect Chinese culture by banning and suspending accounts on the Korean server that insulted China. The firm also decided to remove the hanbok items from the game and refund Korean players who had purchased it.

Despite these steps, Korean users demanded more accountability from the developer, which led Paper Games to halt its Korean service.