Public opposes Chinatown in Gangwon province

Amid growing anti-China sentiment in South Korea, people are calling for the withdrawal of the construction of a tourist-focused Chinatown in Gangwon province.

As of Monday, more than 410,000 people signed up to a petition against the construction of the tourist site on the website of presidential Blue House. This reflects growing anti-China sentiment in the nation as China attempts to rewrite history through its northeastern project -- to make all history within the Chinese border into Chinese history.

Petitions recommended by more than 200,000 people typically prompt a response from Blue House officials.

The writer of the post said, “Why do we need to make a small China in Korea? The public do not understand why we should provide China’s cultural experience on our land, and we firmly oppose it.”

“We also oppose the construction of a hotel for Chinese tourists (in Gangwon province). Chuncheon’s pre-historic sites are the world’s largest historical site with a massive number of artifacts excavated. Removing such a valuable place for foreigners is an incomprehensible incident and can result in our history being buried as it is,” the writer said.

“People are feeling uneasy about losing their culture in China’s growing northeastern project. We should now confront China, which is trying to ‘steal’ our unique culture of Kimchi, Hanbok and gat,” it added, referring to Korea’s traditional clothes and hats made of bamboo and horsehair.

Gangwon Province signed a business agreement with the People’s Daily of China in 2019 to create a complex Chinese culture town in Chuncheon and Hongcheon. This is 10 times the size of Incheon’s Chinatown and was promoted to revitalize the domestic tourism industry.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)