Journalist defends Sam Okyere

Article: Sam Okyere is not at all at fault

Source: Pressian via Naver

1. [+8,404, -793] He has a history of slanting his eyes, he tagged the post with 'teakpop', he wrote in English that Koreans are ignorant, and posted a picture of minor kids to make a mockery out of them all over the world. And you really think he is not at all at fault? Is this journalist a black supremacist?

2. [+4,745, -392] Journalist, who are you? I understand telling people to respect different opinions and to be more considerate but to just come out and blatantly say he has no fault at all? I don't understand how you can just come out with a judgment all by yourself like he's 100% not at fault at all? Pressian? Whatever this outlet is, I'll be canceling my subscription because I don't relate to your opinion at all.

3. [+2,959, -442] One thing's for sure, Koreans definitely have learned that blackface is a taboo subject. Congratulations, Sam Okyere. However, because of your arrogant and anti-Korean attitude in the process, you will not be able to make money in Korea again.

4. [+2,069, -116] I can feel that Sam Okyere's agency is trying to stress that "blackface" is the root of the issue here. But let's put it into another perspective. What if a Korean man became a celebrity in some European country but high school students of that country were found cosplaying the rising sun flag. How could that celebrity have handled it? Perhaps by writing on SNS, "I'm sure Europeans aren't familiar with the history of the rising sun flag but it's akin to the Nazi swastika, so please do not use it." A post of that manner would've focused the subject on educating the public. Instead, Sam mocked Koreans in English and hashtagged what he did. What was he trying to do?

5. [+653, -23] I understand that blackface is wrong and that it made Okyere uncomfortable. Okyere's post in Korean was fine. However, the reason he's getting hate right now is not because of his remarks on the issue of blackface, but because he called Koreans ignorant and racist, and tagged 'teakpop' when it was irrelevant to the issue just so he could get international attention on the matter. I could feel his malicious intention to expose this instance of blackface internationally. 'teakpop' or 'kpop', what need was there to use those hashtags at all? Okyere was successful with his intention. A lot of foreigners are now hating on Korea on Twitter, and even Koreans are joining in on that hate. It makes me angry that Okyere's intention was successful.

6. [+590, -10] It's obvious what his intentions were with 'teakpop' but he's "not at fault"??? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

7. [+444, -10] How are we supposed to interpret Okyere posting a picture of high school students without their consent, tagging it in a K-Pop gossip hashtag, and calling Koreans ignorant in English then?

8. [+421, -15] How can you expect Koreans and Americans to be the same when Americans have experienced a deep-rooted history of racism and Koreans have been a monoethnic country all our lives? Our environments are completely different so to expect Korean students to be aware of an American environment and then calling all of Koreans ignorant? If Okyere's intentions were purely to educate Koreans, then he should've written his post in English as it was in Korean, by pointing out what was wrong and aiming to educate. Instead, he called all Koreans ignorant, tagged 'teakpop', and posted with the intention to get Koreans criticized internationally. All of this is so blatant and you're really trying to say Okyere is not at fault? What relationship does the journalist have with Okyere?

9. [+385, -14] The journalist does not get it ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ no one is arguing whether blackface is racist or not, you fool. What people are criticizing is that he took a picture of high school students who had no idea what blackface was and posted it on his SNS and made Koreans out to look like racist devils to his international audience. He dishonored our country by putting down our education and tagged an irrelevant K-Pop tag with malicious intent.

10. [+128, -3] Journalist, your ignorance is not your fault at all

11. [+105, -2] What about when Black people were assaulting Asians? When an Asian grandmother was blasted with hand sanitizer and told to screw off? There are news of Black people harassing Asians in the news but has Sam Okyere ever posted it on his Instagram and talked about educating them too?

12. [+24, -0] Is the journalist crazy? Why no mention of Sam Okyere slanting his eyes? And for reference, teakpop is a tag used by people who find our country disgusting, who claim they would never go to a BTS concert even if given tickets for free, who call Koreans racist... He tagged that and he is still not at fault??? Journalist, what country are you from? I refuse to forgive someone who humiliated our country worldwide and refuses to take responsibility for it after posting a Korean apology full of nothing but excuses for himself.

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