Korean Youtuber Tzuyang, comedian Kim Ji Young criticized for mocking Filipinos in vlog

South Korean Youtuber Tzuyang and comedian Kim Ji Young received backlash for being racially insensitive and mocking Filipinos in a recent vlog.

In a video titled “Vietnamese Restaurant Where You Eat In Line,” Tzuyang was joined by Kim Ji Young who was in character as Ni Tong, a subscriber from the Philippines. Ni Tong is a character based on Filipino stereotypes in Korea.

Ji Young is then shown speaking in broken Korean and mocking Filipino accents. “Hello. I am Ni Tong, and I have a beautiful smile. I was formerly the wife of a farmer, but now I am a comedian,” she said.

Both Korean and international viewers commented their disappointment in Tzuyang’s vlog. Viewers said that Filipinos’ accents and stereotypical stories should not be laughed at.

“As a Filipino, I feel so proud at first when I saw that she is a Filipino. But the moment that it is revealed that she is not and she is copying or mocking Filipino's accent, it made me bothered. Our accent is not a joke and should never be laughed at. Hope you all understand my point, thank you,” a comment said.

Another viewer said, “So you got a 'comedian' who's not even Filipino to pretend to be Filipino and acts out the harmful Filipino stereotypes such as the accent when speaking Korean, coming to Korea to ‘seduce men and get married’ because of Kdramas. I don't understand why you guys think this is funny."

As of this writing, Tzuyang set the video to private and posted an apology in three languages, including Tagalog. The vlogger expressed her “sincere apologies to our Filipino viewers and subscribers for any concerns caused by the video uploaded on January 28th with a Korean comedian.”

She added that she holds great respect for the Philippines and that she did not realize that the vlog may cause harm.

“I hold great respect for the Philippines and feel genuinely grateful to the many viewers in the Philippines who enjoy my videos. However, it was a huge oversight on my part not to realize that the content we produced might unintentionally cause emotional pain, which was not our intention,” Tzuyang said.

“I sincerely apologize once again to the Filipino viewers and to anyone who felt uncomfortable watching the video,” she added. “I will carefully heed the criticisms and comments from our viewers and will make every effort to be thoughtful and attentive when creating content in the future."

Tzuyang is a popular YouTuber best known for mukbang or eating videos. She currently has 9.29 million subscribers. —Nika Roque/JCB, GMA Integrated News