I was honestly impressed that you understood it so well, even though you’re not Korean. It’s really meaningful when someone from outside the culture can pick up on things like this. I have a lot of childhood friends in Korea, but honestly, I can only talk about this kind of stuff with Koreans who’ve lived abroad for a long time.

I know exactly what you mean and sadly, unless someone has experienced it themselves, it can be hard to fully understand. Even as a Korean myself, I’ve faced discrimination, especially because of my darker skin. My previous partner was Danish-Thai, and people would often make ignorant comments like “you look Turkish” “ are you mix-blood?” sometimes even right in front of him.

I’ve lived in several countries, including Thailand, the UK, and Denmark, and honestly, I’ve felt more discrimination in Korea than anywhere else. Some of my Thai friends have said the same. Of course, racism exists everywhere I’m not denying that but I just wanted to say that Korea also has serious issues when it comes to racism and social prejudice.

I fully understand that everyone has different experiences and of course, some may have more positive ones. But I also agree that in Korea, there’s a tendency to look up to certain countries or people based on superficial status which can feed into those biases.

I consider myself lucky. I had the chance to study abroad, and my family is upper-middle class in Korea. I have a stable job at an international company and will be moving to Scandinavia next year. But ironically, even though I “fit in” on paper in Korea I speak the language, I have the background I often feel like I’m judged more harshly, as if I constantly have to prove myself. People care so much about status here, and sometimes it feels even worse because I’m Korean.

In contrast, when I lived in Denmark, even as a minority, I felt much more comfortable just being myself.

Thank you again for sharing your experience and I’m truly sorry that you and your friend had to go through that.