Naturalised Korean, Hong Ha Na, discusses wearing the hijab in South Korea

[adenar.livejournal.com]

The video clip discusses specific incidents of racism or hate speech, and may be distressing to some viewers.

Hong Hana came to South Korea nine years ago and achieved citizenship two years ago. She is a divorcee with two children (Jimin, six, and Noori, three), and works as an interpreter for the police. Soon she will take exams to qualify to work for the foreign affairs police division, and she speaks four languages; English, Russian, Korean, and Uzbek. She hopes that, by appearing and sharing her experiences on Hello Counsellor, she may make people change their minds about how they treat Muslims and other foreigners, and also hopes to prevent her children experiencing similar discrimination.

KBS World TV

Comments

[tewwteww.livejournal.com]

I admit i got teary eyed while watching it. It's heartbreaking to hear what she went through since she got in south korea. She's such a brave woman - she takes cares of her kids on her own (she got divorced i think) and has a busy career. I hope she succeeds in her exams.

[haroobommi.livejournal.com]

I thought it was My Neighbor Charles for a sec but it's nice to see stuff like that in Hello Conselour too

[mjspice.livejournal.com]

Wow this was sad to watch. :(

What exactly is Joonhyung's parentage btw? He really seemed pissed at everything that was happening to her. :/

[hyunbiased.livejournal.com]

I think he's just Korean as far as i know but he grew up in America at a time when there was a lot of discrimination towards Koreans and he had dark skin so also a dose of colorism

If anyone knows more feel free to correct me

[tsuyoi-hikari.livejournal.com]

The sad thing about him is that not only he face discrimination from other races but he also face discrimination by his own people too based on his skin color. The story he told about he needs to put everything on the counter everytime he picked up something new made me really sad for him. :(

[hyunbiased.livejournal.com]

Ah this makes me so sad but it's hardly unique there is rising Islamophobia around the world rn :( Hopefully viewers of this show might be impacted and think about the issue

Does anyone know what a normal amount of votes on this show is? I would hope she would have most people's sympathy so i'm curious

[jinkiestabi.livejournal.com]

This is sad to watch. I hope she finds success, she has been through so much and has taken care of her family.

[carmine-pink.livejournal.com]

I lost it when she cried and her daughter seemed to be close to tears as well...

I hope the episode opens a few eyes in Korea. Also, interpreters/translators represent!! So cool that she's trying to get licensed to interpret for the police.

[sheisagentleman.livejournal.com]

this made me sad too, i hope people will treat her nicely after this

she deserves so much respect and kindness after what shes been going through

[tree-star123.livejournal.com]

omg idk if it's because i'm feeling sick but the waterworks :((( it's heartbreaking and i share the same sentiments as joonhyung but america's not better ppl are still racist as f here.

jihye is on point that they are the ones who have to change their perception and not the mother. i wish the best for her & her cute kids

[umbrella-smile.livejournal.com]

This was so sad. One of the hosts brought up a good point about Koreans being discriminated against when they go to other countries, but then do the same to foreigners in their own country. That happens a LOT in different communities, and it is astounding.

Can I just say, for her to take her kids back to Korea because it was in her daughter's best interest is an incredibly brave thing to do!

[tsuyoi-hikari.livejournal.com]

The story of her being accused as 'Terrorist' that made her refused to go out for one month made me sick.

This people need to educate themselves that ISIS killed more Muslim than non-Muslim. I mean come on, 80% of ISIS' victims are Muslim so to accuse other Muslim as terrorist based on this is just embarrassing and stupid.

[mya13.livejournal.com]

ppl shld really jus be educated that ISIS was made to destroy the islamic name. lots of ppl in this group arent even syrian, or arab, or even muslim . but i wont get too into that here... im just a syrian who's pissed at all the ISIS remarks i hear. the amount of white ppl here who act like they know more about my country and the war going on in MY country make me wanna just DIP out of the earth.

[tsuyoi-hikari.livejournal.com]

I know! Its really frustrated to read comments from ignorant people who claimed that they know Islam better than me. I mean, can you not? Its really embarrassing that you claimed you know what Islam really is ◔_◔ but not even know the basis/fundamental of the religion. YouTube comments are the worst tbh.

You are Syrian and living in Syria, right now? Or you're a Syrian but now living in another country?

[mya13.livejournal.com]

im a canadian born syrian. lived in canada all my life but went to damascus every summer until 2010. havent been to syria since the war unfortunately. i connect much more with my syrian identity than w/ my canadian one despite growing up here . my grandparents + aunt are still in damascus tho, most of my relatives are still there.

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

It was really brave of her to go on tv and talk about this issue. I really hope things improve so her children do not face anymore discrimination.

[nightmushroom.livejournal.com]

Every Korean I've ever talked to about racism has expressed to me quite bluntly that yeah, prejudice and racism are bad, but they think Muslims are terrorists and they "can't help it" and that "most Koreans think this way." Maybe I just know all the wrong people, but the rubbernecking I see when a woman in a hijab walks down the street is embarrassing. No one even tries to hide their reaction :/

There doesn't seem to be much effort to combat these opinions so I'm glad this happened on the show.

[ridzithenerd.livejournal.com]

this makes me so incredibly happy, to see a woman of strength like her, talking about a topic that's very misunderstood, especially in korean/asian culture. i only wish the best for her and her children, iA <3

[redgreendress.livejournal.com]

It's rare to see something of substance in this program, something that doesn't seem just manipulative and a waste of time for everyone involved. That was such a heartbreaking and inspiring story. Those analogies comparing Buddhist monks who shave their heads and wear religious attire to Muslims who wear a hijab seemed like it was helpful for Korean people who struggle to understand foreign customs but still have enough of an open mind to try. I'm really glad that she had that platform to tell her story.

Xenophobia really seems to be a recurring theme all around the world this year, and as an immigrant in the U.S. it's been really painful for me, too (not to the extent that it's been for Muslim immigrants, but I can relate somewhat). Seeing her talking openly like this about what she's overcome, and having the people around her listen and empathize just gives me a bit more confidence that people can be educated to be more tolerant of diversity. I'm glad I watched this.

[kazu-kumaguro.livejournal.com]

This is a genuine question, but what do you guys think about Islamic law especially in Saudi Arabia, especially regarding male guardianship?
Do you especially muslims think that it is not because of Islam but more of local custom, or it actually is part of the teaching?

[turtles-tszx.livejournal.com]

Lmao sis ur not supposed to talk about saudi arabia haha. Im a muslim just to be clear but tbh anything related with saudi arabia is a touchy issue.

Tbh moderate muslim will say it's more of a local custom but "conservative" said it's islamic etc. Tbh wht i think is, they're simply abusing the religion to control the women regarding the male guardianship.

[mya13.livejournal.com]

as stated below, they are using the religion (twisting it up) in order to control women and other laws tbh. im syrian and tbh we really look down upon how that country is run and like to pretend like "we dont know them" but since mekkah is there we cant ignore the country. what sucks is saudi and UAE in general are such strong countries that to me they completely give islam a bad name when rlly what they're doing does not go with islam at all in any way whatsoever and it really disgusts me. the shit the ppl over there say makes no damn sense and they will truly be punished for that as someone whose religious.

[broadcities.livejournal.com]

i really admire her for speaking up so openly about this. i hope it helps korean people to understand her position - i especially liked the comparision between the hijab and monks and it made me think about how hijabs - also in my country - are considered to be oppressive for women whereas monks or nuns aren't seen as oppressed. that's islamophobia right there.

the audience and the other hosts were very supportive - if something like this would air in my country they would say that she would play the victim unfortunately :( so horrible.

thanks for sharing op!