Handsome, young with a model physique is how best to describe Han Hyun-Min who happens to be the first black model in South Korea. The 16 year old has
Handsome, young with a model physique is how best to describe Han Hyun-Min who happens to be the first black model in South Korea. The 16 year old has the good fortune of having a Nigerian father and a Chinese mother. However, during his early days in South Korea, rather than receive acclaim for his very unique look, he faced severe racism in a country that commonly refers to mixed race people as mongrels.
Han was constantly bullied at school and told by people on the street that he didn’t belong in the country. He said he wanted to become invisible but was lucky to find escape in fashion.
“When I was playing with other kids at school, some mothers whisked them away from me, saying things like, ‘Don’t play with a kid like that’,” said Han.
He says he was regularly stared at in public, with an elderly woman once asking him: ‘What are you doing in someone else’s country?’
“I wanted to become invisible,’ he said. I hated my looks that stand out from everyone else.”
He began taking part in modelling auditions and posting his photos on social media until an agent spotted the images. Han said that the bullying didn’t stop. The teenager said he was told by model recruiters that they don’t do dark skin and was branded bad luck. But despite it all, he has risen through the fashion world ranks becoming a star in the South Korean fashion world. He is becoming a regular on catwalks and glossy magazines.
“Being a fashion model helped build my confidence tremendously,” said Han. “Now I enjoy being looked at by other people, instead of being ashamed or embarrassed,” Han said
His agent, Youn Bum, admitted recruiting him was a big gamble especially in a country like South Korea that is ethnically homogenous. Bum said they were knocked back by many clients as a dark-skinned fashion model like Han was unheard of in South Korea. Bum was openly urged by fashion designers and magazine editors to recruit whites instead. However all that changed when Bum’s persistence paid off. A handful of designers found Han’s look unique and charismatic, and he hit the runways at more than 30 shows at the two Seoul Fashion Weeks after his debut last year, an unusually high number for a novice.
South Korea has for years sought to foster the image of a modern, sophisticated and tech-savvy nation whose pop culture has made waves across Asia. But behind the facade of an economic and cultural powerhouse lies a deeply-rooted racism even as its immigrant population creeps up, doubling over the last decade. Discrimination against them is widespread. Many are openly mocked at public transport for being ‘dirty’ or ‘smelly’, or refused entry to fancy restaurants or public baths. Mixed-race children are bullied at school and constantly taunted as ‘tuigi’, a derogatory term that literally means cross-bred animals. Many complain of poor opportunities in many aspects of life, including difficulties socialising, getting a job or finding a spouse.
According to Choi Hang-Sub, a sociology professor at Kookmin University in Seoul, Korea, this may not be unconnected to the ultra-competitive culture that worships those with money and power and despises those without.
“The rule also applies to foreigners,” he said. “So white people from advanced nations are welcomed with open arms, and those perceived to have hailed from less developed nations are relentlessly looked down upon.”
DailyMail
