What do you guys think about non-asian kpop fans who fetishise Koreans and make plans to live in Korea?
I've noticed a lot of young teens fetishising Koreans and believing ALL of them to be 'romantic', 'sweet', 'good looking', 'well-dressed' and 'innocent' - seeing Korea as the perfect country to live in, and Koreans as the perfect humans. But there is many problems with Woman's rights in Korea (spy cam epidemic), bullying, noise pollution, high stress, suicide rates and also racism.
Recently #cancelKorea in the Philippines was trending due to Korean colorism of Filipino skin color. This is just one example. Despite these issues, teens and young adults from non-asian backgrounds spend large amounts of money + energy chasing after Koreans for validation + love they have seen shown freely given out by idols and romantic male leads in kmedia, rather than talent alone.
However, these younger fans are blind to the predatory ways of some real life Koreans/idol companies who manipulate some of these younger fans, and have little to no clue on the real nature and personality of such people.
Many such Koreans, including their media industry, have monopolised on the low self esteem of such fans worldwide who seek validation from the idols and personalities they adore, making great money in the process, and increasing their international 'value' on the world stage within the Hallyu wave.
In Korea today, being a Youtuber or Livestreamer is a popular and well liked profession many are taking up as full time careers. Many find it difficult to get views as there is so much competition online. But reacting to content about certain nationalities, religions or skin colours easily attracts fans who fetishise Koreans, and is the easiest ladder to getting fame [even if the Youtuber does not like or respect such people].
But as we know from certain youtube experiences, many of these influencers have abused these positions of power, harming the fans - and sadly not being held accountable due to hard-core fans of some of these 'idols' heavily defending their actions, even if they are at fault.
What do you guys think? Are some fans fetishising Koreans? Or are they just one off events?