Online War Erupts Over Boy Band Super Junior

A misunderstanding over Korean boy band Super Junior is fanning anti-Korean sentiment in China.

A war of words erupted online from 7 p.m. Wednesday between fans and haters of the group in China. Most Chinese Web sites were bombarded with posts titled “69 (June 9th) Holy War,” criticizing the group and its Chinese fans.

One post said, "As long as pointed heads exist, the holy war will continue." "Pointed heads" refer to Chinese who are fanatical about foreign pop stars.

Other posts said, “Get lost, Super Junior!” and “Get lost, pointed heads!”

The group’s Chinese fans fought back, however, with posts such as, “You are pointed heads," and, “Regardless of whether we are Koreans or not, we like Super Junior.”

On the bulletin board for the group on the Chinese portal Baidu, 50 posts containing mutual slander were put up per second at one point Wednesday. Replies were continuously posted to each message.

The ruckus originated from a misunderstanding over the Korean Music Festival held May 30 at the Korean Center of the Shanghai World Expo, at which Super Junior performed.

Many Chinese gathered to receive free tickets, but the expo’s organizing committee significantly reduced the number of the tickets. When people protested, the committee stopped distribution altogether.

Chinese police were dispatched after the protest widened, but the disturbance grew so much that a Hong Kong newspaper made a false report that one person was crushed to death. A staff member of the Korean Center repeatedly stressed, “The Korean Center is not related to this incident.”

Chinese netizens are venting their anger over Super Junior because of rumors that Korea reduced the number of free tickets. The mishap forced the cancellation of a performance by Japanese pop music group SMAP at the Japanese Center, to the chagrin of its fans.

The situation worsened after Chinese netizens hostile to fans of foreign pop stars joined the slander war.

An official at the Korean Embassy in Beijing said, “We are closely watching the situation.