(Published: 2025-10-30 17:44:29)
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit this week has turned South Korea into the center of global diplomatic activity, as the leaders of 21 nations gathered in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, the ancient capital of the Silla Kingdom. President Lee Jae Myung met US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi; it was his first meetings with the leaders of China and Japan. A trade-war weary world focused much of its attention on the meeting between Trump and Xi, their first summit of Trump’s second term.
This marked the second time that South Korea has hosted the APEC summit, the first being in Busan in 2005. As with other important international events, the country rolled out the red carpet to welcome world leaders. In the 20 years since the Busan summit, much has changed in ways that few could have predicted. In the 2000s, the world was embracing globalization and democracy, but both are facing strong headwinds as xenophobia and authoritarianism have gained traction amid a broader right-wing nationalist turn. Trends that first appeared with Brexit and Trump’s election victory in 2016 have now spread across democracies worldwide and threaten to undermine decades of progress toward a “better world.”
Up until recently, South Korea appeared immune to these trends, but the situation began to change during the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol. Echoing rhetoric from Trump’s MAGA movement, Yoon and his supporters promoted claims of election fraud and other conspiracies. They drew on the fringe movement protesting the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye for support. As 2025 has moved along, the South Korean version of MAGA has continued to grow, particularly among young men active on social media.
In recent months, vocal anti-Chinese protests have become the latest South Korean manifestation of MAGAism. Protestors carrying signs and chanting anti-Chinese slogans first appeared in Myeong-dong, a shopping district in Seoul that attracts many Chinese tourists. They have also popped up in Daerim-dong, where many ethnic Koreans from China live. And more recently, they have taken to marching in the Gwanghwamun area. Anti-Chinese posts and comments have spread rapidly on social media, causing an anti-Korean backlash on social media in China.
In response, President Lee has spoken out against the protests, saying that they run counter to the national interest. Fearing that the protests will hurt their business, merchants in Myeong-dong have appealed to authorities to crack down on them. Lawmakers concerned that the protests would hurt the national image during the APEC summit even floated the idea of passing a bill to ban them, which raised concerns about free speech protections.
Waves of sentiment against a particular country are not new in South Korea. In the 1980s, anti-American sentiment rose sharply and has since been incorporated into left-wing orthodoxy. Anti-Japanese sentiment is still potent, rising quickly when relations between the two countries become tense.
Expressions of anti-American and anti-Japanese sentiment differ from the current wave of anti-Chinese protests because they did not target individuals, such as tourists and migrant workers. Anti-American protests in the 1980s were critical of US policy in South Korea at the time, while the anti-Japanese protests were rooted in the trauma of the Japanese occupation. For all the negative feelings against the US and Japan, individuals from those countries were rarely targeted. South Koreans at the time welcomed foreign visitors and knew that doing so would, in a larger sense, benefit the nation.
The current wave of anti-Chinese protests is disturbing precisely because they focus on individuals who have chosen to visit or live in South Korea because they want to. In different ways, tourists and migrant workers contribute to the economy and a part of the web of relations between South Korea and China.
Among all nations, South Korea stands as a leader in taking advantage of globalization and developing a thriving democracy. One of the key contributors to that success was a strong national consensus that the country needs to interact positively with the rest of the world. This included interest in overseas study and, yes, a welcoming stance toward foreigners. More recently, it has helped K-pop penetrate global pop culture.
Persuasion does not work well with MAGAists in South Korea or elsewhere. Instead, people throughout society should follow President Lee’s lead and speak out forcefully against anti-Chinese protests. Let the world know that South Korea has no place for hate. Upholding democratic values means defending the dignity of all who live and visit here.