South Korea's first black model faces widespread racism

South Korean model Han Hyun Min poses for a photo following a photo shoot at a studio in Seoul. PHOTO: AFP

SEOUL (AFP) - Teenage male model Han Hyun Min's long legs and powerful strut have made him a rising star on South Korean catwalks, but his agent knew there would be a problem in the ethnically homogeneous country: He is half-black.

Han, 16, has a Nigerian father in a society where racial discrimination is widespread and people of mixed race are commonly referred to as "mongrels".

"A dark-skinned fashion model like Han was unheard of in South Korea, so recruiting him was a big gamble," said agent Youn Bum.

Now, Han is posing for top glossy magazines as the country's first black fashion model.

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, but still only to 4 per cent of the population.

Most foreigners in the country are from China and South-east Asia, migrant workers or women who marry rural South Korean men unable to find local spouses willing to live in the countryside.

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.

A government survey in 2015 showed that 25 per cent of South Koreans do not want a foreigner as a neighbour - far higher than the 5.6 per cent in the United States and 10.5 per cent in China.

Mixed-race children are bullied at school and constantly taunted as "tuigi", a derogatory term that means cross-bred animals.

Many complain of poor opportunities in many aspects of life, including difficulties socialising, getting a job or finding a spouse.

Han was no exception.

"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,'" he said.

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 found his escape in fashion, taking part in auditions for models and posting his photos on social media until Youn spotted the images.

After seeing the then 14-year-old demonstrate his "electrifying" stride on a Seoul street for five minutes, Youn signed him up immediately.

"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."

He hopes to become a role model for multiracial children. "I want to be more successful, not just for myself, but also for people whom I represent."

The duo were initially stonewalled by designers and magazine editors, some of whom openly dismissed Han as "bad luck" and urged Youn to recruit whites instead.

"Some of them told me, 'We don't do dark-skinned models,' or, 'For us, non-Korean models mean white models with blue eyes and blonde hair,'" Youn said.

But 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.

Han's slim physique "had a good combination of strengths of both Asian models and Western models", said designer Cho Young Jae, who used him for his men's clothing line, Chaos From Undermind.

Neighbouring Japan has a similarly homogeneous population, Cho said, but a longer history of immigration and a higher number of biracial star fashion models.

Even so, when half-black Ariana Miyamoto was picked as Miss Universe Japan in 2015, she faced open accusations of not being sufficiently Japanese to represent the country.

South Koreans have, until recently, been taught at school to take pride in the country's "single ethnicity", with one race and language enduring for centuries.

A history of repeated invasions by powerful neighbours China and Japan has amplified the sense of victimhood and rampant ethnic nationalism, many analysts say.

In addition, said sociology professor Choi Hang Sub at Kookmin University in Seoul, South Korea's ultra-competitive culture "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."

South Korea has a growing number of foreign or multiracial figures on television and other public sphere - but almost all of them are Caucasians, whose looks are favoured by many South Koreans as "beautiful".

Commentators on social media, though, have warmed to Han.

"He has such good aura around him," said one. "I hope that our society will become more open to people like him."

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