Actors Song Jin-woo and Alberto Mondi are being criticized for remarks that appear to distort and downplay historical facts between Korea and Japan.
On the 25th, a video titled "[354 talk] International marriage...? There are many downsides, I love my mother-in-law" was uploaded to the '354 Sam-O-Sa' channel.
The video that day featured Italian broadcaster Alberto Mondi, German-born broadcaster Daniel Lindemann, Australian broadcaster Sam Hammington, and actor Song Jin-woo discussing international marriage.
During the discussion, Song Jin-woo talked about his children's identity, saying, "But actually, since my wife is Japanese, when the kids go to school they learn history. So I try to prepare them somehow? 'Dad is Korean and mom is Japanese. Umi is both. She is Japanese and Korean' — I made sure to give them a clear sense of their identity. And I also tell them in advance things like 'they used to fight in the past.'"
He said, "I think they learn it in kindergarten. In front of my wife they sing 'Dokdo is our land.' But my wife doesn't care at all and Japanese people often don't know. What worries us at home is this: because the kids have Japanese blood, when they later learn history at school there are cases of kids who got hurt," he lamented.
He continued, "Some kids were even pelted with stones and were called 'Japanese.' Because there are such cases, my wife is also worried. She fears the kids might be harmed," adding, "I tell them clearly beforehand, 'they fought in the past but it's not like that now,' 'it's not now but they fought in the past,' 'but later you'll learn things like this,' 'mom is Japanese but dad is Korean. We have both.'"
Song Jin-woo also shared a personal example, saying, "I think care from teachers and adults is important. Teachers' care or a word from them seems necessary to prevent such things. But from my experience so far, there was no such care, so some friends quit school and were homeschooled."
In particular, Alberto said, "We also have Leo who is very interested in Korean history and reads books. (Leo) says, 'Mom, Japanese people were really bad,'" and added, "I also tell him, 'it happened in the past but our aunt is Japanese, right? It's not that Japanese people are bad, this is history,' 'listen to both sides' — I give him a lot of that advice about how to view history."
But after the video was uploaded, netizens expressed discomfort with Song Jin-woo's inappropriate phrasing. They argued that euphemistically describing Japan's colonial rule over Korea during the Japanese occupation as 'they fought' distorts history. Alberto's remark that 'you should listen to both sides' also enraged netizens, who said such comments are unacceptable from a victimized colonial country. Netizens poured out criticisms such as, "Did Jews and Germans fight too?"
As the controversy grew, '354' quietly edited out only the problematic parts without offering a separate position. Still, netizens' backlash was fierce, and the video was eventually set to private. Since there was no clear apology or statement, netizens are demanding explanations through comments on other videos and continue to protest.
Meanwhile, Song Jin-woo married his Japanese wife Minami in 2015 and has a daughter, Umi, and a son, Haru.
[Photo] OSEN DB, 354
[OSEN]