The National Human Rights Commission investigated a cafe in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, that sparked controversy after posting a notice saying it would not accept Chinese customers. The cafe deleted the phrase "No Chinese" from the Instagram post.
According to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on the 2nd, the commission recently received a petition arguing that the cafe's refusal to accept Chinese customers was discrimination and interviewed the owner.
In the meeting, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) persuaded the owner to take down the Instagram notice that read, "We're sorry, we do not accept Chinese guests." The owner signed a pledge to do so. As of 12 p.m. on the 2nd, the phrase "No Chinese" has been deleted from the Instagram notice.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) plans to dismiss the petition, concluding that no additional remedy is needed because the harm has been addressed. The commission will soon submit an investigation report, including the owner's signed confirmation, to the Committee for Correction of Discrimination for processing.
Earlier, a Chinese influencer living in Korea, "Henry," criticized the cafe in a video posted on Instagram on the 22nd, calling it "the most racist cafe I've seen in Korea."
Henry said, "A person who came all the way here from far away was not welcomed just because they are Chinese," and added, "I don't understand why you hate this country (China) so much." Henry continued, "Who taught you to run a business like this?" and said, "Let's see how your sales drop from now on."
As the controversy grew, Seongdong-gu officials and nearby merchants met with the cafe owner. District chief Jeong Won-o appeared on MBC radio on the 29th and said regarding the cafe posting the "No Chinese" notice, "A Chinese customer was talking in Chinese, and when another customer complained, the owner seems to have said to the Chinese customer, 'I'm sorry.'" The explanation was that the cafe appeared to have banned Chinese customers to prevent situations in which a Chinese customer's "disruptive" behavior would prompt complaints from other patrons inside the store in the future.