Controversy Over "Hanbok Is Chinese Clothing" with a Defiant Chinese Game Company [Buaeri's Game Dictionary]

Hanbok items added to Shining Nikki. Photo by Papergames

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Recently, a ridiculous claim that Hanbok belongs to China emerged in a mobile game by a Chinese game company, sparking controversy that continues to have repercussions as of the 7th.

"Hanbok belongs to China? Absurd claim by China"

The incident began when the Chinese game company Paper Games added Korea's traditional Hanbok as a new event item in their mobile game "Shining Nikki," released on the 29th of last month.

Chinese users argued that "Hanbok is the clothing of the Joseonjok ethnic group, so it belongs to China," which sparked a dispute between users from both countries. In response to the controversy, the company stated, "As a Chinese company, Paper Games' position always aligns with that of our motherland," siding with the Chinese users. Later, instead of continuing to engage in the dispute, Paper Games removed the Hanbok item and issued refunds.

As domestic users' backlash intensified, Paper Games announced the termination of its Korean service on the 5th. The company explained the reason for ending the service, saying, "Radical public opinion insulting China was repeatedly expressed, crossing our final limit," and "As a Chinese company, we firmly reject such media and actions and uphold the dignity of our nation." The company also attached a post from a Chinese blog claiming that Korea's traditional clothing was heavily influenced by China in the announcement.

Photo by SNS capture

"Absurd management by Chinese game company"

Paper Games' response provoked outrage among domestic users. Once a popular game, Shining Nikki's Google Play rating has plummeted to the 1-point range. On social networking services (SNS), a hashtag campaign #HanbokChallenge asserting that Hanbok is Korean has been launched. A petition to the Blue House exposing the game's misconduct has also appeared.

Criticism of the arrogant attitude of the Chinese game company was raised in the National Assembly as well. Lee Sang-heon, a member of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, issued a statement the day before, saying, "The Northeast Project theory about Hanbok (a research effort to incorporate all history within China's borders as Chinese history) is problematic, but the game developer's response is even more absurd."

Lee pointed out, "Instead of apologizing to domestic users, they only hurled criticism and announced the termination of service," and added, "Skipping refund and compensation procedures and only writing the download block and game service termination date is laughable."

He further urged, "This clearly violates Article 13, Paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Fair Trade Commission's standard terms for mobile games," and called on the government to "immediately introduce a 'domestic agent designation system' to prevent foreign game companies from mismanaging operations in Korea."

After the related issues were pointed out, Paper Games posted an additional notice explaining the refund process and announced the closure of their official cafe and SNS accounts.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.