January 2, 2025
SEOUL – As someone who researches hate speech, I have seen my share of creative ways in which people try to abuse and insult others, but I was completely shocked when I saw funeral wreaths being used in Korea as a way to protest against celebrities and believe it is a form of toxic fan culture that needs to stop.
For those who are not familiar, a funeral wreath in Korea is a tall, free-standing floral arrangement, much like a one-sided Christmas tree, composed of white flowers. This floral tower is sent to someone’s funeral as a sign of condolence, often attached with a wide ribbon containing a written message. However, it has also been used as a way to complain to entertainment companies to fire idols.
In October, people sent funeral wreaths to urge SM Entertainment to prevent Seunghan from rejoining the group Riize; at Hybe, funeral wreaths called for the removal of Suga from the group BTS while he was being investigated for a DUI. This week, funeral wreaths were sent to Enhypen’s Jungwon over a dating rumor. These are just a few examples.
I personally do not think that a young, single person dating another is so grave a crime as to warrant such hate. But of course, freedom of speech and the right to peacefully protest are important pillars of democracy. However, wishing death on someone should not fall into the realm of free expression. Respectful uses of the funeral wreath as a form of protest could include lamenting the death of values, causes, or criticizing institutions or organizations. In these contexts, death is symbolic, but when these flowers are used to target individuals, they should be considered as seriously as verbal death threats. Moreover, these protests are essentially anonymous. Unlike a petition or a physical protest, where people put a face to the cause they are fighting for, wreaths are the physical equivalent of someone hiding behind a keyboard. Thus, there is controversy around who the people funding these installations are — do they represent a large group of people or are they just a few obsessed anti-fans with an ax to grind?
I am writing this not to rebuke the individuals who instigated these disgusting behaviors because I know it will fall on deaf ears. However, the government needs to have clearer regulations on what constitutes a peaceful protest when granting permits for individuals to use sidewalks and other public spaces to set up these installations. Korean laws around defamation protect celebrities from false claims, but death threats and intentional emotional damage, which could be seen as equally, if not more detrimental to the victim, have yet to have clear punishment guidelines.
I don’t know if Koreans have thought about this, but from outside of Korea, K-pop is not just about music or idols. It is about the entire culture that surrounds this special and unique form of entertainment. Fan culture around K-pop is almost as important as the celebrities themselves in terms of how people outside of Korea view the K-pop phenomena. K-pop fans are known to be very passionate and engage in a lot of positive collective behaviors that are seen to be quite fascinating by outsiders. Some of these include massive charity drives, the establishment of parks and the opening of birthday cafes in celebration of celebrity birthdays. However, it is also a well-known fact that toxic fan behavior is quite a problem and even if these behaviors are conducted by only a minority, those people’s voices or behaviors are often so extreme that the pressure of harassment leads to severe mental health issues of idols and sometimes, even more dire consequences.
The recent political protests in Korea, accompanied by K-pop group light sticks and humorously worded signs, have been complimented by foreign media as a sign of elevated democracy. Koreans know how to respectfully criticize and fight for things they believe in. In contrast, the use of funeral wreaths to denounce individuals is a cruel and cowardly act that should be replaced with a more respectful protest culture.
I have heard some Korean fans argue that it is not useful to make a fuss or to raise their voices against hateful crimes and to a certain extent I understand that Korean culture frowns upon people who try to take a stand. However, if we are silent and wait until a situation is resolved, this may be the most efficient way of dealing with judgment in the court of law, but judgment in the court of public opinion is a different thing. Doing nothing against injustice is almost a form of allowing the problem to persist.
Hate or violence is rarely the solution against hate. Love, while it cannot get rid of hate, is what is necessary to protect victims and to show society what the acceptable values are that we deem to be desirable in our society.
Yvette Wohn is a professor of informatics at New Jersey Institute of Technology. The views expressed here are the writer’s own.