Correction of Controversy(Eng.ver)

Intro

Back and forth from Korea to China, K-POP artist Henry has been active in many entertainment programs in both countries. Recently Henry got into criticisms, but for invalid reasons. People who have criticized Henry, are misleading the public to disapprove Henry for turning his head to China and betraying Korea. They're spreading  articles and videos, that are made up with rumors and distorted facts based on their biases, only for the sake of accusing Henry. This recent happening might affect Henry’s reputation in Korea and it’s not fair at all for him, who has been working hard since his debut in Korea where he’s settled in and considered his second country. Blaming someone with an unverified hypothesis is wrong regardless of whoever the target is, and we would like to criticize those irrational criticisms, with rationales.

 

< Clearing up The Controversies >

The following is my rebuttals on the controversies, based on facts & my opinions

 

1. The Weibo post supporting ‘One China’ posted in the past was not made by Henry.

*Henry is running his own agency and running two Weibo accounts for his activities in China . One of them is his individual account and the other is the official one managed by a Chinese agency.

 

The Weibo account that made the 'One China' post was run by his previous Chinese agency. Their contract was terminated so the account with the issue does not exist anymore. However, no one can assert that it was Henry’s opinion when the account was managed by the agency. I’ll bring the evidence again below, so people can’t assert it was Henry’s opinion.

• Henry’s official weibo account running by his current Chinese agency in a valid contract
  https://weibo.com/u/6086901935?sudaref=t.co

*Presenting the rationales  of those postings on Weibo might not be the reflection of an individual.

 

• Another Kpop group also got into the controversy for the same reason. They declared it happened out of their knowledge: 

https://sports.chosun.com/news/ntype.htm?id=202104010100002590015811&servicedate=20210331

[종합] "직원 단독행동"…마마무, '하나의 중국' SNS 논란의 전말(전문)

The article is about the issue of a Kpop management company who got into the same trouble caused by an employee who managed their weibo account. This incident suggested that those postings on Weibo accounts could be unrelated to an artist’s opinion and Henry’s case could be the same.

 

• It’s the same in case of any personal Weibo account.
  We should be aware of the censorship in its unique political environment. Social media postings may not be related to the account owner’s opinions and the same applies to all the interactions on any postings. Henry is a Chinese descendant born in Canada but has not mastered Chinese language perfectly. Chinese staff must help Henry in official communications.

 

• Henry mentioned that he finally started to learn Chinese properly after he landed in Korea
  *YouTube SectionTV 20140518, from 2min 8sec
  https://youtu.be/JplqhTbuX4E

Here it’s confirmed that Henry learned Chinese in a Korean environment, at a language institution in Kangnam, Seoul. This reference suggests that Henry was a Chinese descendent but used English as his first language and had trouble speaking Chinese fluently (Especially not familiar in writing Chinese). Therefore, it’s unreasonable to argue that Henry expressed his political view on the Weibo posting which caused the controversy. Rather, this conclusion would make more sense: How was Henry able to express his political view even though he’s not fluent in Chinese?

 

• In addition, from the observation of other Weibo accounts run by many artists who are active in China, we can easily find very similar contents and formats in many postings implying some political stance. This suggests it might be duty to make some posts unrelated to personal opinion, and might not be avoidable to work in China.

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2. It’s correct that Henry appeared in ‘Street Dance of China 4’, the program in the controversy of ‘China’s Northeast Project’, but he didn’t criticize anything about Korea.

 

The content that is considered problematic was the issue of the program itself and other members from the show. Henry’s mentions or actions never criticized Korea, Korean culture or Koreans. *The words that caused the controversy were mentioned by another person. 

 

People who stir up the controversy argue that Henry introduced Korean culture as Chinese, but it’s not true at all. Of course Henry didn’t present Hanbok and Korean songs as Korean-Chinese either. The criticism regarding this matter is entirely from the malicious intent to accuse him for the words that he had never said and actions he had never done.

• This is Henry’s comment in real
  (Street Dance of China Season 4 / ep11)
  https://youtu.beWEnVP9rRzpY

“I was surprised by Acky’s performance, because his expressions and moves were really sincere. He could be an actor. It was really good”
: Referring to the content, Henry only commented on the performance. We can confirm his comment had nothing to do with the issue.

• People also pointed out that Henry appeared in children's reality programs after criticizing them, but it’s in fact out of context. There is a strong possibility that he wouldn’t have many choices under his contract with the mega entertainment company, during the time he appeared in those programs. Also, what he actually mentioned was that too much attention could be a bad influence to the children who appeared in those programs. 

 

• Regarding another controversy on Henry appearing in the programs that were accused with the suspicion of plagiarism, it’s true that Henry appeared in those programs. However, it’s appropriate to criticize the production companies of those programs if plagiarism is the case, and not to attack the artist who is not responsible for the production legality and might not be aware of those issues when he worked for them. Of course Henry had not done anything wrong in this case. 

 

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3. They were simple friendly gestures to wear the mask with the Chinese flag on it at the Chinese National Day Festival, and to play ‘I Love China’. 

 

We should clearly distinguish Chinese culture from Sinocentrism. The mask was distributed by Chinese staff, to anyone at the festival under the Covid-19 regulations and not for displaying his political view on purpose at the festival. Playing “I Love China’ was for his Chinese fans when he stayed in China. He only played the song and never mentioned anything about his political views. Just wearing the mask with the Chinese flag on and singing a Chinese song can’t be enough to judge him for being immersed in Sinocentrism. 

 

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4. It’s not true that he expresses himself as a Chinese and acts as a Chinese although he is Canadian. 

 

It’s confirmed that his nationality is Canadian. His parents came from Taiwan and Hong Kong, but these days, a person’s nationality is decided by where they're born, not by where  their parents were born. Therefore, it cannot be  argued that Henry isn't Canadian. 

He expressed himself as a Chinese Canadian simply to explain that he's of Chinese descent.

 

Some people criticize Henry for using the word ‘Chinese’ because the word ‘Chinese’ only, is not clear to Koreans if it’s referring to nationality or ethnicity (when there is another specific word for ethnicity in Korea), but how would Henry catch the different sentiment of similar words, especially it’s all the same in English?

Of course Henry’s first language is English and he emphasizes that he is Canadian, as we could see him cheering Canada in one of the Real Men episodes. People shouldn’t accuse him for being immersed in Sinocentrism, only based on their assumption on his political view. Henry never agreed on Sinocentrism. I doubt that even he’d know what Sinocentrism is about.

 

Furthermore, in this global era where people from all over the world live together in harmony, it doesn’t make sense to discriminate according to where their parents came from, nor to accuse anyone for their political view, just based on the assumptions from where that person came from, is really too much. Of course he’s of Chinese descent and  his parents imparted some of their Chinese culture upon him; through their music, cuisine, and language. It's likely that they didn't push their culture unto him too strongly, since he couldn't even speak any Chinese languages well. He spent most of his childhood immersed in learning music and speaking English. It's also possible that he wouldn't know the history and politics regarding the relationship between Korea and China, because he was born and raised in Canada.

• The scene he’s cheering Canadian athletes
  Real Men ep.47, 20140302, from 4 min 1 sec

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC-Q6e-lLsE
Henry is cheering for the Canadian athletes from the same country as him. It doesn’t make sense to accuse him for identifying himself as Chinese, when it’s obvious that he identifies himself as a Canadian.

 

5. He never criticized nor betrayed anything about Korea.

*These are the rationales that Henry’s base camp is in Korea.

 

The CEO of his agency Monster Entertainment, Henry’s brother, Clinton’s Interview (Henry’s own agency and his brother is managing the business)

https://star.mt.co.kr/stview.php?no=2019032418184356896&shlink=tw
"Henry’s embracing Korea as his hometown in his heart and living in Korea. He’s not considering leaving Korea at all, and thinking all of his activities should be based in Korea."

클린턴 라우 대표 "헨리, 올 여름 새 앨범 발매"(인터뷰③)[스타메이커]- 스타뉴스

- Clinton Lau
Referring to his interview, it’s clear that Henry is based on Korea mentally, physically and financially
+ Including his agency, his residence is in Korea. His private activities and essentials are all based in Korea. He even ran restaurant business “Xiao Zhan” 

 

Even oversea media clarifies that Henry is a K-POP star
The Article and Interview by BBC in 2021: “K-Pop star Henry Lau's art work on show in London”

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/entertainment-arts-59178047
* Oversea media makes it clear that Henry is a K-POP star and Henry himself makes it clear as well, and that he’s based in Korea.

Henry Lau: from K-Pop to Pop Art

 

<RADll Interview in 2021>

https://radiichina.com/henry-lau-tells-all/

From Violin "Nerd" to Asian Mega Pop Star, Henry Lau Tells All

Henry confirmed that he debuted in Korea, and even the Korean expression ‘Destiny Call’ was brought up in this interview.

 

*Considering all those references, it’s wrong to accuse Henry for betraying Korea, because it’s clear that all of Henry’s essentials are in Korea. Also, there is no evidence that Henry criticized anything about Korea.

 

6. Regarding the criticism for the activities obsessed with China money.

In addition to other activities, even his brand endorsements are criticized these days. However, most of those are global brands and not necessarily owned by Chinese companies. For example, Pandora from Denmark, Dermalogica and Benefit from the US, and Givenchy and Avene are from France. Even the headquarters of FILA is in Korea. If we pay attention to the details, what we can see is that he's earning money in China, but he has never promoted the political views of the Chinese government.

It’s too harsh to accuse him just for working in China. It shouldn’t be controversial for earning money to support himself and his staff as an artist, a business owner & an individual. 

 

7. Related to the current controversy, the suspicion that Henry deleted the comments by Koreans who criticized him, is not true.

There is no proof that Henry deleted them by himself. All of the accusations are only based on assumptions without proof. Rather, those hate comments might be deleted by YouTube algorithms for breaking their rules. Henry could disable comments if he really wanted to control the comments that accused him, but he didn’t. This makes it clear that he left comments as they are without managing them.

The following is the official statement by MEG, Henry’s Agency. Regarding the controversy on comments, the agency declares it’s not true.

https://n.news.naver.com/entertain/article/009/0004937371

헨리 측 "SNS로 거친 발언 송구…댓글관리 의혹은 악의적 왜곡"[전문]

 

8. Related to the controversy that Henry pretended to write poor Korean in his apology post, when he can write Korean well, in order to play a victim.

This is untrue. Often, Henry is seen poorly writing Korean on various variety shows as well as on his social media posts.

(Can link original sources. But here's evidences by fans) 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CbWUZzFvZ6N/?utm_medium=copy_link

https://twitter.com/thatyve/status/1505821858113142786?t=diLyZNUPhehsqCVnJlpcIw&s=19

https://twitter.com/TaiwanfanYao/status/1505814291680616448?t=QX2nagpBa-VevGJH7lO4-A&s=19

 

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< Summary of Positive Activities in Korea > 

 

1. Orchestra of Dream Ambassador, appointed by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

 

• News Article https://www.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2020/05/11/2020051101898.html 

헨리, '꿈의 오케스트라' 알린다…홍보대사 위촉

• Orchestra of Dream 10th Anniversary Concert Video
  https://youtu.be/UBji19NbMAM 

2. Save the Children Ambassador (international actions to protect children in need)

 

• News Article
  https://www.hankyung.com/entertainment/article/2019053141264

헨리, 세이브더칠드런 홍보대사 위촉 “아이들 구하는 일에 동참”

• Promoting ‘Save the Infants’ Campaign. Voice acting on the promotional video, presenting ‘knitting beanie kit’ by Save the Children & giving them out to his fans at his fan meeting.

• Promoting ‘Storytime Campaign’

3. IVI·International Vaccine Institute) Ambassador

• Henry’s IG posting
  https://www.instagram.com/p/BsaR1rslmNb/

 

4. Supported Music Students by offering scholarship with the fund from his violin charity auction

 

• Clip from the MBC Entertainment Program ‘I Live Alone’ (ep.290, 20190419)
  https://youtu.be/xczZbme1Edg

 

5. Donating & Sharing Instruments Program Ambassador, hosted by City of Seoul in 2021

 

• The official blog by City of Seoul
  https://m.blog.naver.com/haechiseoul/222398787655

잠자는 악기에 숨결을 불어넣는, 악기 기증 · 나눔 캠페인!

6. Appeared in Hanbok
When he filmed JTBC Begin Again Korea, He visited the shop in Jeonju by himself and appeared in the program wearing hanbok

 

• Commentary by the designer from the Hanbok brand LEESLE (*refer the YT link)
  https://youtu.be/1sxdTmc0SXc
  In summary, she was very impressed by Henry, visiting the shop in preparation of the filming by himself 
  

*at the Jeonju branch of LEESLE when he visited

• Here, It’s not hard to see his consideration of the location, which is known for the Jeonju Hanok Heritage Village. He tried to pay respect to Korean heritage in his way, by wearing Hanbok for this special place, while no other member appeared in hanbok. 

7. He showcased child prodigies and played Korean traditional songs ‘Arirang’ ‘5 Hundreds Years’ with them on his YouTube Channel ‘Henry Together’

 

• Arirang with Marimba
  https://youtu.be/xoz-2_DDVWs

 

• 500 Years with Gayageum
  https://youtu.be/b2WKmpLr-hI

 

Conclusion

It’s obvious that Henry is a Canadian artist based in Korea, and has been working for over 14 years in both Korean and China, back and forth between two countries equally. It is wrong to assume his political view based on unverified information, even bringing up his heritage and the nationalities of his parents. His activities in China are not for any political reason nor just the matter of money. It’s about his art and life that he has been working so hard on them. We shouldn’t mistreat Henry as a celebrity, even just as an individual, by judging or criticizing from any biased point of view, or by making assumptions from unrelated incidents or exaggerated facts out of context. I would like to ask people not to target Henry as a scapegoat for their anti-China sentiment, especially just because he’s a Chinese descendent.  

- END -

 

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Disclaimer

*This content is just an opinion based on facts. Other fans would have different opinions and the author does not represent the rest of fandom.

Not a perfect posting but I hope this helps even just a little bit to resolve the misunderstandings about the artist who we support. I will continue to support him for sure. If you want to share any part of this blog to resolve the issues, feel free to do so but please credit the source as a courtesy (still, I prefer you consume the content in this space). Also I’d respect your opinions on the comments, but might not reply to each of them. Hope you understand. Thank you.

*자료 번역은 Global Strings에 소속된 Jung님이 도와주셨습니다. 번역을 도와주셔서 감사합니다.