Henry Lau's apology amidst Chinese cultural appropriation controversy backfires

K-pop idol Henry Lau's apology following his alleged pro-China comments has not gone down well, with many accusing the idol of playing the victim.

Lau, a popular soloist, was born to a Hong Konger father and a Taiwanese mother. The idol initially debuted as a member of the K-pop boy group Super Junior M in 2008 before rising to stardom via the popular variety show Real Men in 2013. Henry Lau is also a regular feature on the variety show I Live Alone.

Over the last couple of years, the idol has been involved in a series of controversies, with the Korean public accusing him of harboring pro-China and anti-Korean sentiments.

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Henry Lau was accused of supporting cultural appropriation done by China

In August 2021, Henry starred in the Chinese survival show Street Dance of China Season 4, which featured a contestant in hanbok who danced to traditional Korean music "pansori." However, the participant's outfit and dance style was labeled as the traditional dance of Joseonjok, who are ethnic Koreans living in China, instead of calling it a traditional Korean dance form. Several Korean viewers were disappointed at Henry Lau for not correcting or commenting on the cultural appropriation.

However, the backlash reached a fever pitch after the singer's agency, Monster Entertainment, announced that Henry had been appointed the honorary ambassador for the anti-school bullying campaign by Mapo Police Station.

In response to the news, several Korean netizens shared their disapproval of the decision, given the singer's allegedly dubious ideologies.

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Lau posted an apology on Instagram

On March 19, the singer posted an apology on Instagram, in light of the backlash.

Surprisingly, the apology, written in Korean, was full of typos and grammatical errors, which surprised fans given Henry's knowledge of the language.

The full statement (translated) says,

"This is Henry. First of all, I'm sorry if I did anything wrong including my actions and words. Since day 1, I always wanted to give laughter or happy emotions wherever I appear but I'm hurt that I couldn't do that these days. The point is...I'm not the person who will abandon something, forgetting about it. But due to the pandemic, I have to stay at least a few months if I go somewhere so I'm sorry about that. I miss you all so much."

Henry claimed that the accusations were false and that he thought they would die down. However, when several news channels started calling out the allegedly pro-Chinese cultural appropriation, the variety show star was forced to make a statement.

"I have been staying quiet as I thought not many people will believe because online is riddled with fake news. But I realized how grave the situation was after people who met me in person believed it and now the major news channel...The most hurtful part is that many are uncomfortable not because of my actions or words, but because of my bloodline."

While the singer did not specify what the apology was for, he reassured fans that he would try to be his best self from now on.

"I just wanted to make people happy but I don't know what to do if there are people who are upset because of my bloodline. I'm sorry to my fans for not keeping my promise that I'd always share good news and appear in my best self. I'm so sorry."

However, the apology appears to have missed its mark. According to several netizens, Henry, despite not being Korean by birth, had been using the language perfectly since 2013. The apology post being full of mistakes came as a surprise to many netizens.

Several claimed that the singer was pretending to be bad at Korean in order to portray himself in a sympathetic light. Henry's mention of his "bloodline" also did not go down well.

One of the comments against the post stated,

"How could he become so popular in Korea if Korea was so xenophobic in the first place? I don't understand why he would bring his bloodline in his apology."

The singer deleted his post not long after.

However, many of Henry Lau's fans had his back. They claimed that the accusations were unfounded and that the idol also deserved to become an honorary ambassador for the anti-school bullying campaign regardless of his nationality or beliefs.