Chinese tourist in emperor-style outfit sparks controversy at Gyeongbokgung Palace

A Chinese tourist wearing clothing reminiscent of an imperial Chinese costume was filmed walking across the Gwanghwamun platform at Seoul’s Gyeongbokgung Palace. The footage has sparked controversy online.

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I received reports from internet users.

Seo Kyung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women’s University, said on June 9 that he received the footage from internet users. After checking social media, he said he found images of a Chinese person wearing the outfit at the palace.

Seo stressed that Chinese tourists wearing their own traditional clothing while visiting other countries is not inherently a problem. His concern was the setting and the way the footage was used. Videos filmed at Gyeongbokgung by foreign visitors wearing hanfu could cause viewers to misunderstand Korean traditional clothing, he said.

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Our hanbok and China’s hanfu are clearly different garments, but foreigners may mistake hanfu for Korea’s traditional clothing.

“Our hanbok and China’s hanfu are clearly different garments, but foreigners may mistake hanfu for Korea’s traditional clothing,” Seo said. He identified the posting of videos by Chinese influencers wearing hanfu as the main issue. The report also said such footage has recently appeared on Chinese social media platforms including Weibo and Xiaohongshu.

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The biggest problem is that Chinese influencers wear hanfu, film themselves walking around Gyeongbokgung, and post the videos on their social media accounts.