The drama “Vincenzo,” which was broadcasted on tvN until May 2nd, was condemned because bibimbap, the Korean food, appeared as the Chinese company’s instant food *PPL, which gives foreign viewers a misunderstanding that bibimbap is Chinese food. Moreover, China’s cultural Northeast project was shown throughout many areas. It ranges from the distortion of the principle of creation that Hunminjeongeum, the Korean alphabet, was created to accurately express Chinese pronunciation to a series of insistence that great people of Korea, such as Son Heung-Min and Yoon Dong-Ju, were rooted in China. Then what is China’s cultural Northeast Project, and why has this caused problems?

　There have been continuous attempts of China trying to steal Korean things. “China’s Northeast Project” is one of them. It is a research project on the history and culture of the three northeast provinces proceeded by China, since 2002. Their final goal was to treat all history in China’s current territory like Gojoseon, Goguryeo, Balhae, and Goryeo, which are Korean history, as a Chinese history of ethnic minorities and local governments. They are even currently invading our culture by steadily stepping foot into the domestic content market using the power of “China money.” In the tvN Drama “True Beauty,” broadcasted in 2020, there were scenes drawing criticisms from viewers for excessive and unnatural PPL, such as Chinese company’s advertisement on bus stops and Chinese company’s malatang in Korean convenience stores. Lim Dae-Geun (Prof. of Global Culture & Contents, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Graduate School) said, “China has plenty of capital and human resources, but falls behind in their ability to plan and produce contents. Therefore, they are reaching out to Korean content which are achieving results on the planning and the production area even with capital investment.”

　The first problem is cultural distortion. In 2011, China tried to register Arirang of Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture, as intangible Chinese cultural property, citing that Korean Chinese who sing this song are an ethnic minority group of China. In February 2020, as Korea’s Got, the traditional Korean hat, was added to the U.S. mobile game “SKY: Children of the Light,” Chinese users protested that it was China’s costume and pressed an announcement that it belongs to China. Thereupon, “Genova Chen,” the game company’s Chinese representative, stated that the item design was influenced by Ming clothing, and the game changed the item’s name to “Hat of Ming Dynasty in China.” In this situation, if our own culture, such as Arirang, Hanbok, Got, is transformed into Chinese culture by China, the uniqueness and identity of the Korean culture could disappear. 

　The second problem is the distortion of knowledge through media contents. In March 2021, the SBS drama “Joseon Exorcist” stopped airing due to historical distortions. In this drama, some scenes featured excessive Chinese-style costumes, props, music, and foods, such as moon cakes and **pidans, as if they were in the Joseon dynasty. These are scenes that can be interpreted as Korea being a country rooted in China in the past. Therefore, after receiving extreme criticisms from many people, this drama stopped broadcasting. Culture critic Kim Seong-Su said, “Producers and broadcasters should produce content with logical systems and basis. Freedom of expression exists, but producers are responsible and must persuade consumers with the completeness of its contents. The consumer’s power in contents is growing, and they need to take a balanced view and make active choices and engagements.”

　Finally, hostility between the two nations can be formed due to cultural conflict. According to an opinion poll of Maegyeong Economy proceeded in April 2021, 76% of the survey respondents ranked China's Northeast Project as a reason for the anti-Chinese sentiment. Song Min-Ju (20, student) said, “It is shocking that China keeps insisting that our culture, such as Hanbok and Taekwondo, belongs to them, and that makes me have antipathy towards Chinese people.” On the contrary, there is growing antipathy toward Koreans in China, asserting that Korea has taken their culture. As you can see from the hostility among the countries, the Northeast Cultural project can lead to hatred toward China and affect its diplomatic position. 

　Lim Sang-Hun (Prof. of China, Soon Chun Hyang University) said, “The reason why culture origin conflicts between Korea and China are on the rise is that cultural impact was getting more significant as the two nation’s status enhanced worldwide. In this delicate condition, both countries need to cool their heads and have rational conversations. The most important thing is resolving misunderstandings through the exchange in various areas, such as the political, academic, nonofficial world, and communicate with each other.”