Video of Chinese women dancing on Jeju Island attracts criticism online
Published: 17 Sep. 2025, 08:59
![A group of women in traditional Chinese dress dance near Dongam Temple at Seongsan Ilchulbong on Jeju Island in this screenshot from a video footage uploaded to an online community. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/09/17/a88d8668-dca2-4b3a-89ae-173d3d567a27.jpg)
A group of women in traditional Chinese dress dance near Dongam Temple at Seongsan Ilchulbong on Jeju Island in this screenshot from a video footage uploaded to an online community. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
A video showing a group of women in traditional Chinese dress dancing near Dongam Temple at Seongsan Ilchulbong on Jeju Island has stirred controversy on social media.
On Tuesday, a video titled “Chinese group dancing at Seongsan Ilchulbong” was posted on an online forum.
The footage shows more than 10 women dressed in qipao, a traditional Chinese garment, standing in two lines and dancing to Chinese music with the temple and Unesco-listed peak in the background. Two men holding a red banner with the word “art troupe” printed in Chinese characters appear behind the group.
Reactions online have been sharply divided. Some commenters criticized the performance, saying, “Why act like this in another country?” and “Blasting music at a major tourist site is bad manners.”
Others defended the dancers. “It’s not like practicing taekwondo abroad is forbidden — what’s wrong with performing traditional dance?” one user wrote.
“It seems to be a trend in China these days,” another commented. “As long as they’re not bothering anyone, what’s the problem?”
Jeju Island welcomed 1.9 million foreign tourists last year, cementing its status as a global travel destination. Chinese nationals accounted for around 60 percent of those visitors.
A total of 1.9 million foreign tourists visited the island in 2024. Of them, approximately 1.3 million — or 68.4 percent — were Chinese, according to the Jeju Tourism Association.
Located at the eastern tip of Jeju, Seongsan Ilchulbong is a tuff cone formed by a volcanic eruption beneath the sea approximately 5,000 years ago. It was designated as a Unesco Natural World Heritage site in 2007.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY SHIN HYE-YEON [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)