Disney’s live-action film Mulan has sparked a boycott of South Korea over a controversy over the Chinese Communist Party’s human rights record. According to Korean media, the boycott movement has been spreading in South Korea, as Mulan became a “sensation” before it was shown.
On September 12, Chosun Ilbo reported under the headline “Liu Yifei’s Mulan film boycott spreads in South Korea,” that the film has been strongly criticized by the U.S. film industry for “helping to legitimize China’s anti-human rights crimes,” and that the boycott has escalated.
According to Seoul Broadcasting (SBS), the controversy over the delayed release of Mulan due to the 2019 coronavirus disease has led to a series of boycotts, especially in Asia, not only because of the end of the film thanking the Chinese Communist Party’s organization in Xinjiang, but also because of the protagonist Liu Yifei’s public support for the Hong Kong police last year.
When Liu Yifei protested against the National Security Law in Hong Kong last year, she openly wrote a letter in support of the Hong Kong police crackdown on protesters, and Korean university students and youth groups held a press conference calling for a boycott of Mulan, the movie starring Liu Yifei, and demanding an apology from Disney.
According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency, Mulan is expected to be released in Korean movie theaters on September 17, and the expectation index of the movie’s introduction on NAVER, Korea’s largest portal site, shows that the majority of netizens are still looking forward to it, but it remains to be seen whether the actual box office will be affected by the boycott movement.
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