Song Jiya: Why "Kanae" angers young Koreans

Her social media attention was "shut down" for wearing a fake brand-name costume. This act, which is hardly a crime in the West, destroyed Song Ji-a's career in South Korea. The scandal, however, isn't just another celebrity's story of falling off the altar; it touches on deeper social anxieties among young South Koreans.

When she appeared on Netflix's hit South Korean dating reality show Single's Inferno, she caught the eye of many.

Song Zhiya, who is in her 20s, is a beauty influencer who is a charming screen girl. As she walked toward the other contestants, the camera zoomed in and the music slowed down.

She soon became the representative of the hipster girl and was very popular with boys.

Song Zhiya received the most appointment invitations, as well as the most invitations for intimate walks. On the show, there was even a candidate with lovesickness who spent hours in the sun just waiting for her to return.

At the end of the show, three of the five men line up on the beach to fight for her heart. She became a hit star.

The social media influencer was already popular in South Korea before the show aired, but her debut on Netflix has sent her fans soaring, reaching 3.7 million on Instagram and nearly 2 million on YouTube.

In the first week of January 2022, her fame peaked, but her image soon fell apart.

Cyber detectives began to crack down on her, accusing her of wearing fake designer clothes. They found a pink Chanel knit she had worn, a little off the color.

Netizens also pointed out various other problems in her closet. Within days, Song had to respond to the allegations.

Ms. Song admitted she had worn counterfeits, but claimed she had no prior knowledge and that she bought the costumes because they looked "good-looking."

This untenable explanation failed to quell the anger.

Netizens dug deeper into her background, carefully studying her previous YouTube videos. They singled out suspicious counterfeits and questioned her if she was the real owner of the luxury apartment where she now lived.

In some Chinese video clips, she says she is learning Mandarin, in which she refers to the Korean kimchi as "kimchi" in Chinese parlance.

Fans accused her of pandering to the Chinese market, with some even calling her a traitor.

Some South Korean TV shows began removing her cameo role. Her celebrity friends, along with other actors and influencers, began deleting photos of her hanging out with Song on her Instagram account.

A week after her first apology, Ms. Song posted a video again saying she "deeply regrets her actions" and calling herself "pathetic."

She emptied her social accounts, leaving only apology posts. She seems to have become a nationally known disgrace.

But for the rest of the world, the response seems overkill. How did a scandal over fake brands turn into a full-blown witch hunt?

Born with a "golden spoon"?

Netizens accused Ms. Song of making a series of mistakes, from "damaging" the efforts of hard-working designers to undermining brand value on her own.

"But in reality, the biggest crime she has been charged with is that she was a liar, pretending to be someone who didn't match her identity." This question is constantly being asked," said Se-Woong Koo, editor of Korean Exposé, a subscription newsletter dedicated to contemporary Korean affairs.

While fans outside of South Korea only see her as a luxury influencer, Koreans see her as something more. Many local fans consider her to be a "golden spoon" child.

"Gold spoon" is derived from an English expression that originally referred to "privileged people born with a silver spoon in their mouths." In South Korea, the "golden spoon" refers to the richest 1% of the country's high-income households.

It is often used to refer to the children of super-wealthy families. Dirt spoons represent the exact opposite end.

"That's exactly what makes her attractive, not because she's a hard-working influencer, or because she's successful on her own and making a lot of money." People say they pay attention to her because they think she's a golden spoon," Mr. Qiu said.

Strictly speaking, Song Zhiya never claimed to be a "golden spoon" child. In an interview in July 2021, she denied the label but admitted she grew up in a relatively generous family.

But as an influencer, she built an image built on a luxurious aesthetic. The public thought she was a rich woman, but she didn't correct them.

"People feel like they've been lied to," said Michelle Ho, an associate professor of women's studies at the National University of Singapore.

Commentators say this backlash against Soong Ji-ya stems from the underlying class tensions in modern Korean society.

This is reflected not only in Korean politics, but also in popular culture. Movies and TV series like Parasite and Squid Game highlight the divide between the "golden spoon" and the "mud spoon."

Like their peers in many developed countries, South Korean millennials are bearing the brunt of rising class inequality. Today, it is almost impossible for a young South Korean to buy a house on the basis of the average salary of a business.

More and more people no longer believe that hard work pays off; instead, many believe that success in life depends on the family born.

When more than 70 percent of secondary school graduates go on to college, education is no longer a great social balancer. Nepotism scandals have also tarnished trust in the university system.

"The situation now is that some people really think that South Korea is not providing social mobility," Mr. Qiu said.

"The only way to live a rich life is to have rich parents or marry someone rich. As a result, many aspire to be the 'golden spoon' generation, and they seem to have it all easily. ”

In other words, there is a bitter fascination with people who can easily live a comfortable life.

When an average young Korean decides to focus on a "rich woman" like Song Ji-ya, their obsession is more than just materialistic worship.

"People live their lives through her, and they yearn for this fantasy," Dr. Ho said.

"So when she was exposed as a liar, their desires were shattered."