The Thai online community is heatedly debating the appropriateness of a member of Super Junior-M, or SJ-M, removing the arm of a noted TV3 anchor from his friend’s shoulder.
The 44-second-long YouTube clip was captured during an interview with the boy band on the famous weekend news talk program Ruang Lao Sao-Arthit, hosted by the 46-year-old Sorayuth Suthasanachinda. Comprising members of both Chinese and Korean origin, SJ-M is the sub-group of Super Junior and was formed in order to penetrate the Chinese entertainment market.
Sitting first from the left, Sorayuth wrapped his arm around the shoulder of Lee Sung-Min, who was seated next to him. Henry Lau, an SJ-M member of Chinese descent, subsequently grabbed Sorayuth’s arm and removed it from the back of his friend’s shoulder, giving him a disapproving hand-waving sign to boot.
Uploaded by YouTube user Noey Raklok, the clip garnered over 200,000 views in two days. It quickly prompted intense argument about the nature of Korean culture on various online forums as well as on YouTube comment sections. SJ-M fans labelled Sorayuth’s touching as something that would be deemed inappropriate in Korea and only be done amongst close friends. Others felt that Henry should not have insulted Sorayuth, who is widely viewed as a respectable man here in Thailand, by physically forcing his arm off during the live show.
“In the Korean culture, putting an arm around one’s shoulder is not preferable,” said Member No.724456 in a Pantip forum. “Sung-Min is not close with Sorayuth. And Henry kept his arm off because Sung-Min doesn’t like it. He should have done some research”
“Why do we need to study the singer’s preference?” replied MosTraL. “He is not that important. In contrast, it’s his duty to study our culture in order to grow more in popularity in Thailand. With this manner, he will be the one who is at disadvantage.”
In spite of cultural and linguistic differences, Korean music remains highly popular both in Thailand and throughout Asia.
Check out the clip below and decide for yourself.
