Mixed K-Pop Idol’s Parents Subject To Harsh Racism

The father of a mixed-race K-Pop idol revealed a difficult story of when he and his wife encountered harsh racism while getting married.

On the 3rd, on actress Sunwoo Yong Nyeo’s YouTube channel, a video titled “From Michelin-Starred Restaurants to Luxury Hotels: 82-Year-Old Sunwoo Yong Nyeo’s Day Trip to Busan (+Male Friends)” was released.

That day, Sunwoo Yong Nyeo met with Matthew Douma, whom she had met six years ago, and visited a temple in Busan.

Matthew Douma is the father of I.O.I‘s Jeon Somi. He is a devout Buddhist who even learned Buddhist martial arts, and his reason for coming to Korea was because of Taekwondo. The production team asked Matthew about his relationship with his wife.

However, Matthew said, “My wife really suffered a lot because of me. We registered our marriage at Seoul City Hall. But the civil servant asked my wife, ‘Why didn’t you marry a Korean man?’” which surprised everyone.

He added, “Isn’t that something that should be on the news? But these things happened a lot in the past,” explaining that it was just an anecdote.

Sunwoo Yong Nyeo expressed anger at this discrimination, saying, “We should just let everyone live their own lives.”