Hollywood and the strange case of the Korean Ethio-Masquerade: Koreans as substitute Chinese and perpetual Japanese

Abstract

The success of Hallyu, the South Korean culture wave, resulted in a number of Hollywood invitations for South Korean actors to star in a number of films. However, these Korean actors were required to play Asian roles that were specifically not Korea but rather as substitute Chinese or Japanese characters in a bid to use their popularity in Asia to enhance the box office profitability of these films. This presupposed box office success in South Korea but it did not do much to advance these star's status in the United States.