During an interview, THIS 3rd-gen idol revealed experiencing racism while in South Korea for being a Southeast Asian.
On August 16, the YouTube channel 1 MILLION Dance Studio unveiled the Episode 6 of Lia Kim's web program, "Liality Show." Here, the top dancer-choreographer introduced GOT7 BamBam as its guest and talked about various topics, including his trainee and debut days.
While on the topic, the idol also confessed the hateful, racist comments he received after debuting as a foreign member of a K-pop idol group.
For context, BamBam moved from Thailand to Korea in 2010 to pursue his dream of becoming an idol. At the time, most idols came from East Asia and only a few Southeast Asians were able to make it into a debut group.
The idol attested that the situation was okay when he was a JYP Entertainment trainee since he was also training with other foreigners.
"It wasn't tough when I was a trainee. I lived with foreigners during that time, too. Some members from GOT7 were there, too. So we had so much fun. And the staff gave me a lot of attention and love, too.
To be honest, I got good feedback in evaluations we had every month and with my attitude, grades, etc., I debuted with confidence. But once we debuted, things didn't go as I thought. That was the hardest time."
Once BamBam was introduced as GOT7, he became the target of racism from Koreans, mocking his appearance and Southeast Asian roots.
During his time, 2PM Nichkhun was the first idol from Thailand who debuted in the music scene. But contrary to the love his senior received, BamBam had a hard time being accepted in the country.
"People were leaving bad comments, too. I was too young back then. My skin tone wasn't this bright either. I had round cheeks and my voice, too. People would say, 'If he wasn't in the group, GOT7 would be a complete picture.' 'Get rid of that XX Southeast Asian,' things like that, and I was really hurt."
It was truly intense that the male idol himself felt the huge difference in fans' treatment when the group was abroad versus in Korea.
"When we performed abroad, to be honest, a lot of my fans came to see me. But when I do concert in Korea, not many people come to see me. It was like that."
Fortunately, things eventually changed and after continuing his path as a solo artist, he met the loyal supporters that gave him love and support.
"But rather, when I started becoming a solo artist, from some point, Korean people started acknowledging me. It might be thanks to being on entertainment shows. Thanks to that, I got more support as an artist, too."
BamBam concluded:
"I am doing great these days. I would say those 10 years were quite tough until people started acknowledging me."
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Written by Eunice Dela Cruz
