Online in South Korea, however, the reaction to Terajima’s remark has been so bad that there’s even concern that the backlash could cause the game to be cancelled in South Korea, where the games have a diehard following. Note that not everyone online in South Korea was attacking the actor, especially those Yakuza fans who didn’t want the game banned.

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On popular Korean bulletin board Ruliweb (via tipster Sang), some comments include:

“Some who are defending this are saying the word Chousenjin is talking about North Korea and this is a misunderstanding and what not, but it’s not just the word. This is an official formal event to announce the game where Korean Japanese are present, and the situation where they are being mentioned and saying don’t shoot missiles is ridiculous. Even if it was a domestic [South Korean] game, they’ll still be blasted regardless of what word was used. If you said, ‘I am saying this because there are Japanese people here. Please solve the Comfort Women and Dokdo issue’, it’ll have major backlash.”

“To the people who are trying to defend this, I’ll give you this example:

At the The Howling premier event (Korean movie with a Japanese actor in it)

Korean actor: There is a Japanese person in the cast and I hope nuclear fallout doesn’t blow over here lol”

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A top comment on website Inven:

“Right, so some of the people on stage are jjokbari [Korean slur for Japanese] so I’d like to ask nuclear fallout to not blow here from fuckin’ Japan. Thank you.”

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A top comment on Naver Sports:

“I can understand how some people want to defend the situation because they think the game might get cancelled but don’t defend his comment. What’s not is not. I am not going to pressure you to not buy it but you have to be able to say what’s not right is not right.

Anyway, I am surprised that such an uneducated person is a voice actor.”

According to Gamemeca (via tipster Sang), a Sega Korea rep is quoted as saying, “We’ve noted the severity of the situation and relayed the domestic public opinion to the HQ. It seems like there will be a response from the HQ to ensure that the said comment won’t affect the domestic release.”

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Gametoca reports that Sega Korea said, “We’ve relayed Korean players’ feedback regarding the comment and their demand for an apology to HQ.”


Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.