Cultural distortions in China have begun again. When Overwatch, the first-person shooter game(FPS), launched a Korean theme skin to commemorate Lunar New Year's Day, some Chinese netizens complained that it was a friendly attitude toward South Korea.

▲ The magpie Eco and Tiger Hunter Ash

Blizzard Entertainment released two new skins on Feb. 4th, the tiger hunter Ash and the magpie Eco Skin on its game Overwatch to celebrate this year Lunar New Year's Day. This skin can be obtained through the event "White Cow's Year," which starts on Feb. 5th. When the news was announced, Chinese Overwatch users criticized Overwatch for releasing Korean theme skins, pointing out that Overwatch used the expression "The Lunar New Year." One Chinese netizen claimed that Lunar New Year is a copy of the Chinese New year. Moreover, he said many Koreans always claimed that all the Chinese culture is theirs. Many of them are disappointed with Overwatch.

▲ One Chinese user`s opinion

▲ Controversial items of Shining Nikki

Unfortunately, this is not the first case like this. For example, Shining Nikki is a dress-up RPG game that closed its Korean server in Dec. 9. Shining Nikki opened its Korean server on Oct. 29. To celebrate, it released a set of in-game items with Hanbok motives in Korean, Chinese, and Taiwan servers. However, Chinese netizens complained that the Hanbok was copied to the Chinese traditional clothing, and claimed that it was traditional attire for ethnic Koreans in China called Hanfu. Despite the Paper Games posting an apology to Chinese netizens on Weibo. Therefore, Shining Nikki eventually shut down the Korean server.

China's cultural distortions are getting worse. Chinese people insist that not only Lunar New Year and Hanbok, but also kimchi and Madeupjang, a Korean traditional knotwork, are copies of Chinese culture. We need to actively promote our culture abroad and learn about our culture ourselves.

By Park Jiye