Filipino Actor in Korea Christian Lagahit Describes How He Was Discriminated in Korea

 He was known as Player 276 in the hit series Squid Game and has appeared in countless Korean dramas and movies, Christian Lagahit. Recently, he appeared in the YouTube show, Asian Boss and he recalls the worst discrimination experience he ever had in South Korea.

It happened on a small village bus filled with people. According to him, it was the last trip and it can only accommodate a few people. He was sitting at the back and other people were already standing.

Then he noticed a lady of about 50, staring at him. He did not mind at first thinking she was just looking at the boys who were in front of him. A few minutes pass, and he was surprised when he felt something thrown at his face. The lady threw a cabbage straight on his face.

His glasses fell on the floor because of the impact. It broke but he still had to use them as he is farsighted. 

He asked the lady why she did what she did. What was most painful for him was that people were there, they saw what happened, but they did not pay any attention to him, no one helped him at all.

The lady who threw the cabbage did not say anything. Someone else explained why she probably threw the vegetable at him. He said that the lady wants him to step out of the bus because she believes that foreigners cannot use the bus and it is only for Koreans. When he defended himself, she just said "you have to go out".

This made him so sad. It is not even the fact that someone threw cabbage at him but the reality that no one inside that small bus helped him, that everyone was pretending that they did not notice anything wrong with what happened.

It did not stop there. The same lady even attacked him verbally. Before stepping out of the bus she said "All foreigners here in Korea are bad people".

Christian calls this type of discrimination in Korea as stereotyping.

But Christian Lagahit, a fellow Filipino who is also a teacher in South Korea, has appeared in the dramas Crash Landing on You, The King:Eternal Monarch, Itaewon Class, Her Private Life, My ID is Gangnam Beauty and The Devil Judge among others. He has also been in The Negotiation, Space Sweeper and of course Squid Game.

We might think that he is living the dream life. But there are other OFWs who are not as lucky.  South Korea may be the dream land for us KDrama fans, but let us remember that stereotyping and discrimination also exist in this part of the world, as Christian has experienced.

But also, this should not stop us from visiting this country. It is a beautiful place and it will enrich our cultural and KDrama experience. We might even meet other Filipinos in KDramas and other actors and actresses that we admire.