'This oppa accused us of taking a picture of him': Singaporean on holiday says he was verbally abused outside Seoul mosque
While on holiday in South Korea, this Singaporean wanted to film a video to highlight the only mosque in Seoul.
But not long after he began recording, a local walked up to TikTok user Shallummaswandi and verbally abused him there.
"What are you looking at and why are you filming?" The man could be heard shouting in Korean outside Seoul Central Mosque.
[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@shallummaswandi/video/7179958369682263297?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1[/embed]
In another video shared on the same day (Dec 23), it showed Shallummaswandi standing in front of the camera while an argument was heating up behind.
"This f**** was making fault with me," the Singaporean said, adding that several locals came to his rescue.
Shallummaswandi's TikTok videos had garnered more than 480,000 views.
In the comments, several netizens were concerned for his safety.
"Are you okay?" A netizen asked, while Shallummaswandi replied that he is.
Other netizens also wondered if such an incident of harassment is prevalent in South Korea.
"Is it normal in Korea?" A netizen quipped, while Shallummaswandi replied that he can't judge by just one incident.
When another netizen lamented "losing his appetite to go to Korea" in the comments, Shallummaswandi replied: "Explore the world, just take safety precautions."
In a subsequent TikTok video shared on Monday (Dec 26), Shallummaswandi shared that he wanted to film the mosque after having lunch at a restaurant with his cousin nearby.
The man said: "This oppa (A Korean term of endearment for older men) purposely walked in, started shouting and accused us of taking a picture of him.
"He was getting louder and louder. That was when another local guy came in to stop the quarrel, but it became worse."
[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@shallummaswandi/video/7181008987469417730?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1[/embed]
The police were called in to deal with this "mentally unsound" harasser, who is known to "trigger" foreigners in the area, Shallummaswandi shared.
Adding that he was questioned by the cops, the tourist said: "Luckily for [having] that video, it was evidence for me to show to the police that we did not do anything wrong and he was the aggressor."
In the three-minute video, the Singaporean also downplayed concerns that South Korea might be a racist country.
"It's not right to judge the whole entire country or region just on this one-off case," he said, adding that acts of racism happen everywhere.
AsiaOne has contacted Shallummaswandi for more information.
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