Naver Webtoon series Get Schooled has been in hot waters after featuring a racist portrayal of multiethnic characters and racial remarks in its recent chapter. Due to the backlash, the series was then canceled and removed from the platform’s US service. And as expected, fans can’t help but share their reaction to the sudden cancellation. Does this mean the Get Schooled webtoon is canceled worldwide?
Content Warning: Mentions of racism.
Is Get Schooled Webtoon Canceled Worldwide?
Naver Webtoon announced, via Korea Herald, that it had discontinued the series in the US, while its English edition is now unavailable. Alternatively, the recent chapter in question has already been deleted from its Korean platform, and the webtoon series is suspended indefinitely.
“The racist content has been removed from our platform. The series has been canceled and will not be returning in the US. It has also been suspended indefinitely from the Korean platform while we conduct an internal review,” the largest comics platform said.
It also claimed that the controversial chapter should have never been published and apologized to everyone who had seen it. “Racism or racist content have no place on WEBTOON,” the company stressed.
What is the Get Schooled Webtoon Controversy About?
The controversial Get Schooled chapter involved its most recent installment, Chapter 125, set in a rural school in Korea. Here, one character, who calls himself the only “pure” Korean in his class, is bullied and a victim of racism by another student, Lee Muk Hyun, who comes from a multicultural family.
Things even turn for the worse with the arrival of a new Korean-American teacher, Daniel Hyun, who also falls victim to the said bully after calling him a “yellow m*nkey,” a derogatory phrase often used against Asians. In return, the instructor confronts the student and uses racial slurs against Black people.
This chapter alone has been filled with several racial slurs that make it problematic. In one scene, the Korean equivalent of the N-word is even used to address Lee Muk Hyun.
Fans React to Get Schooled Webtoon Cancellation
With the surprising turn of events in Get Schooled, fans have filled the X (formerly Twitter) world with their reaction to the series turning into a racist piece. User @nwvdinmv claimed that despite being one of his favorite webtoons, its author, Yongtak Chae, suddenly decided to be a “racist p*g.” He couldn’t help but ask how Koreans become the minority in their own country. “Dude was just looking for a way to be racist.”
Another user, @Bacchus13, revealed he was just about to return to reading Get Schooled when the writer chose to add a new teacher who would call a Black student with an N-word in a class full of mixed kids. @mxgpoid then asked how a Black person living in a Korean country became a perpetrator of racism. “If you’re gonna do something, be realistic.”
Get Schooled Webtoon Creators Apologized Over Racism Controversy
Get Schooled webtoon creators Yongtak Chae and Garam Han have now apologized for the racism controversy their recent chapter faces, portraying people of color as bullies and featuring racial slurs. They said they didn’t mean to offend anyone with their work and only wanted to show the discrimination the multicultural and immigrant families faced in South Korea.
The two believe these issues have become prevalent in the country and society. Hence, they want to use Get Schooled to highlight these challenges others are probably facing daily.
“Get Schooled often starts off episodes in a manner that portrays hatred, but ultimately, the story aims to impart the message to stop such hatred,” their statement read in a post on Yongtak Chae’s Instagram Story. “But there is no excuse for the imagery and language used in this episode. All we can do now is apologize and promise to do better. We’ll be spending time to learn more about past and present racial discrimination and the history of racist representations. We can and will do better.”
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