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David D. Lee

At the bustling Han Market in central Da Nang, two Vietnamese vendors tease a middle-aged South Korean tourist by calling him harabeoji, or “grandfather” in Korean.
“I’m offended!” he jokes.
The women grab his arms and laugh. “It’s OK, it’s OK.”
The man had returned to their stall after buying 200,000 dong (US$7.60) worth of macadamia nuts the day before. It is a small moment of banter, repeated dozens of times a day in a city that many people from South Korea jokingly call their own unofficial seaside province.
Outside the market, storefronts display Korean-language signs. K-pop drifts from restaurants and massage parlours. South Korean tourists crowd the streets in the city centre.

In recent years, visitors have nicknamed the city “Gyeonggi province of Da Nang”, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the densely populated region surrounding Seoul.
South Koreans are now the second-largest group of foreign visitors to Vietnam, and Da Nang is one of their favourite destinations. But alongside the economic boom and cultural exchange, there are murmurs of friction.
“We like South Koreans, but they often seem very angry,” a Han Market vendor who gave her name as Kieu said. “I really don’t know why. They just don’t seem happy many times.”
Da Nang has become a vivid microcosm of South Korea’s deepening presence in Southeast Asia – fuelled by tourism, investment and the global pull of K-culture. But encounters like those at Han Market hint at a more complicated relationship – one in which admiration for Korean culture sometimes sits alongside resentment over perceived attitudes and behaviour.
Warmth and unease
A few streets away at a restaurant in An Thuong Night Market, Van Chin, a 28-year-old waiter, says South Koreans are among the eatery’s most loyal customers.
“I even have a South Korean friend who I talk to every day, and we go for coffee every morning,” he said. “I’ve been to Seoul, and I think there are a lot of South Koreans who come here because we share cultures that are similar to each other in many ways.”
Yet he acknowledges tensions. “Older South Koreans, especially, are rude to us many times,” he said. “And the men are all under the impression that Vietnamese women are into them.”

In the city’s “Korean sector”, one jewellery store worker, who did not want to be named, said about 70 per cent of customers were South Korean. She declined to criticise her main clientele.
“I still want to travel to Seoul one day,” she said. “I want to see cherry blossoms in the spring.”
That duality – admiration and irritation – reflects a broader dynamic shaping ties between South Korea and Southeast Asia.
Earlier this year, the social media hashtag #SEAbling gained traction after a scuffle at a K-pop concert in Malaysia. Internet users from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam accused some South Korean fans of mocking Southeast Asians. What began as a dispute among fans evolved into a wider conversation about perceived condescension and cultural arrogance.
Such tensions are “bound to erupt eventually”, according to Kim Eje, a geography professor at Gyeongin National University of Education.
“Despite being our closest neighbours – and despite the significant economic and cultural exchanges we have with the region, Southeast Asia tends to be consumed merely as a tourist destination,” she said.
“Seen only as an export market or regarded as a region that needs South Korea’s aid, there are few opportunities for the public to properly learn about or understand what Southeast Asia truly is.”
Kim, who has studied the region for three decades, noted that “only about 1 per cent” of world geography education in South Korea was devoted to Southeast Asia.
“Because of this, when people think of Southeast Asia, they reduce it to cliches – pho for Vietnam, Bali as a tourist destination – and so on. There is a strong tendency to emphasise a narrow, orientalist perspective on the region.”
Daniel Ryu moved to Da Nang two years ago after meeting a Vietnamese woman at Han Market. The couple are now waiting for their marriage licence.
“It’s very unfortunate to see many South Koreans think that they’re above everything else when they are here,” said Ryu, who runs a stall in the marketplace.
“Local vendors frequently use honorific Korean when speaking to South Korean visitors. Yet some South Koreans respond in informal language, creating an imbalance that can come across as condescending.”
We really shouldn’t jump to conclusions about a foreign country we don’t really know
Daniel Ryu, Korean expatriate in Vietnam
He said his staff rarely confronted customers directly. “They’ll say things like ‘South Koreans are fools’ or ‘they’re impossible’ when they are out of hearing,” he added.
Last year, a viral video of two South Korean women assaulting two Vietnamese women at a photo booth in Hanoi fuelled resentment towards rude tourists. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency described the women as a “national shame”. One was later fired from her job.
While Da Nang attracts families, it also draws large groups of men.
“If you experience the nightlife culture here, you’ll see how South Korean men start to think they’re kings at bars and karaoke establishments,” Ryu said. “But we really shouldn’t jump to conclusions about a foreign country we don’t really know.”
Economic marriage
Beyond tourism, the relationship is deeply economic.
Vietnam’s gross domestic product reached US$514 billion last year, growing by 8 per cent. South Korea is now the country’s largest foreign direct investor, with cumulative investments of US$92 billion as of 2024, according to the US think tank Korea Economic Institute.
Samsung alone has invested US$22 billion and employs about 112,000 workers in Vietnam. Roughly half of Samsung’s global mobile phone production now takes place there. LG and other South Korean firms have also expanded research and manufacturing operations in the country.
The trade flows are reciprocal. In 2023, South Korea was Vietnam’s third-largest export market, accounting for 6.6 per cent of total exports. Just last month, South Korea’s trade ministry reported that Vietnamese exports to the country reached US$31.8 billion last year, while US$62.8 billion worth of South Korean exports arrived in Vietnam.


At the same time, Vietnamese labourers have become integral to South Korea’s shrinking workforce. The 2025 Immigrant Residence and Employment Survey recorded 270,000 Vietnamese living in South Korea, the second-largest foreign community after Chinese nationals. Nearly 45 per cent of foreign residents work in manufacturing and mining.
Mason Richey, a professor of international politics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said Southeast Asia had become a “growing regional market” that helped South Korea diversify its economic partnerships.
“South Korea’s interest in Southeast Asia is about diversification, notably economically,” he said. “The region allows Seoul to diversify and mitigate some overreliance on China and the US. Southeast Asia is also an important transit route for cargo, and many countries in the region have avid fans of K-culture.”
Admiration and discrimination
Despite occasional hostility, Seoul remains a coveted destination for Vietnamese travellers. In 2024, more than 511,000 Vietnamese visited South Korea – a 21.7 per cent increase year on year – ranking second in Southeast Asia after the Philippines.
“The young people here genuinely love Korean culture,” Ryu said. “They learn Korean, try hard to understand the culture, and even learn Korean songs.”
He added that employees sometimes asked to take photos with South Korean visitors to post on social media. “It’s their way of bragging to say that ‘I met a South Korean today’.”
But admiration can sit uneasily beside discrimination.
The culture ministry’s 2025 Survey on Korean Attitudes and Values found that 44 per cent of foreign residents in South Korea had experienced discrimination, with 53 per cent citing their country of origin as the reason. Nearly eight in 10 did not lodge complaints, believing it would not lead to change.

“Southeast Asian tourists who simply visit South Korea often leave with a good impression. But people who stay longer and actually live in the country sometimes experience hurt due to prejudices that some South Koreans hold towards their countries,” geography professor Kim said.
“I believe we urgently need a broad re-education effort – one that makes people aware of just how vast Southeast Asia is, how diverse it is, and how strategically important it is.
“We should be highlighting the region’s strengths, whether cultural, economic, diplomatic, political, or its flexibility and dynamism.”
Back at Han Market, the laughter continues as vendors and tourists bargain in a mix of Vietnamese and Korean.
“I won’t buy it if it’s expensive,” shouts one customer, prompting playful protests from the stall worker who insists the price is already discounted.
The haggling is familiar – half theatre, half transaction. But the question is whether familiarity will deepen into understanding or remain just another bargain struck at the market.


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In Vietnam’s Da Nang, South Korean tourism boom meets growing resentment

A couple runs along the seafront next to the beach in Da Nang, central Vietnam, last year. Photo: AFP

South Korean tourists shop at Da Nang’s popular Han Market in Vietnam. Photo: David D. Lee

Van Chin, 28, works at a restaurant in a popular night market in Da Nang, Vietnam, where many of his customers are South Korean. Photo: David D. Lee

People buy seafood from local fishermen in Da Nang. Photo: Shutterstock

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The coastal city has become a hub for Korean tourists and businesses, but workers and residents say the boom has also exposed frictions


The coastal city has become a hub for Korean tourists and businesses, but workers and residents say the boom has also exposed frictions.


In Vietnam’s Da Nang, South Korean tourism boom meets growing resentment

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The coastal city has become a hub for Korean tourists and businesses, but workers and residents say the boom has also exposed frictions

The coastal city has become a hub for Korean tourists and businesses, but workers and residents say the boom has also exposed frictions