▲ The'Fun Next Generation Council', a Korean youth group that led to the establishment of Hanbok Day


Korean high school students in the United States, angry at the compelling claim that hanbok is a traditional Chinese costume, led the establishment of the'Hanbok Day' for the first time abroad.



AAYC, a youth group centered in the eastern United States, announced on the 4th (local time) that Tenafly, New Jersey decided to proclaim October 21 every year as Korean Hanbok Day.



To emphasize that Hanbok is a traditional Korean dress, the word'Korean' was inserted into the official name, and the Hanbok was also marked as'Hanbok' as it was pronounced in Korean.



I chose October 21st to match the date of Hanbok in Korea.



AAYC explains that this is the first time that Hanbok Day has been established outside Korea.



The reason Korean high school students set out to enact Hanbok Day was because they were shocked by the fact that China is making a compelling claim that Kimchi and Hanbok are Chinese culture.



Brian Jeon (18), CEO of AAYC, who encountered the controversy over kimchi and hanbok on YouTube, discussed countermeasures with members online, and agreed to leave the grounds that hanbok is Korean culture.



It is the logic that if the US politicians and local governments enact the'Korean Hanbok Day', it could be used as a basis for refuting China's compelling claims in future generations.



The gathering students sent a petition letter to American politicians and local politicians to enact Hanbok Day, and mayor Mark Jinner Tenafly accepted the students' request for the first time.



The Mayor Jinner nailed Hanbok as a Korean tradition, saying, "The origin of Hanbok can be traced back to Gojoseon, founded by Dangun in 2333 BC."



Mayor Jinner stated that the reason Tenafly City is proclaiming the Day of Hanbok is "to commemorate the strength of the Korean community and the special relationship with the Republic of Korea."



Tenafly City is planning to hold a proclamation ceremony for Hanbok Day on the 6th local time.



AAYC said it will persuade other cities in the United States to enact Hanbok Day, starting with Tenafly.



AAYC is a youth group that was spontaneously formed in 2017 at a high school in New Jersey to tackle racial discrimination by teachers against Korean students.



AAYC's main goal is to increase the political power of Koreans in the United States, but recently, when Google marked the origin of kimchi as China, it sent a complaint email to a group to correct the country of origin in less than an hour.



(Photo = Provided by the Next-Generation Council, Yonhap News)