South Koreans Outraged By US Ambassador’s Mustache And Part-Japanese Heritage

The South Korean government, facing constant threats from its hostile nuclear neighbor to the north, has somehow found the time to condemn the U.S. ambassador to Seoul – for having the temerity to wear a mustache.

Harry Harris, 63, a retired navy admiral, first became the ambassador in June 2018, but his facial follicles have angered Koreans who claim his mustache is reminiscent of Japanese military leaders who brutally ruled Korea from 1910 to 1945. (All eight Japanese governors-general over that period had mustaches.)

Other prominent Imperial Japanese Army leaders such as Hideki Tojo, Sadao Araki and Shunroku Hata all wore the same kind of mustache as Harris currently sports.

Relations between the U.S. and South Korea has hit some road bumps recently.

President Donald Trump has already angered Koreans by insisting they pay $5 billion (up from $900 million) for hosting some 28,500 U.S. soldiers on their soil.

Late last year, 19 Korean students were arrested after they tried to break through the walls protecting Harris’s official residence to protest his support of Trump’s demand that Seoul pay more for the U.S. military presence.

Harris, born in Japan to an American Navy officer and a Japanese mother, said he thinks Koreans are criticizing him over his ethnic origins.

"My mustache, for some reason, has become a point of some fascination here," he said. "I have been criticized in the media here, especially in social media, because of my ethnic background, because I am a Japanese-American."

Harris, who was clean-shaven for most of his four decade-long naval career, told the Korea Times he had decided to grow the mustache to celebrate his new career as a diplomat.

"I didn't grow a mustache because of my Japanese heritage, because of the independence movement of Korea or even because of my dad. I grew it because I could and I thought I would and I did," he said. "I couldn't grow taller, I couldn't grow hair on top of my head, but I could grow it on front of my head and so I did that. Nothing more nefarious than that, I wanted to have a change.”

Last month, the Korea Times described Harris as “an unwanted nominee to Australia” and also said that Harris' mustache "has become associated with the latest U.S. image of being disrespectful and even coercive toward Korea.”

Harris has defended himself and the motivations behind his job.

"I am who I am,” he said. “All I can say is that every decision I make is based on the fact that I'm [the] American ambassador to Korea, not the Japanese-American ambassador to Korea.”

When asked if he would consider shaving off his mustache, Harris replied: "I'm not sure -- you would have to convince me that somehow the mustache is viewed in a way that hurts our relationship."

Harris’ part-Japanese heritage rankles Koreans with long memories.

Relations between Seoul and Tokyo – never the warmest – worsened in November 2018, when a South Korean court ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation to Koreans who endured forced labor during World War Two.

In August 2019, Japan said it would remove South Korea's favored trade partner status.

"I understand the historical animosity that exists between both of the countries but I'm not the Japanese American ambassador to Korea, I'm the American ambassador to Korea," Harris said. "And to take that history and put it on me simply because of an accident of birth I think is a mistake."

A Korean blogger wrote: "Harris's mother is Japanese. ​ It feels like that alone is enough for us to dislike him ​ . Which side will he choose if he is asked to choose between South Korea and Japan?"