South Korea’s first black model faces widespread racism

In this photo taken on July 7, 2017, South Korean model Han Hyun-Min (right) takes part in a photo shoot at a studio in Seoul. -AFP

SEOUL: Teenage male model Han Hyun-Min’s long legs and powerful strut have made him a rising star on South Korean catwalks, but his agent knew there would be a problem in the ethnically homogenous country: he is half black.

Han, 16, has a Nigerian father in a society where racial discrimination is widespread and people of mixed race are commonly referred to as “mongrels”.