Updated at: 1039 PST, Wednesday, November 24, 2010
 TAIPEI: Organisers of a Taiwanese film festival said South Korean pop groups will not be invited to perform amid anti-Korean sentiments on the island over a taekwondo row.
"We were considering inviting South Korean groups to perform but we decided to drop the idea as the atmosphere is wrong," Justin Chou, an organiser of the Asia Pacific Film Festival, told reporters.
South Korean pop groups, which have huge following in Taiwan, have frequently been invited to perform for the island's various entertainment awards and events.
But an official's decision last week to disqualify taekwondo star Yang Shu-chun for trying to wear extra scoring sensors in her socks at the Asian Games in southern China has set off a wave of anti-Korean ire in Taiwan.
Taekwondo events at the Games are held under the jurisdiction of the Seoul-based Asian Taekwondo Union (ATU), which was reported at the weekend to have apologised to Yang and the Taiwan union for branding her a cheat.
However, Yang's disqualification has now been referred the World Taekwondo Federation, the Korean martial art's international governing body, which is also based in Seoul.
In Taiwan, hackers launched cyber-attacks on the ATU as angry fans boycotted South Korean products. Some restaurants and shops even posted signs saying "Koreans are not welcome."
The island's education minister on Tuesday urged restraint as security was enhanced at a South Korean school in Taipei which was egg-washed several times in the past few days.
"I am here to express my concerns. I hope Taiwan will provide a safe learning environment to all students. The (South Korean) students are innocent," said Wu Ching-ji after visiting the school.
Yang, who returned to Taiwan late Monday to receive a hero's welcome, has also called for calm over the controversy.
World taekwondo chiefs said a full inquiry would be held into the incident, although a final decision would only be made once the Games conclude on November 27. |
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