"I've been labeled as the 'Deer Pepper Terrorist' and am being cursed at by tens of thousands of people in Japan."
A university student in his 20s recently returned to Korea on February 6 after a family trip to Japan with his father and cousin. Speaking with Kookmin Ilbo, he recounted how he unexpectedly became the target of online hate in Japan. The incident began on February 3 when he visited Nara Park, a famous tourist spot in Japan known for its freely roaming deer.
While the student was taking commemorative photos with his family, a deer suddenly approached and grabbed the souvenir bag he was holding. The bag contained receipts and tourist pamphlets, which spilled onto the ground as the deer bit into it.
That was when the trouble began. Just as the student managed to retrieve the bag from the deer, a Japanese man ran over, shouting and aggressively pointing a camera at him. The Korean university student tried to explain, saying, "The deer stole my bag. I didn’t give it anything on purpose." The man nodded and walked away after seemingly understanding the situation.
However, shortly after, the student found himself falsely accused online as a "deer pepper terrorist." The man who had confronted him turned out to be Hezuma Ryu, a controversial YouTuber known for creating disruptive content in the past. He posted a picture of the student’s face on X (formerly Twitter), labeling him an "animal abuser."
Hezuma Ryu claimed that the student had force-fed a deer a Cheongyang chili pepper, causing it to vomit, foam at the mouth, convulse, and collapse. He even threatened the student, saying, "Never come to this park again. I will have you arrested." Alongside his accusations, he uploaded a photo showing what appeared to be a chili pepper on the ground near a deer's hooves.
The post quickly went viral, garnering over 27,000 likes and 5 million views on X. A flood of Anti-Korean xenophobic comments followed: "Are you torturing the deer because you hate Japanese people?" "Chinese and Koreans should be banned from entering the park," and "Let's make this Korean eat a chili pepper himself."
The Japanese media outlet Share News Japan further fueled the outrage, reporting, "A Korean tourist is under fire for allegedly feeding a chili pepper to a deer. If true, this is an act of abuse and could be considered a violation of animal protection laws."
After facing backlash for spreading false information, the media outlet and Hezuma Ryu deleted their respective posts. The Korean student, however, remains devastated. He shared, "I have no idea where the chili pepper accusation even came from. The area I was in had dirt ground, but the alleged photo shows a chili pepper on asphalt. The image was fabricated. Also, chili peppers aren’t even allowed to be brought into Japan."
What was meant to be a joyful trip quickly turned into a nightmare. With his face exposed online, the student was terrified that someone might recognize him. For the rest of his trip, he stayed inside his accommodation, only going outside while wearing a mask. Even back in Korea, online communities continue to spread Hezuma Ryu’s false accusations.
The student lamented, "I feel like I can’t even face people anymore. Whenever I sense people looking at me, I feel like they’re talking about me. I never imagined a simple family trip could turn into such a painful experience because of a fabricated story."
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