“Hope you’ll be happy in China” for “Fubao to Seoul Grand Park”… virtually rejected

On the 8th, a post asking for paid rental of Fubao appeared on ‘Sangsangdaero Seoul’
The city of Seoul responded as the number of likes for the post exceeded 50.
Seoul City: “We hope that Fu Bao adapts well and lives happily in China.”

The Seoul Metropolitan Government actually announced its refusal to respond to a civil petition requesting to bring the giant panda Fubao to Seoul Grand Park.

According to the JoongAng Ilbo on the 17th, the Animal Planning Department of the Seoul Metropolitan Government responded to a citizen’s suggestion titled “Please consider allowing the panda Fubao, who was returned to China, to be viewed at Seoul National University Park” on the citizen participation platform ‘Sangsangdaero Seoul’ on the 15th, saying, “Seoul Grand Park.” “I fully sympathize with the heartache of many citizens as Fubao, who was loved so much in Korea, returns to China,” he said. “But when I think about it one more time from Fubao’s perspective, I think the environment in China that Fubao will live in in the future is very important.” “I hope you adapt well and live happily,” he said.

The proposal to which Seoul City responded was posted by a citizen on ‘Seoul as I Imagined’ on the 8th. Citizen A said, “We will rent the panda Fubao returned to China for a fee with donations from Seoul citizens and the Seoul city budget so that it can be viewed at Seoul Grand Park. “We ask for your consideration so that Chinese visitors can meet Fubao, a symbol of Korea-China friendship,” he wrote. As of today, the post received 1,119 likes and 361 dislikes, and the responsible department of Seoul City is required to respond to posts that receive more than 50 likes in a month. In response, the city of Seoul responded to the post.

On the 13th, a reaction opposing the above article appeared. On this day, a post was posted on ‘Sangsangro Seoul’ saying, “Please deport to China the people who brought Fubao with taxpayers’ money.” Citizen B said, “Please send those who want to bring Fubao with taxes to China. “Instead of wasting taxpayers’ money, I think we should deport them to China.” The article said, “I agree. The country’s economy is struggling, so they ask us to spend our taxes on something like this. “They seem to be so sentimental that they can’t think about reality.”, “Originally, all pandas are owned by China. The pandas returned to China when it was time to mate, so it seems crazy to ask them to spend tax money to send them back to our country.” “We have to give billions of dollars a year to China, so why are we paying them with taxes?” People who want to see it can go and pay money to see it. Opinions such as “Immigrate to China” were expressed. As of this afternoon, this post had 38 likes and 21 dislikes.

Citizen C wrote in an article titled “Fubao’s national tax-rental opposition”, “Fubao has animal rights to mate and enjoy a wide environment, so bringing them back to Korea and putting them on display is animal abuse.” Who will cover the hundreds of millions of rent and panda management fees that must be paid to China every year? The petition to pay for it with taxpayers’ money is irrational. “The desire and narcissistic delusion to simply see it in front of my eyes must remain just a delusion,” he pointed out.

The hope that Fubao can be brought back to Korea is at the core of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s response and the pros and cons, but the possibility of Fubao coming back to Korea is realistically low. The biggest reasons are the relationship with the Chinese government, which carries out ‘panda diplomacy’, and the budget incurred when bringing back Fubao.

Regarding this, an official at Seoul Grand Park explained, “First of all, the Chinese government must allow rental, and even if allowed, the budget will be significant,” adding, “Since Seoul Grand Park is not a private enterprise like Everland, it will not be easy to secure the budget.”

Fu Bao was born on July 20, 2020, to Ai Bao and Le Bao, a panda sent by Chinese President Xi Jinping as a symbol of Korea-China friendship in March 2016. She is called ‘Princess Fu’ and ‘Mr. received a lot of love The first giant panda born in Korea returned to China on the 3rd, 1354 days after birth. This is in accordance with the Giant Panda Conservation and Research Agreement, which requires giant pandas born outside of China to be moved to China before 48 months of age.

CCTV footage from a Chinese national park released after Fubao returned to China showed him rolling over and over again. Accordingly, some domestic netizens were worried, saying, “Isn’t Fu Bao showing abnormal behavior because he can’t adapt to the new environment?” Regarding this, on the 11th, zookeeper Kang Cheol-won, known as “Grandpa Fu Bao,” said on Everland’s YouTube channel, “It’s not behavior to worry about.” “It seems that Fu Bao rolls over to adapt to the new environment when it wants to interact with its keepers or wants something,” he said. “I have seen rolling around a lot in Korea as well.” “I have a tendency to roll over in various situations, including when I’m in a good mood, when I’m in a bad mood, and when I have demands,” he said.

China is carrying out ‘panda diplomacy’ by sending pandas to develop relations with countries with which it has established diplomatic relations. It is said that ‘panda diplomacy’ was first practiced during the Tang Dynasty in the 7th century. Modern ‘panda diplomacy’ began in 1941 when Song Meiling, the wife of Chiang Kai-shek, then president of the Nationalist government of the Republic of China, gifted a pair of pandas to the United States as a token of gratitude for support for the Sino-Japanese war. When the Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949, it banned the export of pandas overseas for a while. Then, in 1972, former U.S. President Richard Nixon visited China, establishing diplomatic ties between the U.S. and China, and then Chairman Mao Zedong gifted two pandas to the U.S. as a symbol of the new friendly relationship between the two countries, resuming ‘panda diplomacy.’ By 1983, China had gifted 24 pandas to 9 friendly countries, but as requests for pandas from each country increased, China became concerned about the extinction of pandas, so in 1984, instead of gifting pandas, it leased them for a certain amount of money per month, saying they would be used for research. I changed the way I did it.

It is reported that the other country will pay China about $10 million (approximately KRW 13.851 billion) during the panda lease period, which is set at about 10 years, and pay an average annual rent of $500,000. During the panda lease period, the two countries can jointly conduct panda research, and pandas born in countries other than China must go to China no later than 48 months old. Accordingly, Fu Bao, born to Le Bao and Ai Bao, who came to Korea in 2016, returned to China in time for the breeding season. Everland paid $1 million a year to bring Le Bao and Ai Bao, and a one-time donation of 500,000 dollars for the birth of Fu Bao. It is reported that he paid .

Meanwhile, Fubao will undergo isolation and quarantine procedures for about a month at the Wolong Shushu Surfing Base in Sichuan Province, and upon completion of quarantine, he will move to one of four locations: Wolong Shushu Surfing Base, Wolonghe Taoping Base, Dujiangyan Base, and Ya’an Base.

Baek Jin-ho, online news reporter [email protected]

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