I honestly don't think so. Thinking back, if I say that in Tagalog (I'm Filipino, and this is my native language), it would go "Napakaganda niya kahit itim/maitim." < which, even if you say this to other Filipinos, I don't believe they'd go, "that's racist!" It's the same translation in English but I can swear that it doesn't sound insulting in Tagalog. There are just some words/terms that, when translated into English, becomes misinterpreted -- hence the term "lost in translation".
Copy-pasting from a comment I've read:
LOL. It's been more than a year ago, do people still hold such long grudges against someone they don't even know personally?
No one ever made a fuss about Seung Ri's racist remark. I'm guessing it's because it's SNSD that this has gone on for this long. Their anti-fanbase is pretty well-known for having no lives...
I don't believe she meant it the way it came out (which is, to say the least, quite insulting being translated into English). From what I heard in the audio clip, the conversation goes:
Guy 1: I love Alicia Keys.
Taeyeon: Me too!
Guy 2: Especially because of her pretty face, right?
Taeyeon: For a black person, she's really very pretty.
Guy 1 & Guy 2 agreeing.
Question 1: Why would she intentionally insult the singer she likes?
Question 2: If the remark was as insulting as it came out in Korean, why would Guy 1 & Guy 2 agree to what she said? Shouldn't they immediately know if she said something bad?
ANSWER: To them, it didn't sound insulting.
Audio Clip: http://www.mediafire.com/?5ttmymmgtwm
A lot of people are spreading the hate, when most of you don't even KNOW Korean. There's a reason why "lost in translation" became a term. The international fans are the ones making a ruckus when Korean netizens were more focused on her nurse remark.
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Tae Yeon being a racist
no, not to my knowledge
but Tae Yeon did say that about Alicia Keys