As a long-time viewer of The Colbert Report (a political satire comedy show), I can attest that everything Colbert says is "tongue in cheek" - what he means is the opposite of what he says. Case in point: Colbert says, "I've battled this guy [Rain] in the Korean pop charts for years." Colbert also brags that while Rain may have "endless modesty" (in reference to Rain's homepage motto), he himself has "infinite modesty." It's all an act. In the parody music video, too, Colbert is making fun of himself as much as anyone else by pretending he's a Korean singer - he can't speak Korean, he can't sing R&B, and God knows he can't dance like 24-year old Rain. He makes such a fool of himself that some Colbert fans are finding it too "painful" to watch. If he were to poke fun at Asian people's ching-chong pronunciation of English, on the other hand, it would be a different story.
So why not view Colbert's parody as a form of flattery and a recognition of Korea's rising cultural influence, rather than as a form of ridicule? Had it not been for this comedic sketch, Americans viewers would be none the wiser concerning Rain's popularity, nor that there is an active and vocal Korean community. And let's face it, a lesser comedian would not have deemed the subject worthy of satire. I would even add, it takes courage to poke fun at a young Korean male after the Virginia Tech Massacre. It's a welcome relief that Colbert and the many viewers of his program can enjoy a laugh at things Korean because it puts a human face to Korea at a time when Korea really needs it.
(In a related note, it looks like Colbert might have even more of an uphill battle in future popularity contests - Rain is slated to debut as an American actor.)
비, 워쇼스키 영화로 할리우드 진출 확정 (한겨레)