South Korean-born winner of Australian X Factor flooded with 'racist' comments

Dami Im thanks those who came to her defence

X Factor Australia winner Dami Im, with her mentor on the show Dannii Minogue (Twitter/Dannii Minogue)

The South Korean-born winner of the Australian X Factor has been flooded with "racist" comments since her triumph on the show this week.

Dami Im, a 25-year-old singer who lives in Brisbane, came to Australia at the age of nine and speaks perfectly fluent English.

She wowed viewers with her powerful performances of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water", and was the clear favourite going into Monday's final.

But according to The Australian, some viewers of the popular show – which features Ronan Keating and Dannii Minogue as judges – took to social media to claim that "it's not Australian X Factor if an Asian wins".

One Twitter user said: "She's not even Australian, English isn't even her first language," while another asked: "What is this world coming to?"

Dami Im was incredibly gracious, and thanked those who came to her defence.

"Some people can be really racist. There's people like that in every country but most people have stood up for me and I didn't have to say a word," she said.

"There's more good people who respect me than there are that call me 'the Asian'. I have been so lucky and I am so thankful."

Her winner's single, "Alive", has reached number one on Australia's iTunes chart.