Associated Press: South Korea reacts to Yu Na Kim's win

[Ren]

But how about in other countries? How much is she known to non figure fans? I think her popularity will grow in time.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/pa...968052,00.html

I think that in Asian countries where there is a significant Korean presence--like mine, where there are Korean college students and Korean tourists--her popularity will indeed grow. Korean dramas are already popular here, and K-pop is getting to be known as well. Yu-Na can only be next, as she's the biggest thing in Korea right now. And it doesn't hurt that not only does she excel in a mysterious, expensive and exotic sport (I'm from a tropical country), but she's also very pretty.

[sleepyjl]

OMG, if you're Korean and you love Yuna, you HAVE to check out this video. Friggin hilarious spoof on crazy Korean ah-juh-ssi!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmzP9Mq26fk

[FrozenHotCoffee]

It's getting on my nerves to listen and see the media here in Korea chanting the praises of her to be honest. It's getting more and more ridiculous. Sorry it's been just a couple days since she got her gold but I feel like it's been forever 'cause so many commercials and so on.

Someone in here said like, she would have been thrilled that she wasn't getting massacred by Korean or something. That would have never happened. Our love for her is unconditional!

[sleepyjl]

Just to give you a preview of the LOLz in the video:

"Next time, Kim Yuna, you have to get a gold, a silver and a bronze, all at the same time! ... Next time, a custom medal for Kim Yuna! ... She gonna use a secret weapon, taekwondo, ... so do a triple loop, back flip, kick in the air, break wood, punch someone in the face, then land. Her medal is gonna be like platinum, a little bit of diamond, sprinkle a little ice on top, bulgogi, and a Mercedes Benz, and pull it together and make a necklace." OMG, I'm still ROTFL.

[chronos13]

as an south korean who who is an international student in america, i can tell you all from experience that yuna is a big deal...and that is an understatement. she is one of the biggest celebrities in south korea, and her face is seen everywhere on billboards, posters, ads, buses, subways, you name it. even the top american athlete or star can't compare.

the main reason for her fame is that she worked so hard in an obscure sport in korea and has excelled in it. for koreans, overcoming such odds and becoming a globally dominant figure is a source of national pride. koreans have a cultural view in which they consider themselves all a family. for example, when a person will refer to his own mother, he says 우리 엄마 which means our mother. so anything in which koreans receive recognition on the international level brings so much national pride that they will support her as their own daughter or sister.

take for example, world cup 2002. the south koreans co-hosted it with japan but did much better than their rivals (colonization of the korean peninsula has fueled a lot of animosity with japan) and made it to the final four, something unheard of from an asian country. park ji sung is also considered valuable for his position in the greatest football team in the world, manchester united, and park tae hwan who won south korea's first olympic gold and silver from swimming endured lots of pressure and support form his country. global brand names such as samsung, lg, and hyundai are also sources of national pride as well as korean stars who are popular all over asia due to the hallyu wave, which is essentially the love of korean pop culture in other asian countries (look up tvxq, boa, rain, and others).

thus, the idea that yuna excels on an international level makes her even more appealing. however, i also think that marketing strategies and timing has fueled the phenomena and made it what it is today. in a country where looks are emphasized more than they should be, her photogenic looks and charming personality (which unfortunately has, at times, taken a back seat to her looks) has made her even more marketable. the companies that sponsor her acknowledged the benefits of putting her in commercials and ads, which have been displayed all of seoul and the rest of korea. this has increased her exposure and made her even more famous. as more people recognize who she and realize her accomplishments, they follow her career and expect wins since she has become one of the best skaters in the world.

[ballerynna]

Just for kicks, some friends and I talked in loud voices about figure skating and a few South Koreans (and there are lots in my country who study English) turned when they heard her name.

[figuristka]

If anyone has a clip of the ladies medal podium, please provide a link. I unfortunately was unable to view it. Thanks. I would think someone in Korea must have it.

[Dodhiyel]

Have not had chance to read whole thread yet, sorry. I find Yu-Na so delightful, that the adulation she is receiving does not surprise me. However, I worry for her because the pressure on her is just more than any athlete should have to bear.

No one lives forever. No one is young forever. No one can win forever. I can only hope that Yu-Na will some day be able to retire happily into "legend" status, both at home and abroad.

CoP has not, thus far, pleased me, in general, for multiple reasons. The only "bad" thing I can say about Yu-Na, is that she makes CoP look good. She shows that it can work, that a lady skater can execute a programme that is beautiful and satisfying to watch, while racking up more than enough points for gold. That, in itself, appears to justify CoP. Unfortunately, few single skaters can duplicate that feat.

When watching Yu-Na, I cannot help "forgiving" her for raising the bar so high that it is airborne, because I love watching her so very, very much.

[Nadia01]

The skater who apologized in Japan was Midori Ito. She said something along the lines of, "Was silver okay?" But that was a long long time ago, and even at that time, her comment was regarded as a sad reflection of too much pressure. Sports media in Japan has been more cautious ever since.
In addition, I would like to make it straight that it is blatantly false that the Japanese only value Gold. All the media in Japan here is congratulating Mao's achievenment as a silver medalist. Of course she had been stating that she would like to bring the best out of her at the Olys so it was a slight pity that she wasn't able to execute all her jump repertoire, but being the first lady to do 3 axels is still an acomplishment and the media in Japan emphasizes that in their post Olympic reports. They aren't so simple minded as to think or to say "only gold mattered, why didn't you do better? ".

Can you blame her? The headline unless I'm mistaken stated: MIDORI FAILS

Regardless, I'm very pleased with the current media coverage of Mao. They didn't say anything nasty, and they seemed satisfied with her silver and historic 3 3A SP & LP.

[aurora100]

Just to give you a preview of the LOLz in the video:

"Next time, Kim Yuna, you have to get a gold, a silver and a bronze, all at the same time! ... Next time, a custom medal for Kim Yuna! ... She gonna use a secret weapon, taekwondo, ... so do a triple loop, back flip, kick in the air, break wood, punch someone in the face, then land. Her medal is gonna be like platinum, a little bit of diamond, sprinkle a little ice on top, bulgogi, and a Mercedes Benz, and pull it together and make a necklace." OMG, I'm still ROTFL.

don't you mean break bricks?

[aftertherain]

Totally irrelevant, but I wonder how South Koreans think of Michelle Kwan other than how she's Yuna's idol.

[Phoenix347]

don't you mean break bricks?

Breaking wood is at least better than breaking wind. What's funny is that Yuna's dad said he had a nightmare about overflowing toilet the night before the free skate.

[sunrock]

Being a celebrity of that status comes with tremendous pressure though. An unique Korean phenomenon is "anti-fans". These are people who devote their lives to tearing down a celebrity. Yuna, despite all her wonderfulness, has thousands of anti-fans. Literally every little move is scrutinized, and what we here in NA will never understand is just how influential the Korean (anti)fans can be. They managed to kick a popstar out of a country for a rude myspace comment he made when he was a kid. They've driven numerous celebrities to suicide before. Therefore, for Yuna to put down such amazing programs under such intense pressure......I can't even state my admiration in words.

Yuna doesn't really have antis. It's quite well known she is in a list of very few celebrities in Korea who don't have antis. There is something about people like MC Yoo Jae Seok, Jang Dong Geun, Moon Geun Young, and Kim Yeon Ah that make them have very, very few antis. There will always be a small amount of people who don't care for these celebrities, but on a greater picture, these celebrities are known to not have antis.

[Mrs. P]

Yuna doesn't really have antis. It's quite well known she is in a list of very few celebrities in Korea who don't have antis. There is something about people like MC Yoo Jae Seok, Jang Dong Geun, Moon Geun Young, and Kim Yeon Ah that make them have very, very few antis. There will always be a small amount of people who don't care for these celebrities, but on a greater picture, these celebrities are known to not have antis.

Probably a good think as she has a tons of antis in the form of Japanese figure skating fans. You have seen those YouTube videos right?

But yeah, those anti-fans in Korea are just so interesting to me. In the U.S. if you don't like someone...you just don't listen to their music or watch their movies. Somehow in trying to do their anti- videos or whatever they actually end up listening to their music more than that artist's fans. (Like SNSD or Girls Generation, for instance).

[sunrock]

Probably a good think as she has a tons of antis in the form of Japanese figure skating fans. You have seen those YouTube videos right?

No, I don't think it's a good thing. I wouldn't wish that kind of hate on anyone who doesn't deserve it. I don't think it's a good thing Mao has tons of antis in the form of Korean figure skating fans either.

But yeah, those anti-fans in Korea are just so interesting to me. In the U.S. if you don't like someone...you just don't listen to their music or watch their movies. Somehow in trying to do their anti- videos or whatever they actually end up listening to their music more than that artist's fans. (Like SNSD or Girls Generation, for instance).

Think Perez Hilton multiplied by a million. He hates on celebrities, spreads vicious rumors, and does whatever he want to ruin their reputations. Antis do the same, but they do it in mass so the ripples are even greater and more damaging. No one is off limits. You can be an athlete, an actor, a singer, a politician, a reporter, even a regular girl on the subway who doesn't clean up her dog's poop! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interne...#Dog_Poop_Girl) That's why that list of famous people in Korea without antis is very short and the people must have a squeaky clean image to not have antis.