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

[Mrs. P]

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.


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.

I was being a little tounge in cheek with my first statement. I defintely do not think it's good for Yuna and Mao to have any sort of hate from anyone. It's such a waste of time trying to find a Jeremy Abbott long program video to only find some nasty video about how Yuna is hated by the world or whatever. (Jeremy himself has shared his frusration with this).

Thanks for the insight. That is pretty darn scary. It's amazing the power that the netizens in Korea seem to have.

[sunrock]

I think NA media found a story and made it bigger than it really is. Ooh, we're so insightful because we understand Korea-Japan relations! That's a hot topic!

This is a more balanced opinion from an expat who lives in Korea and can give a deeper look into the fandom of Yuna rather than assuming the Korea-Japan factor fuels the fire.

http://kushibo.blogspot.com/2010/02/icing-on-cake.html

[Mrs. P]

I think NA media found a story and made it bigger than it really is. Ooh, we're so insightful because we understand Korea-Japan relations! That's a hot topic!

This is a more balanced opinion from an expat who lives in Korea and can give a deeper look into the fandom of Yuna rather than assuming the Korea-Japan factor fuels the fire.

http://kushibo.blogspot.com/2010/02/icing-on-cake.html

Interesting stuff.

I do think that the media has downplayed the rivalry between the two. I had to explain to several casual viewers how far back the Mao's and Yuna's rivalry goes back. They have bee competing against each other since they were like 13. I don't think we've seen anything like it. (Maybe Mirai and Caroline, but....even that's not close.)

[aftertherain]

Fans respond with ...

A claymation video! Err .. a fan, at least.

Yuna Kim Clay-mation Video (Free Skate: Gershwin's Piano Concierto in F)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhMybdcNYwo

[DesertRoad]

I think NA media found a story and made it bigger than it really is. Ooh, we're so insightful because we understand Korea-Japan relations! That's a hot topic!

This is a more balanced opinion from an expat who lives in Korea and can give a deeper look into the fandom of Yuna rather than assuming the Korea-Japan factor fuels the fire.

http://kushibo.blogspot.com/2010/02/icing-on-cake.html

Of course it'd be wrong to see Yu Na's popularity in South Korea solely through a lens of a Japanese rivalry. Of course she'd still be damn popular even if her longtime rival is from some other country instead. But that's purely academic and speculative. The fact is, her rivalry with Mao, who happens to be Japanese, absolutely fuels Yu Na's media coverage, fandom activity and is an intrinsic part of her narrative. We can ask these what-ifs all day: What if Yu Na wasn't as pretty as she is? What if Yu Na wasn't the first elite figure skater from South Korea (let's say some Korean dude was the world champ in 1987)? What if Yu Na was a guy? And so on. You can take away any one factor in her popularity and she'd likely still remain beloved and famous. But that's a purely mental exercise. If one were to give an account of Yu Na's skating career, it'd be irresponsible not to mention her rivalry with Mao. And in analyzing Yu Na's popularity, one simply cannot discount Korea-Japan relations.

[lavender]

The U.S. has so many big celebrities and history so things seem different. I can understand the level of excitement and fascination for Yu na in Korea.

[sunrock]

Of course it'd be wrong to see Yu Na's popularity in South Korea solely through a lens of a Japanese rivalry. Of course she'd still be damn popular even if her longtime rival is from some other country instead. But that's purely academic and speculative. The fact is, her rivalry with Mao, who happens to be Japanese, absolutely fuels Yu Na's media coverage, fandom activity and is an intrinsic part of her narrative.

Nawww, you speak like it's the whole cake. It's only the icing.

[DesertRoad]

The U.S. has so many big celebrities and history so things are just differen. We're use to having such celebrity here all the time. I guess when it's so rare I can understand the level of excitement and fascination for Yu na in Korea.

Ya know, South Korea had a lot of megacelebrities and superstar athletes prior to Yu Na, too.

[aftertherain]

The U.S. has so many big celebrities and history so things are just differen. We're use to having such celebrity here all the time. I guess when it's so rare I can understand the level of excitement and fascination for Yu na in Korea.

You might wanna rephrase your statement... South Korea's not a "new country" with no history or celebrities y'know ...

[lavender]

Sorry...innocent mistake.

[aurora100]

Fans respond with ...

A claymation video! Err .. a fan, at least.

Yuna Kim Clay-mation Video (Free Skate: Gershwin's Piano Concierto in F)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhMybdcNYwo

Isn't this the cutest? I love that.

[Figure88]

Interesting stuff.

I do think that the media has downplayed the rivalry between the two. I had to explain to several casual viewers how far back the Mao's and Yuna's rivalry goes back. They have bee competing against each other since they were like 13. I don't think we've seen anything like it. (Maybe Mirai and Caroline, but....even that's not close.)

Uh there is no rivalry. Yuna already is the Olympic champion. It will take four years for Mao to catch up with that, if that's even possible. The only people who really like to stoke up all the rivalry talk is the disillusioned Mao bots.

[Mrs. P]

Uh there is no rivalry. Yuna already is the Olympic champion. It will take four years for Mao to catch up with that, if that's even possible. The only people who really like to stoke up all the rivalry talk is the disillusioned Mao bots.

I'm not a Mao bot whatever that entails. Yes, Mao has been less of threat since she won Worlds in 2008, but that doesn't mean there isn't a rivalry. Mao may have made some bad decisions, but she's still a competitor and she still put a good effort forward.

And besides, I'm talking about the rivalry from a historic sense. Here are two girls who have competed since they were junior skaters in 2005. And this win is obvoiusly a great victory for Yuna to the nerves and pressure but it's also the "cake topper" (since we're using baking terms) to their competitive history.

An American comparison, I just realized, would be Lindsay Vonn and Julia Mancuso. They've been skiing against each other since they were little kids.

[Figure88]

Yes, Mao has been less of threat since she won Worlds in 2008, but that doesn't mean there isn't a rivalry.

No, I think all the rivalry talk is silenced, unless she matches Yuna's current record as an Olympic gold medalist. And her chance will not come for another 4 years.Maybe that's why Mao seemed so upset at the Olympic medal podium and she seems to be drawing so much attention to Sochi in 2014 during her interviews. Even before Yuna won Olympic gold, people were discounting Mao as a serious rival because of the problems she's been having for 2 seasons. And I think the nail in the coffin has come with Yuna winning the title of Olympic champion.

[Mrs. P]

No, I think all the rivalry talk is silenced, unless she matches Yuna's current record as an Olympic gold medalist. And her chance will not come for another 4 years.Maybe that's why Mao seemed so upset at the Olympic medal podium and she seems to be drawing so much attention to Sochi in 2014 during her interviews. Even before Yuna won Olympic gold, people were discounting Mao as a serious rival because of the problems she's been having for 2 seasons. And I think the nail in the coffin has come with Yuna winning the title of Olympic champion.

I think Mao wants to focus on Sochi for herself. She was upset because she didn't do the performance she wanted.
And I wouldn't count Mao out yet. Michelle Kwan did not have the OGM but still was a force to be reckoned with during the off-Olympic years. Same with Kurt Browning. Yes, Mao is in a bit of catch up mode, but unless Yuna retires this OGM is just a moment (a great moment, don't get me wrong!) in future competitive years.

And quite frankly, I think Yuna likes to have a rivalry of any kind. I think she's happy she's won of course, but she's said in interviews that she likes to win when everyone skates lights out.