- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
Article on Yu-na Kim's popularity and commercial success in Korea
- Thread starter Mathman
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
She'll be S. Korea's version of Dorothy Hamill... everyone will want her hair style and make up secrets and... and... and...
good luck to her. I wouldn't want that sort of pressure.
good luck to her. I wouldn't want that sort of pressure.
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2008
And this:
Kind of mystic fervour...
Not to mention the Victory Concert - drama (from Yu-Na forum)
http://yunaforum.com/index.php?showtopic=649&pid=7949&st=0&#entry7949
Kind of mystic fervour...
Not to mention the Victory Concert - drama (from Yu-Na forum)
http://yunaforum.com/index.php?showtopic=649&pid=7949&st=0&#entry7949
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News media always try to make a big issue out of someting phenomenal. I really don't think Korean people see her as a symbol of hope. Koreans just like her skating, her beauty, singing ,dancing. It is true that she is considered icon of our time. But, symbole of hope? I don't know.
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
hope = inspiration... I know there are several skaters here in the US that have inspired me... Scott Hamilton... Kristi Yamaguchi... Katia Goredeeva... Kurt Browning
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2008
I was so touched by her.
She looks like sweet dream.
If you want to understand her
You gotta know her deep inside.
This is love~~ This must be love.
Do you know her personally?
loveI'm not grossly obsessed with Yuna like many of my Korean friends, but I understand why they're crazy for this girl. She's the modern day Se Ri Pak. When Pak won the U.S. Open in 1998, sports critics everywhere claimed it was a major success for a South Korean woman. That part is true and Koreans loved Pak for that, but she's more than a successful golfer. She became a national icon because she also inspired everyone in Korea during the IMF crisis in 1998. Yuna's story is bizarrely similar. She's loved in Korea because she's the first major player in figure skating, but she's also a national icon because her success is coming during an economic crisis. I guess you can say when Korean people are going through economically hard times, they like to watch success stories for hope
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2007
I find that Koreans love to play up (or exaggerate) their sufferings/hardship/whatever you want to call it as if they were the only ones who have to live through. Oh, it is like every time you engage in a conversation with a Korean, she/he would go like, "oh you heard of the Korean concept of Han? but you wouldn't understand because you are not Korean and Han is unique to Koreans".
Duh. I lived in Korea back during 1997-1998 economic meltdown (it was dubbed IMF crisis and according to Korean media, it was such a huge blow to the nation's economy). Mind you though, there was a way BIGGER crowd in any upscale shopping malls on Monday mornings than the boxing days sales crowd in Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto. And the shoppers in Korea didn't hesitate to buy clothes shipped directly from Milan and Paris. Oh well!
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Actually I'm very glad Yuna is making commercial success and doesn't have to worry about money any more.
It was not that long ago that she had hard time financially and even thought about retirement. Of course there were other reasons like injuries and tough training environment but the financial burden also played big part AFAIK.
And I heard she herself kind of sponsers other young Korean figure skaters and makes lots of donations. I think she's gonna be fine because she seems to be well aware of her position in Korea (or Korean figure skating more precisely) and remember well what it was like in hard times.
I think Yuna is really nice as a person as well as a skater. I'm not so sure if she is symbol of hope or not, but she sure inspires me.
It was not that long ago that she had hard time financially and even thought about retirement. Of course there were other reasons like injuries and tough training environment but the financial burden also played big part AFAIK.
And I heard she herself kind of sponsers other young Korean figure skaters and makes lots of donations. I think she's gonna be fine because she seems to be well aware of her position in Korea (or Korean figure skating more precisely) and remember well what it was like in hard times.
I think Yuna is really nice as a person as well as a skater. I'm not so sure if she is symbol of hope or not, but she sure inspires me.
I think you talked to unusual Koreans. I can't imagine why Koreans tell a Canadian something like that. But, it seems even to me that Korean news media tend to exaggerate economic difficulty. I don't know anything about Canadian media though. Anyway, I don't buy the theory that YuNa is more popular becaus of the economic crisis.
There are always rich people who can buy anything they want and Korean shopping mall is usually more crowded than Canadian's, because Korea is a dense country. What you saw didn't mean that it was not a bad time then. It was really a bad time. Huge number of people lost their job.
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I'm real happy that Yu-na has garnered such monetary gains. She deserves it for all the hard work her and her family has devoted to skating. She's a great athlete and such a humble role model. I think Koreans fell in love with her and are real proud of her for succeeding in a field with practically no history of past figure skating feats which is pretty remarkable. I'm sure the Korean skaters will get stronger and stronger because a lot of them aspire to be like Yu-Na.
She plays the role of Michael Weiss fund in Korea.
I hear you on the suffering part. Let's not even touch Japan/Korea. It's times like these when I'm so glad my parents have lived the majority of their lives in the U.S. after emigrating from Korea. Thus being able to enthusiastically accept my Japanese sister in law. But, maybe you had better luck during the IMF crisis. Personally, I remember during that time my mom being emotionally drained because she was so worried for her family back home. She had to send a large sum of money to help them out and so did my dad. Koreans can exaggerate many things, but the IMF Crisis was a real crisis and a big setback for most families. When I think of IMF Crisis I immediately remember the commercial with Se Ri Pak on the green, going into the water barefoot and Yang Hee Eun singing The Evergreen. (A reenactment 10 years later.) That was a commercial made by the government during the IMF Crisis to give people hope. (Let me add, the Korean government released a public ad kind of saying Be Like Yuna. Hard times - government campaign - giving hope. It's Pak Se Ri all over agin.) I don't know if the economy now is as bad as it was back then, but the latest news told me the Korean Won dropped to its lowest value since the IMF Crisis. I don't believe it's an exaggeration.
I forget why we're even talking about this... ^^ I'm not a grossly obsessed fan of Yuna, but I give her credit for being more than a regular sports star. Golfers, speed skaters, baseball players, soccer players and a prodigy violinist(^^) have all rose to fame. Her story is different and because of that, Korean people treat her more special. She also hit big when people are down on their luck. It's nationalistic edification, heroism, inspiration and all that jazz. At some point they need to learn to cool it down a notch. Eventually they will when the next big thing comes or when she retires...