Since I do my translations for the Chosun in the morning and mid-afternoon, I usually get stuck with the entertainment and sports articles. Many of ‘em are a bit of a drag, frankly speaking, but today, I finally got one that had my name written all over it. So without further ado, I bring you this:
Lee Sa-bi to be Korea’s First Playboy Model
The first purely Korean Playboy model has arrived.
Adult entertainment channel Spice TV, Playboy?s partner in Korea, said Wednesday that fashion model Lee Sa-bi, 25, has been selected as the first Playboy model to represent Korea.
Lee is to star in Playboy Magazine?s 50th anniversary celebrations, underway worldwide. Starting last August, Spice TV began looking at potential candidates who might satisfy Playboy Magazine?s stringent requirements. It settled on Lee, who is 1.74 meters tall, weighs 51 kg, and measures 35-24-36. In addition to her perfect body, her beauty seems to combine the best of East and West, and she speaks English, which earned her high marks from Spice TV.
Since her catwalk debut in Daegu in 1998, Lee has been a top model, busy both at home and abroad. In addition to Korea, she has also worked in Paris alongside supermodels such as Naomi Campbell, modeling world-famous brands like Givenchy and Loreal.
Korean-American models such as Lee Sung-hi have appeared in Playboy?s special editions before, but Lee Sa-bi will be the first Korean recognized by Playboy with the honor of officially representing Korea.
Lee will have a busy schedule next week — she will leave for Los Angeles on Sunday and spend six days posing for nude photographs and videos, and then head to the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills to attend a party sponsored by Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. Playboy Magazine has assigned nearly 30 top-class photo staff members for Lee alone. Her nude video is scheduled to be broadcast on Playboy affiliates around the world in February. In addition, if Lee wants, she will be given a chance to be a cover model for Playboy?s Asia Edition.
Now, I understand that with Lee Sa-bi being a Korean citizen and all, this is a monumental day in the history of the Republic. Still, for many of us, Lee Sung-hi will always be the trailblazer here, even if she is a kyo’po.
17 Comments
‘kyo’po?’
So I take it that means she was a Korean in America when she got to Playboy correct?
Guess that disqualifies Natasha Yi as well.
And yes Sung Hi-Lee is something to look at for sure…
Lee Sung-hi was born in Seoul and is still a Korean citizen according to her Web site, which also has pretty pictures on it
kyopo schmopo, koreans in playboy has been done before (and done better).. Just because someone is raised in America means they are not Korean??..
This country sure has some identity issues…
Can I just say Lee Sa-bi isn’t all that good looking anyways?
Instead of Playboy, I think she looks like an Olympics model…
All those muscles and abdomen must have developed while hitting men trying to touch her.
Cheers!
I don’t know what’s more pathetic, the story itself or the importance you all are attaching to it… When is Korea going to realize that it’ll never be taken seriously on a global level so long as it insists on prostituting its women? What a sad state of affairs. Even sadder is the fact that more than 50% of you guys are here in Korea for just that reason.
Whooo hooo!
Gopogo:
50% of the guys in Korea are prostituting women? I guess that keeps the other 50% busy doing the nasty with said women… What a great country!
A friend of mine reminded me on irc that if s.korea goes on like so, maybe we Italians will pardon you for World Cup 2002
Personally, I didn’t take the story that seriously. All the Korean-language dailies covered it, and if one thinks it’s a bit of a strange thing to get nationalistic about, so be it. Hey, I thought it was kind of strange that people got so worked up about the World Cup aound here, but then again, I’m not a huge football fan. Beautiful women in advanced stages of undress, however, is something I can appreciate a little more, and if the Chosun and Joongang Ilbo want to do a little nationalistic flag-waving about Lee’s appearence in Playboy, more power to ‘em. Besides, I can’t stand arguments that run along the lines of “Korea will never be taken seriously if it keeps…” — I hear this ALL THE GODDAMNED TIME about everything Koreans do, from eating dog meat to Korean driving etiquette. Korea has enough things to concern itself with as it is without having to worry about what the “globe” (read: white folk) thinks about it.
Maybe an offshot of the magazine but I don’t think the magazine itself. But it’s not like I really seek this stuff out you know…
Bingo….because you’ll never be your own person (nation) if you care what the hell everyone else (the world) thinks about you.
I suppose the US, which isn’t as strict as Korea on numerous things, isn’t its own nation then going by the logic presented here.
What’s interesting about this story is that Lee Sabi is the third “first Korean” for Playboy.
First Lee Sung-hi was the first Korean in the newsstand edition of Playboy (Playboy’s Girls of Summer, I think–not the regular magazine), then Hacelyn Joo (Remember her?) was the first Korean cyber-Playmate. Now Lee Sabi (actually Lee Unjung–Why do they take new names to pose nude?) is the first Korean on Spice TV and possibly the first Korean cover model for the Asian edition.
Have any of these models been featured in the American monthly magazine? If not, get ready for a fourth “first.”
Kkachi, I thought of the same thing myself. Anyway, here’s the original Korean version I used to the translation above. Anyway, it starts off with:
??ํน?์จ??????ํน??? ??ํน??์งฏ ?ํธ???์???์ต?????์จ?์จ์จ??์จ ?์งง์งข??์จ??์จ ???????????์ง.
Read the rest on your own - maybe you can make out what they’re trying to get it.
I just like looking at the pics.
Marmot, the problem isn’t in translation. It’s with the Korean papers’ tendency to push things as the “first” whatever. There seem to be quite an obsession with firsts here. It’s just interesting (as I mentioned in the first post) that this is the third “first Korean” in Playboy.
I wonder whether the newspaper editors think people have short memories or it’s just a way to get people to buy the paper.
The newspapers know their readership: they know that any korean “succeeding” in the west will sell papers, it panders to korean’s inferiority complex with the west. Reader’s can then ask foreigners in seoul, “Do you know Lee Sabi? Famous supermodel?You don’t? Are you American? What??, everyone knows Lee Sabi! Strangee…”
Mango, your post-button-hitting-libido is impressive!
Five times, my friend. WOW, five times!