Sports Seoul reports on what it calls a new “formula” for ‘노처녀’ Korean female celebrity marriages. The “formula” being “Korean American + entrepreneur”. Specifically it states that a “pattern” has emerged and that some Korean female celebrities are seeking out, what the Sports Seoul calls “desirable” husbands-to-be, Korean American entrepreneurs.
Elaborating on its so called “formula”, it cites the recent wedding announcement of Jin Hee-kyung, the marriage of Lee Seung-hyun, and the 2006 marriage of Hong Ri-na.
To be fair, there has been IMO a somewhat noticeable, for a lack of a better word, increase in wedding announcements/marriages of Korean female celebrities to well-off Korean Americans. Recent examples, other than the above, being “announcer” Kang Soo-jung’s March tying of the knot with a Korean American fund manager, actress Seo Min-jung marrying a Korean American dentist, and reporter Kim Hee-jo’s marriage to a Korean American dentist. And it is something that some Koreans are gossiping about, which may have led the above paper, being a tabloid, to put out this particular article.
The paper does mention in its closing paragraph that the particular “trend” may leave some “bitterness” among the common folks. However it “justifies” the marriages by citing the “economic security” that a Korean American entrepreneur provides, the desire of some celebrities to go overseas to “escape the public eye”, education for their children, and the “natural tendency” for one to seek out a spouse with the “right conditions.”
Yup, one has to marry someone who is right for them.
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49 Comments
I knew I should have majored in business… or be a pre-dental (but… the entry to dental schools is crazy… like, 수능 crazy).
I guess the new definition of “entrepreneur” is just financially successful. Dentist?
How odd… To look to American business men or woman for security? Has anyone looked at the stock market lately? I can’t imagine this is true. Don’t Korean stars make good money on their own?
I don’t think the state of the American economy is what they had in mind. There are other forms of “security” that marrying a financially successful Korean American will bring, such as a blue jacketed passport with a bald eagle.
It depends. “A-type” celebrities like Kim Tae-hee who gets regular calls to appear in a commercial for a popular product do earn good money. On the other hand, the six who are mentioned above aren’t exactly in the top of any list for a major role in a drama or a commercial. So although they will be earning some money it won’t be as good as say Kim Tae-hee.
Grade-A stars can actually make millions in Korea. Those behind Grade-A can make a couple hundred thousand. Below that, in the tens of thousands.
increase in wedding announcements/marriages of Korean female celebrities to, well-off Korean Americans.
Well, I guess this means I won’t be any part of this trend.
I already know why they would do that.
US passport gives them the following:
1/ Have a son? Probably military exempt. Rich in ROK already do this in very creative ways, but that leads to #2.
2/ Daughter or son. Qualifies for US higher ed, with US govt grants, loans, etc.
3/ Why Businessmen and dentists? $. They avoid doctors because they want to avoid lawsuits, managed care, etc.
4/ Thus, these girls are dwaen-jang-nyuhs of the highest quality.
#2 is probably the biggest factor. Not only do they avoid the ipshi gyung jaeng that gyopos only taste very lightly in their high school years, but at the end of the tunnel, they get to say:
I work for Microsoft, Goldman-Sachs, etc
versus
I am a Samsung salary man.
The security that the stars seek is:
1. Less chance of domestic abuse.
2. Less chance that hubby will be out at the room salon plowing the whores
3. Less chance hubby will have a Hunji-chup in Busan.
4. Yes, the blue passport and a ticket to the worlds largest PX, USA.
What are they bitching about? At least these gals aren’t marrying white guys!
(I don’t care about interracial marriages, but you know how much MORE bitching the newspapers will do if actress did marry white)
‘(I don’t care about interracial marriages, but you know how much MORE bitching the newspapers will do if actress did marry white)’
yes, but the real question is, why didn’t they marry white guys when, according to the expat, every korean lady wants a white man.
WangKon, I’m surprised that you’re complaining, considering that you fit the “formula”, as a result of your current occupation.
Every kyopo in my network has told me that wealthy Korean women who are very beautiful and have a good life in Korea will never touch a white guy (except for members of the British Royal Family or a Kennedy) but would definitely go after a Korean-Canadian/American/Australian. On the other hand, girls from familes who are not as well off or can’t afford plastic surgery will seek white foreigners over kyopo foreigners. Not sure whether or not this is a fact, but many kyopos swear by it.
“why didn’t they marry white guys when, according to the expat, every korean lady wants a white man.”
Best of both worlds! Get treated like a equal like a average white person would and still retain Korean cultural norms for the parents’ sake.
There’s hope for you yet, Pawi.
Uncle Sam is very generous with US passport holders but not that generous. Applications for federal financial aid require submission of US tax returns. A Korean acquaintance was disappointed to learn that her US passort-holding son was not entitled to in-state tuition, much less financial aid.
#15. Sonagi, I am glad to hear that system is working.
Italian sausage anyone?
After seriously but silently lurking at the Hole for many eons, I must finally surface to express my anguish and despair at the bitterness and unfairness of life. Jin Hee-Gyeong getting married, and not to ME?? I am crushed, and not sure I can ever recover…
#5,
Just two words Pawi… “casting couch”.
I know people who have quit the entertainment industry because they didn’t want to participate in that… And receiving late night calls from producers demanding that they participate in it was almost a daily occurrence.
“Every kyopo in my network has told me that wealthy Korean women who are very beautiful and have a good life in Korea will never touch a white guy”
My wife’s family has money to burn and she’s quite attractive (and I’m not just saying that because she’s my wife). She’s a college professor on top of that. Yeah, she doesn’t have a good life…she has a great life.
“Don’t Korean stars make good money on their own?”
Someone said before that Korean stars are like Krusty (from Simpsons), because they endorse anything and EVERYTHING!
# 11,
Well, yeah, but I’m NOT complaining… I’m complaining that the Korean media is complaining…
Any hot 한류 yujah reading this, I’m eligible!
In all seriousness, the last time I consistently dated Koreanized women was back in college when I had two 유학생 girl friends. It’s been varying degrees of Korean Americans ladies since then.
When I was in Korea… I did have a lot of fun with the local ladies and yes, my pickup line was that I was an employed 교포. The details of these kinds of activities I DO NOT INCLUDE in my blogs.
The whole “yellow fever” phenomenon has left me pretty baffled. Granted, when I came to Korea, all of the girls I met were, ahem, “yellow”, at least in THAT context. Still, it was regular old “large-bark-eating-rodent” fever that powered all the clumsy inroads I made.
Still, it was regular old “large-bark-eating-rodent” fever that powered all the clumsy inroads I made.
What language is this? Canadian?
Euphemistic Canadian. I work with children, I’m afraid. Which also means I have an unholy knowledge of things like stained glass and candle-making.
#23. “large-bark-eating-rodent”= Bever, Poji, Nambi, Pussy. Catch the drift?
maybe in the past the us passport was a significant reason. today, i think it has more to do with education, especially the chance for the kid(s) to be bilingual. having best of both worlds.
#13. i actually had noticed that during my time in korea. but i think things are changing. two of my white buddies in korea married korean girls and both ladies came from a wealthy family. but only one i would say is attractive, not that it matters.
word of advice to gyopos in korea. stop using the gyopo angle to pick up girls at bars and clubs. these girls have heard it all.
#24,
The only ‘yellow’ people I’ve seen in my whole life had liver disease.
PS. Isn’t it racist to say that Asians are ‘yellow’?
I don’t understand. Do Koreans hate white people? Why not mexican, or Italian, or Chineese? Is it that they just don’t approve of Americans? How about Europeans? I’m curious. Obviously I’m new at this…
That’s funny vicki. I think some do, yes. But for others it’s perhaps too strong a word. Resent maybe.
It’s complicated and I’d rather not get into generalizations. There are Koreans who have absolutely no problem with white people.
As with your question, “Do Koreans hate white people?”, some Koreans resentment, I believe, is too omnidirectional.
29: You’ll notice that I handled that pretty carefully and that I had my tongue stuffed really far into my cheek. Then again, maybe you won’t notice that.
The only ‘yellow’ people I’ve seen in my whole life had liver disease.
PS. Isn’t it racist to say that Asians are ‘yellow’?
No, it is not. It works for the Simpsons.
#29,
I guess you didn’t notice that I wasn’t attacking you but rather the Asian boys who like to speak of ‘yellow fever’.
#33,
One of the few Asian on the Simpsons is brown.
#35. Yeah, but he runs the quickie mart…….
Lol, ironically, the Asians on the Simpsons has paler skins (Sushi restaurant owner).
#37. Aren’t the Japanese White?
Sorry Someguy. Lot of not noticing things going on around here, mostly on my part. I doff my hat.
I realize that in every country some race hates some other race of people. My introduction to Korea was first made to me through, what else, Korean dramas. I’ve been watching them for about a year and think they are great! So, I decided to check out as much information about Korea as I could. I ended up on this site and a couple of others and couldn’t help but notice the negative white people stuff. Just disappointing. Thats why I asked. I didn’t think I was being funny.
Oh, dear, Vicki. Never ever take anything you read here too seriously. I lived in Korea almost ten years and was never spat on even once.
Vicki, do not rush to judgment so quickly. One thing that living in Korea does, it makes people colorful. You can not get the complete appreciation of Korea INC. from dramas. People do exaggerate a bit at this site but, much of the data is spot on. The Gyopo baiting is a bit of fun we have to keep them off-balance. It’s all love.
“word of advice to gyopos in korea. stop using the gyopo angle to pick up girls at bars and clubs. these girls have heard it all.”
First of all… you give girls too much credit. It works. That’s why gyopos use it.
As for myself, I told them that pretty quickly so they could understand why my Korean had an accent with certain words and why I didn’t understand some of the more complex words.
If they somehow found me more “interesting” after I told them, hey it wasn’t intentional on my end!
vicki,
I interpret it thusly. Many English speaking people are use to a certain culture, i.e. a western culture where society is more open and relaxed. Korean society is very different, a bit more structured and constrained. It’s like wearing a shirt with a collar one inch too small or a bra a cup size too small. The fabric cuts into the skin and breathing is a chore. So people use to a western (mostly North American) social culture need a place to vent… so on the 8th day God created The Marmot’s Hole, Scribblings of the Metropolitan, The Lost Nomad, and other blogs to give these people who feel constrained in Korea a place to vent their frustrations.
It does seem quite negative because they are mostly comparing Korea to western cultural conventions forgetting that even western countries (including the U.S.) had generations to evolve into the more freer and more open societies that they are today. For example, it probably wouldn’t have been a lot of fun being a Korean in say the deep South in the 60’s then it is today, right?
These people criticize a country that didn’t have a civil rights movement, a progressive movement or inherit a cultural legacy that had Greco-Roman democratic conventions, judeo-christian moral traditions, an Enlightenment, a Renaissance, etc.
Korea achieved industrialization and democratization in 40 years what it took all other western nations 400 years and yes, what we have today is a bit rough around the edges, particularly to western eyes. I just wish people who criticize here would remember that before they go off.
Regarding Korean dramas. What you are getting is a romanticized slice of what life is like in Korea and how the Korean people are. For example, would you look at shows like “Leave it to Beaver” and “Father Knows Best” or hell, even the “Brady Bunch” as an accurate slice of life in America in those time periods? They are at best an idealized view. Same with Korean dramas. So my advice is to take it with a grain of salt.
Try not to inflate Metro’s ego too much with that ‘hand of God’ stuff, WangKon. He might burst.
And how do you know what that feels like? Maybe if you dated curvy white, black, or Hispanic women instead of ethnic Koreans, you wouldn’t have to worry about your girlfriend’s bra cup being too small for you.
I don’t quite follow your comparison. If you are going to look at it like this, you need to see what Korea was doing 400 years ago and why nothing happened until 400-40 years later.
It would be a bit easier to remember if the Koreans had an ounce of humility about themselves.
# 46,
There are curvy Asian girls… they are called import models…
#41 Oh, dear, Sonagi-thankyou.