Kim Yuna overcame a flawed performance in the short program on Saturday to take the Grand Prix final title in the 2009 International Skating Union competition in Tokyo. Second and third places went to Japanese skaters Ando Miki and Suzuki Akiko. Japanese fans lining the rink congratulated Kim as she made a victory lap.
Classy Japanese Fans Congratulate Kim Yuna
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classy? it’s about time.
How do you know they’re Japanese fans?
The Chosun Ilbo identified them as Japanese.
The horns and the poison-laced gloves.
Actually identified them or just typed an easy line….
Watch out, Yuna! Clever trick. Someone must’ve clued the sly Japs in on Koreans’ competitive edge: to right wrongs by topping their inhuman rivals in everything.
If Yuna sees the Japs as kind humans where’s her eye of the tiger?
Keep
hopehate alive!why would you want to mar a good occasion with such a strange title when there is no ill from either sides with the result?
in my opinion this was a good achievement because kim has always been weak in the long (relative to the short) program , so she strengthened her weakness before the olympics.
Who honestly gives a crap about figure skating? Possibly the most boring ‘sport’ ever. Koreans only care about it because it is a Korean doing well at something, otherwise it simply isn’t news. Figure Skating makes Curling and synchronised swimming look like exciting activities.
#9 Same with the Japanese, and Canada for that matter. This didn’t even make the back pages in Canadian newspapers. Now if a Canadian girl had won…
#7 The self feeding hatred, if there isn’t enough of it, you have to make sure you have to fan it, right?
‘why would you want to mar a good occasion with such a strange title when there is no ill from either sides with the result?’
so she could take a swipe at koreans, that’s why.
‘The self feeding hatred, if there isn’t enough of it, you have to make sure you have to fan it, right?’
right.
Not much (if any) congratulations from the Japanese netizens in this site..
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20091205-00000217-sph-spo
A lot of accusations of Yuna and Koreans buying the judges.
#9
i certainly didn’t. i think it is gay. i hate the sparkles and the tights (especially when there are men involved – god, there was this british pair called torvill and dean and they put me off not only figure skating but the composer ravel for life) – it looks boring, it’s just people always falling over on the ice and having to do the same jumps and turns.
but yuna kim is a chamion material, although in the beginning i thought her facial expressions were too much, but now i think it’s because she is really more of an artist than a sportsman and she has my respect.
no, sonagi is usually classy. so i don’t think so.
“no, sonagi is usually classy. so i don’t think so.”
#7 refers to seouldout, not Sonagi.
you’re wrong, yuna.
Of course, there’s no ill will from the Korean side since Yuna won. National rivalries often fuel bad sportsmanship from fans. Had a victorious Pakistani cricket team received a friendly response from Indian spectators, I would published and titled a similar post if this were a South Asian-oriented blog.
What are they saying on Stormfront, cm?
‘Had a victorious Pakistani cricket team received a friendly response from Indian spectators, I would published and titled a similar post if this were a South Asian-oriented blog.’
song and dance.
#9,
No, figure skating isn’t – curling is. However, your comment is either tongue-in-cheek (where it was found fairly predictable) or you’re late getting out of the cave. Watch Patrick Chan and Kim Yu Na at the Olympics – you’ll want to land a triple lutz yourself.
Agreed, Cactus. Figure skating is both art and sport. There are some sports I’d rather watch men perform and some I’d rather watch women. I think women figure skaters are more able to fuse grace and power for a visually appealing performance.
The bitterness is strong in this one.
I started paying attention to figure skating after watching Jamie Sale/David Pelletier (albeit marred by controversy) & Alexei Yagudin (whose presentation was, quite literally, perfect) @ 2002 Olympics. I’d generally agree with Sonagi’s evaluation on men vs women figure skaters, but Yagudin @ 2002 ought to be an exception.
really? i have seen many anti- kimu yuna youtube videos made (plastic surgery, and accusation of her cheating (showing her jumps) and blocking other skaters) when i was just looking for her program, and probably there are just as many ugly anti- mao vids out there.
maybe pawi is right and you did mean to say that korean fans were unclassy.
let’s not worry about south asian sites. here’s hoping that you highlight koreans being classy next time when they do.
The particular group of Japanese fans who congratulated Kim after she excelled two of their countrywomen showed class. That does not imply that Japanese sports fans are classy in general nor that Korean fans are especially unsportsmanlike. Girlfriend, if I ever see a photo of Korean fans congratulating an American or a Japanese victor over Korean rivals, I will effusively post a link.
OK. girlfriend.
i suppose the korean fm getting on his knees to the families of those japanese people didn’t quite strike you in the same way. you’re being dishonest: you meant to take a swipe at koreans.
btw, it’s interesting that k bloggers had no interest in the fm’s actions, why is that?
i know why.
I was very impressed with the foreign minister’s humble apology. I didn’t blog about it because it had already been discussed on a TMH thread.
This can be explained away very easily by knowledge of the Japanese that I’ve been taught 20 times since I’ve moved here:
“All Japaness have two faces.”
only 20 times? you must mean 21 if you are counting the example hamel kindly gave to you on this very blog.
Sonagi, a lot of the Japanese netizens would say those “Japanese” who are shown congratulating Yuna, are probably Zainichi Koreans. If the same Japanese right wing’s anti Yuna Kim campaign that mixes racist caricature of Koreans, Yuna’s alleged plastic surgery, and alleged bribery of judges by Koreans were reversed and instead were perpetuated by Korean netizens against a Japanese athlete, it would have incurred a swift indignation around the expat blogs in Korea. As it happens, it’s just silence. What a surprise.
Your message seemed clear to me (even though you will deny it), that Japanese fans are classy, Koreans fans are scum bags.
Sonagi, you didn’t follow proper procedure. Everybody knows that if you write something critical of Korea, you have to preface it with three positive compliments. Standard procedure.
However, many expat writers don’t follow the second rule, which is: if you say something positive about anyone who is not Korean, you have to follow it up with a compliment that includes Korea. Example: “That Beyonce sure is one hell of a performer. Of course, Korea has many fine signers too.”
Next time, just follow the rules, and everybody will stay happy. Remember: if a statement seems neutral about Korea, its negativity is implied.
Don’t hold your breath!
I.e., follow the same protocol that teachers use in primary and middle school to preserve the self-esteem of all other students when one excels. Isn’t that supposed to end sometime in the transition to high school, when one is getting ready for the real world?
The exact same thought occurred to me, Sperwer. But then again, I misspelled “singers,” so what do I know.
“Remember: if a statement seems neutral about Korea, its negativity is implied.”
Just a pure nonsense. It’s all either negative or positive about Korea, there is no neutral. Korea brings out the intense feeling of hate and love, all mixed together.
Well, 90% of Korea related subjects are going to be negative anyway, as compared to fill in the blank country. So please forgive the knee jerk reaction if that wasn’t Sonagi’s intention.
@28 Not sure what you are talking about or what your point is, but the whole “All Japaness have two faces,” stuff, to me, just seems like a way of spinning this fact: “Japanese are, in general, very tactful and polite.” Then again, my assessments are not tainted by Han.
Granfalloon:
I liked your post because it so succinctly stated something I noticed almost immediately after my arrival here, 15 years ago last month. Even att that time, I resolved not to indulge in it, because I thought it was either condescending or indulgent or both; and determined to call ‘em like I see ‘em, and let the chips fall where they may. Korea and Koreans will either get it or they won’t. Not my problem, and I’m not going to let them try to make it such.
Not all Japanese are polite and tactful, that’s one of misconception of Japanese. My Japanese room mate is rude, selfish and cunning. Don’t stereotype people. Of course accept for Chinese, they are always trouble makers.
It doesn’t surprise me at all, that you, “koreansentry,” find your Japanese roommate to be rude, selfish, and cunning.
Nope, not a surprise at all.
“Japanese are, in general, very tactful and polite.”
not to asians. you don’t got han? bullshit!
‘luckily for the average expat in korea, the average expat in korea is often complemented as having movie star looks (must be our noses) and can easily get the prettier korean girls–something the average
locals (and probably you) must pay for.’ cmm October 18, 2007 at 8:38 am @pawi
you’ve got lots of han.
Can I get a link to an article describing the Korean foreign minister apologizing to Japan for whatever? Thanks in advance.
#41, he indeed apologized. Not only did he apologized, he knelt on both of his knees and begged forgiveness. It was reported all over the Korean news.
The Korea related bloggers missed it totally so you probably didn’t know about this.
@40
Not sure what my long, proven ability to agitate you into a red-faced fury (see quote again) has to do with you assuming I, a non-Korean, could ever have Han. It sounds like you don’t even know what Han is. What kind of “Korean” are you that you are trying to project Han onto a 외국인 (that last word means foreigner in Korean, pawi)?
Anyway, by once again posting my old comment (out of context as usual), you have once again proven my point that I succeeded in giving you a complex, and you have amplified the joy I have received from posting it to piss you off, little man.
Once again p-bag, and for anyone interested in an explanation about what pawi brings up in 40, check comment 52 at http://www.rjkoehler.com/2009/11/16/is-samsung-getting-too-big/
Oh, and pawi, thanks for making my day^^
One more thing. It wasn’t the foreign minister, it was the Prime Minister Chang Un-Chan who knelt on both of his knees while meeting with the 37 family members of the Japanese victims who were killed in the Busan shooting gallery fire.
#28
You invoke y name in vain, Yuna? What example did I kindly give, and when was that? I have no recollection.
And when are we gonna have that beer? [winks at Shakuhachi - still keeping score, mate?]
thank you for directing me to that thread, cmm. it was quite revealing. i discovered that wangy actually does understand koreans:
‘Plus, Koreans, by virtue of their difficult history (and similar to the Jews) have this feeling that everything they worked hard for can disappear in an instant. There is a temporary and unbelievable feeling to their achievements and sometimes they are their biggest critics, but they tend to keep their doubts to themselves and a lot of it is locked away in Korean language sources so few expats get to see it.’
well said and true.
thanks, cmm. btw, could you tell us what movie star you’re mistaken for? will ferrell? danny devito? tele tubby?
@cm
I, a foreigner, would like to state here and now that I was shocked and chagrined when I saw the videos on Youtube that accused Kim Yuna of having had plastic surgery, buying votes, blocking other scaters and being hated by same.
I can not be sure who made these videos, although they purported to have been made and uploaded under multiple accounts by Japanese skating fans (the internet offers anonymity, so there is no way of knowing who did it), but they were certainly immature and offensive.
cm: does that satisfy you?
I think maybe this blog/the internet makes you hyper-sensitive. On the other hand, I do agree (and have thought this for years) that Korea raises intense feelings of love and/or hate (sometimes both simultaneously). It is a polarizing place. Must be the 4 seasons.
- said pawi
Here’s the link about me looking like a movie star, which only YOU claim I do. Anyway, I’m the one on the far right in the second row:
http://theyangpa.wordpress.com/2006/08/22/brad-pitt-look-alike-contest-winner-announced/
Figure it out for yourself. And keep it to yourself, please. Nice avatar.
the one on the far right with the cigg? not a bad looking man. perhaps a bit like burt reynolds. i have to needle you about that comment because it was just so strange. relax, cmm. relax.
i wonder how many old korean farts can recognize the pictures in my gravata.
hamel, i think it was you, and i think it was cmm who was the guy who asked (going by this particular thread, i think i’m right in remembering he’s the one who likes to bring up how the japanese are two-faced mantra is repeated to him in korea) so it was good that it came from a third party and it was also a very good/realistic example too.
ok i found it, it was you and cmm.
anyway ask cmm. if he doesn’t remember it either then there’s no point in repeating here because that shows people have selective memory only to suit their arguments and it’s futile to repeat it here.
“selective memory to suit my argument” because I didn’t remember hamel’s post? that’s rich, girl. No yuna, I just don’t let a single anecdote affect my judgement of millions of people.
go on, don’t let us stop you from keeping your judgement unaffected.
your positive judgment of the japanese people i agree with without reserve.
how you use it to take a jab at the millions of the other people i find distasteful.
when you say something worth considering, perhaps it will affect my judgment. but you haven’t in this post, and as I said, a single anecdote (hamel’s) isn’t enough.
I made a jab at 20 other people.
kim yuna herself said it’s hard to compete in korea due to the classless korean fans, said that she actually thought about pulling out of the game in Korea and agreed with jang miran who said she never wanted to compete in korea again:
article in korean
she says how she was put off by 3.3.7 clapping by people who could not have been to a figure skating tournament before, which is a spectator sport..
there! straight from the horse’s mouth, hopefully the koreans will learn from this because it comes straight from their love.
kim yuna is a star in japan with a fan base – she is a star because she is just better looking in that fresh girl-next-door way than ando miki and the other one who looks a bit like a bull dog who came third, and the japanese have had a romantic hankering for their favourite sport and have been yearning it to be dominated by a star just like kim yuna.
asada mao was their favourite, and i heard that there are anti-ando fans in japan who like mao. so the japanese love her, not only because they are classy but because there is more to love.
Good grief, Charlie Brown!
For someone who doesn’t give a damn about skating you sure are rambling on and on about it….
“I, a foreigner, would like to state here and now that I was shocked and chagrined when I saw the videos on Youtube that accused Kim Yuna of having had plastic surgery, buying votes, blocking other scaters and being hated by same.”
No Hamel, that is not what I was talking about.
i give a damn about kim yuna because i am a classless korean innit. kim yuna fan first and figure skating second. i am grateful to her for saving me from the eternal damnation of the bad taste kind trauma i suffered when i saw torvill and dean dance in their richard and judy style mediocrity to that damned, never-ending bolero. pam parapa pam parapa pam parapa.
#58, yuna, take a break from this site, as I will. It may do wonders. I plan not to post nor read this site for a while. I can’t anymore stand the permeating negativity that is equal to Korea. It’s too damn depressing and it hurts deeply to read some of the things written here, and I feel frustrated and wish Koreans weren’t like what are often described here and in other sites.
Guys, it’s all yours.
Pawi, the Korean, now cm… You’ll be back too.
I suggest you quit Stormfront and 2ch too — you’ll feel better.
Somebody call him the waaaaaahmbulance!
“Pawi, the Korean, now cm… You’ll be back too.”
Of course I’ll be back. I said I’m taking a break, not going away permanently.
“Somebody call him the waaaaaahmbulance!”
Sounds like your typical white guy in Asia.
Must’ve been a potty break.
as a long time expat once said about Korea. In the end, its impossible not to hate.
Korean fans are often just ranting nationalists. Most Korean fans are incredibly poor sports. They crave recognition and respect from others, while most of the time are unwilling to extend it to others. Someday, Koreans sports fans will learn to road to being respected begins with respecting others. Would Koreans love and respect the talent of Yuna if she were Japanese? I think not.
Are you talking about Akiko Suzuki, the 25-year-old, who came in third? What are you talking about? She’s not only gorgeous but extremely talented, despite being called “over the hill.”
Anyways, I find it sooo typically Korean when people start reducing figure skating to some kinda superficial beauty show. As for me, I look for the talent and the charisma that the performer exudes more than whether she’s a fashion plate or not.
And isn’t interesting that Western women are increasingly becoming either a non-entity or ridiculously young in ladies’ figure skating competition?
It’s as if American and European girls are too heavy from a mechanics and physiological point of view to pull off the stunts and jumps efficiently enough to justify their extremely high weight to thrust ration. To be fair though, it may be cultural, as white girls seem to balloon and hit maximum density earlier than their Asian counterparts, which is why someone like Akiko Suzuki, at 25, can still be an Olympic contender in the sport, whereas most American females at age 25, are practically post-menopausal and comfortable wearing size 19′s.
And why is that Kim Yu-na, who is about as Korean in her technique and skill as Canadian bacon (she is afterall a product of Canadian know-how, instruction and coaching btw), is and will be the ONLY world-class Korean female figure skater not only now, but for the foreseeable future, while Japan can turn out skating prodigies like Asada, Suzuki, Ando, Yamaguchi and Midori Ito — among many others — like its nobody’s business? What is it about the Japanese that allows them to have a global toehold in ladies figure skating that no other country has?
So… is it okay if I find it sooo typically expat when they start grouping every negative thing they see in Korea/Koreans as a “Korean” thing? Of course it’s not okay. It’s not as if there aren’t any individual characteristics among the ‘expats’, unlike the Koreans who are actually just clones of each other.
by the way, many people around where I live have told me the same thing about figure skating. Despite the fact that they looked white, black, hispanic, and Arabic, I couldn’t help but think ‘wow, what the hell did these Koreans do to their skin colors and bone structures?’
Probably because Japanese figure skating program is significantly older than the Korean one… and if you’re holding to the standards that you gave Yuna Kim on the “Koreanness” of her figure skating (whatever the fuck that’s suppose to mean…), you might want to strike off Asada, Ando, and Yamaguchi (who’s not even Japanese national) from your list…
Completely agree w/you bum…
8675309′s assertion that Yuna “will be the ONLY world-class Korean female figure skater not only now, but for the foreseeable future” is pretty ignorant. He obviously doesn’t know much about Koreans or has badly misinterpreted them.
Once Koreans see that success can be attained at a particular niche sport they devote a type of frenzied and insane energy to it that they somehow figure out a way to dominate it. So, be it archery, golf, speed skating, judo, etc. once they know they can be successful it it you see a tremendous amount of energy devoted to mastering it and creating some sort of weird assemblyline-ish chain of participants.
As I know it, there isn’t a developed pipeline of Korean figure skating progedies prodigies yet, but there wasn’t a lot of Korean golf prodigies in the pipeline immediately after Se Ri Park either.
8675309,
Can we have a logical conversation here? Now, if Japan’s breakout figure skater was Midori Ito in 19-fucking-88 and Korea’s breakout figure skater was Yuna Kim in, oh say 2007… that’s like a 19 year head start, right?
Is it reasonable to have the same expectations for Korea’s figure skating program as Japan’s?
@ WK
Well, I guess Korea will have more than short tracks to look at Winter Olympics 20 years from now…
Jappas are island people, they don’t have continental personality.
Lucky people.
Who would want a continental personality if they could be british!!
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