When Yong Eun Yang stunned the world by beating Tiger Woods for the PGA Championship yesterday, he became the first Korean (and full-blooded Asian) to win a major golf tournament. That thumping sound you hear? It’s 48,000,000 South Koreans beating their collective chests today in pride of their countryman’s achievement. (Take that, Japan!) Koreans been had math and science on lock but nothing makes a nation feel prouder than sticking it to Whitey excellence in sports. And—as with Korean entertainers—there’s no better place to make a name than on the biggest stage of all: the U.S. of fucking A.
To that end, and in honor of Yang, we’re celebrating the greatest Korean athletes in U.S. sports. Grab a plate of ddukboki, light up a cigarette, and enjoy! Pilsung Korea!
FUN FACT: Lead actor Yang Ik-June wrote, produced, and directed this independent movie, which has racked up awards at several international film festivals.
WHY COMPLEX IS CO-SIGNING IT: We’re all for consuming media via BitTorrent, Hulu, and YouTube, but nothing beats getting your mind blown by a powerful movie on the big-screen. Last week, we were lucky enough to attend the NY premiere of the Korean film Ddongpari (literally translated: “Shit-Fly”; American title: Breathless)—and honestly, we haven’t stopped thinking about it since. The movie follows the exploits of a debt-collector/thug named Sang-hoon whose first, second, and last resort is violence. After Sang-hoon crosses paths (violently) with an equally pugnacious high-school girl, the odd couple form a strange bond that provides glimmers of light in the dark chaos of their respective lives. Along the way, we learn how Sang-hoon’s past has marred his present and future…
Our favorite South Korean nine-girl pop super-group (that’s SNSD, suckas!) just dropped a video for the debut single from its second “mini”-album, which comes out this week. The new song, though not quite as catchy as “Gee,” is still pretty damn good, even if “genie” imagery in pop music feels a little Xtina circa ‘99. We’re not really feeling the new looks of Yoona or Sooyoung, but Taeyeon and Tiffany are looking better than ever and Yuri is forever a dimepiece. We probably shouldn’t print what we’d really wish to do with these girls if we had the chance…
BONUS VIDEO: After the jump, check out the video for The Wonder Girls‘ just-released English version of “Nobody”…and if you haven’t yet, vote on the hottest WG member!
Korea’s illest director Park Chan-Wook—the man responsible for the insanity that was 2003’s Oldboy—is about to drop another gem on us in the form of Thirst, his twisted take on the vampire genre. And no, this isn’t some teen-girl-wet-dream-Twilight bullshit—the movie debuted at Cannes, where it won the Jury Prize. Thirst hits U.S. theaters on July 31, and IGN debuted the American trailer (restricted!) last night. Finish up that Bloody Mary before you watch.
We consider ourselves somewhat of experts on Korea over here, so it was only a matter of time before we hit up the ol’ Hanguk for an edition of Worldwide Wednesday. With Kim Jong-Il testing nukes and kidnapping journalists, we figured the time was right for a little Korean love. South Korean, that is. Hey, close enough, right?
Given that plastic surgery is like a national pastime in Korea, we were sure to include at least some women who are (at least we think) all-natural. Whatever the case, we’re quite sure we’ve put together an unassailable list of the the 9 hottest women of (South) Korea.Daehan Minguk!
First impressions definitely go a long way. A few months ago, we featured pop star BoA in our post about Korean entertainers attempting to break the U.S. market; back then, we were highly doubtful about BoA’s chances of becoming an American star. But that was before we met the 22-year-old singer. When BoA recently stopped by Complex HQ to greet us face-to-face, our skepticism was softened by her affable personality and palpable drive to succeed. (And oh yeah, we confess—maybe it was just her effortless beauty that did the trick.)
BoA (a.k.a Beat of Angel) is no stranger to breaking ground in a foreign country. Since debuting in Korea at age 13, she has released successful albums in both her homeland and Japan while garnering fame all across the Asian continent. On March 17, BoA went stateside with her self-titled English debut, featuring production from Sean Garrett (“Run It,” Chris Brown; “Yeah!,” Usher) and Bloodshy & Avant (“Toxic,” Britney Spears). Tomorrow, BoA is scheduled to perform in Tokyo alongside Katy Perry and the Black Eyed Peas for the MTV Video Music Awards Japan. To mark the occasion, we present our Complex 7 with the singer, in which she discusses (in excellent English) her sneaker fetish and love for Eminem. Check out her responses and watch her new video below…
Korean pop starlet BoA is just lookin’ for a lil’ American love…
As prideful as Koreans are about their own country, they—like most non-European peoples—look to America as the ultimate barometer of pop-culture success. They might not fuck with U.S. cars, clothes or beef, but Koreans do respect the American entertainment industry. So, having already conquered China, Japan and SE Asia, Korean entertainers are now attempting to break the U.S. market. Starting with Rain’s role in last year’s Speed Racer and continuing on with the singer BoA’s U.S. debut this month, the Korean invasion of America has begun.
The actress Kim Yun-jin of Lost was probably the first Korean native star to make a cultural impact in the U.S., but she’s a small part of a huge ensemble cast. The rest of these cross-continent hopefuls are feeling the true Korean immigrant experience: They leave home with everything and arrive here with nothing, working their way up from the bottom. It’s assimilate or die. But will they succeed? We’ve assessed the chances of five Korean entertainers who aspire to become U.S. stars…
Our hopes have been answered: The U.S. is out of the World Baseball Classic, leaving us with tonight’s all-East-Asia final pitting Korea and Japan. That may not sound exciting, until you appreciate the shared history of the neighboring rivals. Think of Korea vs. Japan as sort of like the Red Sox vs. the Yankees, if New York brutally raped and pillaged Boston over a hundred times throughout history, terrorized generations of Bostonians over multiple decades and forced them to change their names, lose their cultural identity and speak only with a New York accent. Yeah, something like that.
To paraphrase J.M. Coetzee paraphrasing Rene Girard: The fewer the differences between two parties, the more bitter their mutual hatred. Korea and Japan are right next to each other and share similar bloodlines, cultures and economies, yet an extremely bitter tension still exists between the two countries. Why? Check out our breakdown of the Korea-Japan beef through history below…
NAME: Sang
NAME: Myles
