counterpoint

a recent wash post article about the mysterious appeal of korean men in the asian community is causing quite the stir. in this post i will give you an informal review of the most salient points.

the paragraph that amused me the most was this one:

"Entertainment industry leaders in Seoul credit the phenomenon to good marketing coupled with an uncanny response throughout Asia to the expressive nature of the South Koreans -- long dubbed the Italians of Asia. A hearty diet and two years of forced military duty, industry leaders and fans insist, have also made young South Korean men among the buffest in Asia. Most important, however, has been the South Korean entertainment industry's perfection of the strong, silent type on screen -- typically rich, kind men with coincidentally striking looks and a tendency to shower women with unconditional love."

yes, they are the italians of asia because they are all momma's boys and expect their wives to serve them. the secret behind their "strong, silent type" persona is simple -- there ain't much goin' on beneath that strong, silent facade, so it's either stoic silence or uninteresting conversation. you pick what you want to believe. and buff korean men?! really?! maybe they're all hiding in the motherland, but as a korean female who missed out on the 5'2"-size-zero body type, i must say that the buff korean men are quite few and far between, at least around these here parts (well, koreans in general are fairly rare around these here parts, except when patronizing the local karaoke joints).

the best part was when the single japanese woman who was featured in the article finally got to meet her korean blind date, and he "turned out to be a slightly paunchy Korean computer programmer."

now that's more like it, no?

(side note: i am mostly joking and must note that i have actually never had a korean boyfriend, so you must take my kidding with a grain of salt. i have, however, known many korean males in my lifetime and found the article to be extremely amusing.)