Goong S’s Empress Myung Sae Bin openly confessed that she’s dating high profile lawyer named Kang Ho Sung when all hell broke loose with false reports that she’s getting married in September. The Royal Highness firmly denied talks of marriage but she did not shy away from discussing further details of her relationship with boyfriend, who’s 12 years her senior. They met at their church and they’ve been together for about two years. They are very religious and they often go to morning prayers together. Congrats to the new couple!
Kang Ho Sung
shrek alert! He’s probably a nice guy.
Aww, I’m happy for her. Her character in Goong S was so unlucky in love.
Ah, that’s good for her.
I wish her all the best~
He must be very kind and have a GREAT personality.
I wish them the best.
Popseoul,
In all honesty (and this will be brutal), why would any successful/rich/talented man want to marry a Korean celebrity–given that the vast majority of female Korean celebrities are high-class hookers?
The impending marriage of Myung brings the point home in particular, because I have a talented friend in finance who has slept with her as a favor from her “handlers.” We all know that this type of exchange happens regularly in Korean entertainment industry to the extent perhaps unimaginable in other wealthy societies. In fact, I have been told that it is literally impossible for a Korean female celebrity to avoid these type of “indecent” situations, even in the unlikely case she wants to remain chaste due to a whole confluence of factors.
So other than “I am banging a celebrity on a regular, nonpaid basis” bragging rights, what appeal does marrying a celebrity have for, say, a chaebol scion or highly paid law firm partner? It’s not like successful men cannot marry or sleep with beautiful women. Successful men can likely get women as attractive, except smarter and with more firmly grounded morals. In fact, if they want, they can marry someone else and sleep with celebrities on the side–and this is what the more shrewd among the successful men seem to do (I am not saying I endorse this immoral behavior, but again, it happens).
Seriously, unless I see a compelling counter-argument, successful men who marry celebrities are fools.
Gaek,
Although these “indecent exchanges” are rampant in the star biz, there’s no reason why successful men cannot love stars who were once involved in such exchanges. Love is so irrational and emotional that if you are looking for a better argument, you probably won’t get one.
They are in love and if he’s willing to overlook her past behaviors, then let it be. Also, marrying a pretty young celeb will feed the successful man’s gigantic ego.
But while we are having this discussion, this couple is positioned as a “religious couple” elsewhere. Ironic huh?
Gaek,
I’m sure this type of exchange happens in the Korean Entertainment Industry, but please refrain from over generalization. You have no proof that vast majority of Korean female celebrities are high-class hookers, right now, it is your assumption. Just because someone brags that they had sex with a big name female celebrity doesn’t necessarily means it true. Men, as we all know, love to falsify claims about their maleness.
Why are you only talking about the morality of women, what about the men? Please don’t give me that bullshit that women are the keepers of morality and men can do whatever they want. If this type of exchange happens, I think the chaebol and the actress selling herself are at fault. You seem to be amplifying faults for the actress.
Also, let me ask you this question, why would a beautiful, witty, and talented actress want anything to do with a dull and shrek-like Chaebol? One reason could be that she is tired of the pretty playboys and she wants to settle down with a decent, reliable guy to raise a family. I think it’s a reasonable exchange.
What is so special about successful/rich/talented men? Yes, it does look pretty on paper and when you brag to your family and friends it sounds wonderful. However, depending on the guy, it’s not all the great. The guy might be a total douche-bag with no wit or humor. It’s kinda weird how all these high- profile female celebrities are marrying these dull looking characters with no passion for life.
If they are marrying for money, haha to them.
“He must be very kind and have a GREAT personality.
I wish them the best.”
bwahahahaha….you mean “He must have ALOT of money.”
Lyn,
Thanks for your sanctimonious rant, but you’ve made two gross misrepresentations about my position that need to be rebutted:
1. How do you know if I am basing my opinion about the Korean female entertainers on the basis of a single anecdote I’ve heard from a friend (who may even be lying from your view)?
For the record, I actually do know quite a lot of well-placed men who have had these type of long-term affairs or single trysts with Korean celebrities–not just one isolated exceptional friend. In fact, one of them includes a high level executive in one of the three major broadcasting stations, who is a family friend.
Nonetheless, I understand that this is online and anyone can claim anything unless actual names are revealed. And given that I have no interest in revealing my name, the names of the said people I know (or the celebrities who were involved with them), this debate futile. So I won’t belabor the point. Nonetheless, if you really took off your rose-tinted spectacles and actually did some inquiring about the Korean entertainment business, you will soon find out that my “assumptions” [sic] are well-known facts. In fact, Popseoul herself indirectly affirmed as much.
2. Why do you prematurely go off on a rant portraying me as some kind of sexist? Did I imply that only women are to blame for this horrid state of affairs? Did I say that men are not equally (if not more) to blame as well?
Again, my point was not that Korean female entertainers are immoral or evil, but simply that successful men who marry them have better options.
In fact, I implied that THE SYSTEM (bold faced for ease in reading comprehension), not the female entertainers, are to blame by explicitly writing that “it is literally impossible for a Korean female celebrity to avoid these type of ‘indecent’ situations… due to a whole confluence of factors.”
Now I suppose you can find fault with my calling these women “high class hookers,” but I am using the term in descriptive, economic terms. These women are often sleeping with well-to-do men for material advantage, such as getting good roles; indeed often direct money exchange is involved. So I can’t call a spade a spade?
Learn to read before you hurling your vitriol at others.
Popseoul,
Yes, I understand the ego thing and in fact that was the only credible argument I discern in marrying these celebrities. But overlooking the past? Don’t these guys know that there are even sociological studies that demonstrate that women who are loose prior to marriage do not suddenly, eh, tighten up?
I bet you that marriages involving a female entertainer and a business or legal big wig usually have greater incidences of divorce than the population at large.
The divorce rate in Korea is so high that it probably won’t make a difference.
to be fair to our female celebs, let me put out there that these “indecent exchanges” happen with both male and female celebs. There are also many wealthy ajummas out there who pay loads of money to “play” with their mantoys.
Gaek,
Good lord, you sound like a conservative prick. Gosh, I hate how men, especially from conservative cultures, thinks that a women should have no history. grrr!!! Maybe this is too idealistic, but I think that people can grow and change.
“Again, my point was not that Korean female entertainers are immoral or evil, but simply that successful men who marry them have better options.” mmmm…I don’t know whether it was intentional or not, but you make it seem as though these men are better than the actresses they date. Roll my eyes>… what an elitist bullshit!
“…women who are loose prior to marriage do not suddenly, eh, tighten up” You can say the same for men. You’re amplifying the blame towards the actress rather than the men when it comes to the failure of the marriage.
Like popseoul said, love is an irrational thing, you really can’t help who you fall in love with. I know this might sound cheesy and gross, but love is about looking pass “” and forgiveness.
Lyn,
I see that a dialogue with someone of your ilk is beyond futile, given that you are always trying to distort others’ arguments for your purposes, esp. to score an ad hominem point. Reason is powerless against those who are not endowed with it.
So the only appropriate response is to go tit for tat:
Good lord, you sound like a liberal bitch.
Good day.
Popseoul,
Wouldn’t you agree that there is a difference between, say, around 50 percent rate and a 75 percent rate? I don’t know what the gap between normal folks’ divorce rates and celebrity divorce rates are, but I would imagine it would be substantial.
As for your emendation that the same whoring phenomenon occur among male celebrities too, I would point out two things:
1) From my understanding it occurs far less among male celebrities than female celebrities;
2) and perhaps more importantly, the element of coercion or strong persuasion is less present in the male celebrity whoring cases than their female counterparts.
Again, the above has to do with the entertainment industry as a whole, which is a reflection of Korea’s residual but still ubiquitous sexist or even misogynist culture. It is more acceptable to commodiify female celebrities or even coerce them into these unplesant sexual relationships than their male counterparts. Simply put: Women are forced to put out to succeed in the industry; men are not.
It’s an unfortunate situation, and it’s ironic that I am portrayed by one of your reading comprehension-challenged feminazi readers as “sexist” for pointing this unfair aspect of the Korean entertainment industry.
Gaek,
You did point out a valid point in that male whoring happens less, but from my understanding, it’s becoming more of a common practice for many male celebs these days. Of course, it will take some time for it to equal what female celebs are going through, but like you said, this difference has a lot to do with the societal views of women.
I would also like to point out that this “indecent exchange” happens mostly for financial reasons. Like in all countries, entertainment biz is so volatile and influenced by big power holders, that in order to survive in such industry, sometimes one needs give more than one would like.
Gaek & Lyn,
I understand that it’s very easy to get emotional on this sensitive topic, but please refrain from name calling, it just invites more emotional responses from each other, instead of encouraging an interesting conversation on this topic. But thanks for all your inputs so far. It made this post more interesting and I’m sure that many of our readers feel the same way.
“I know this might sound cheesy and gross, but love is about looking pass “” and forgiveness.”
Maybe for old, divorced, or financially poor men who can’t do any better. But for most good catches, falling in love with worn out and used women isn’t ideal.
How many super-rich/powerful men are there in Korea? I assume they are less than .01% of the population.
If these actresses are only having “indecent exchanges” with the elite, then at least they have pretty high standards.
Gaek,
Firstly, I never said that you were sexist. I never thought you were sexist, but since you claimed I did, I just went along with it. I do think you are very conservative.
Secondly, I’m sure this kind of “exchange” happens in the Korean entertainment industry; however, I was very annoyed by how you de-valued these women because they were involved in it. I don’t think their worth should be degraded because of a “mistake” or “wrong choice.” People make mistakes, I do believe in redemption.
Thirdly, you say that the “exchange” is an unfair feature of the Korean Entertainment industry and you feel bad for the ladies involved. Then why do you argue that chaebols have a better choice than an actress?
You’re very contradicting.
PASSION: “But for most good catches, falling in love with worn out and used women isn’t ideal.” Okay…I’m assuming, correct me if I’m wrong. You’re the type that hates prostitution and want to save those involved it;however, when you discovered that someone was once a prostitute you think and treat in a much lowered standard.
Passion and Gaek, what I’m trying to say is this:
simply look at the present.
These women maybe “experienced”, but they are still pulsating, vibrant human beings that deserve a little respect and redemption. This is a very Gandhian and Ruskin: every human being deserves respect no matter what.
I just have to say that LOVE is a funny thing and its funny how it works and that celebs are people too and that they may so some things they dont really want but have to and if they do i think its out of desperation. but if that celeb has real raw talents so why do it??? My belief is that some may do it but those with talents dont have to..
I dunno..
While I agree generally with Gaek’s observations, I disagree with his general conclusion that “successful men who marry celebrities are fools.”
I kno this type of whoring celebrities happens in HK too… does it happen everywhere? Jeez.. I’d hate to be one of those poor kids … nobody wants to sleep wit old ajummas and ajussis :/
she’s so pretty
hope she’s doin ok with her love life 