I’ve had these pictures from the 2013 Spring/Summer collection photoshoot for Korean apparel brand Chris. Christy (a total name ripoff of Victor/Victoria if I ever saw one) for awhile now waiting for the right time to post. Now appears to be the right time because I’m annoyed and need to set some fangirls straight. I initially was posting this to update folks on Won Bin, since the elusive actor does like 1 project every few years and in the interim coasts by with endorsements and god knows what, making a sighting of him as improbable as a glimpse of the Loch Ness monster while cruising around Lake Loch Ness. Now I’m posting this because of his endorsement partner Kim Min Hee, who this week confirmed that she was dating fellow high profile K-actor Jo In Sung. Because he recently did a popular drama That Winter, the Wind Blows with Song Hye Kyo, I’ve seen Kim Min Hee bashed left and right as not good enough for him, some two-bit not famous enough actress, not pretty enough….well, you get the picture.
When I came across these new Chris. Christy pictures a few weeks ago, I was reminded of just how striking and model gorgeous Kim Min Hee is, and here she absolutely rocks the chemistry with the usually closed-off Won Bin. When my Moon Geun Young was paired with Won Bin a few years ago for Basic House, it was one of the worst endorsement campaigns ever on the couple’s chemistry (lack thereof) alone. Kim Min Hee is a terrific actress, one who went from sucking donkey balls when she first started to breaking through by sheer hard work alone in Noh Hee Kyung’s exquisite Goodbye Solo, and now a A-list movie star In her own right. I’m of the belief that Jo In Sung is the lucky one to have landed her. She may not have pan-Asia name recognition as Song Hye Kyo, but she’s an A-list actress in Korea on talent, star power, and critical acclaim. I love these Chris. Christy shots so check it out. I’ve also posted an awesome video from one of my favorite rom-coms ever Love Marriage starring Kim Min Hee and Kim Ji Hoon just for a nostalgic walk down memory land.
Kim Min Hee is not classically beautiful in the way Korean drama viewers have been force fed the same wholesome beauties of the girl-next-door variety. I think Song Hye Kyo and Kim Tae Hee are beautiful and all-natural in a mass market way, but Kim Min Hee (and Gong Hyo Jin and Kim Ok Bin) are the all-natural quirky beauties that add diversity, spice, and uniqueness in the increasingly homogenized world of “beauty” in Korean entertainment. I recently saw a gif of all the 2013 Miss Korea contestants in a flashing slide and its the most freakish thing ever. Every single girl looks exactly the same (big eyes, high pert nose, cheekbones, shaved jaws, wide smile) that the gif looks like one girl going through many different hairstyles. Its moments like this which make me appreciate beauties like Kim Min Hee even more.
Won Bin and Kim Min Hee for Chris. Christy:
I think Love Marriage as a drama is only so-so narratively. But it has some great quirky characters and fantastic cast chemistry, especially between Kim Min Hee as the matchmaker extraordinaire and Kim Ji Hoon as the divorce lawyer. Watching this MV makes me want to find time to rewatch the entire drama again, it really is so entertaining and low key with a sweet romanticism that isn’t overdone. If K-dramas have redefined makjang, this drama goes in the opposite direction and personifies restrained and mellow. Love it!
Love Marriage Kisses MV:
thanks for this post. not a won bin fan (ducks rotten eggs) but kim min hee is a gorgeous actress and i genuinely like her. she’s unique in her own way and that just makes her stand out more among the mehhhh “beauties” of k-ent. love & marriage was a really sweet drama – i confess, i was shipping her and kim ji-hoon for a bit, haha, because they looked so good together. so i totally agree that jo in-sung is the lucky one to be dating her.
still kinda wished she and lee jung-jae had lasted though.
She’s lovely. I like her unique features 🙂
Kim Min Hee is freaking gorgeous, and not just some cookie cutter pretty actress too.
Thanks for posting this about Kim Min hee. I’m really pissed off when fans are bashing here left and right just because she’s Jo In Sung’s man when they don’t know anything about her. I hope these delusional fans would read they would realized that Kim Min Hee is not just a so-so actress.
I mean Jo In sung’s woman.
Why do all the Korean ad campaigns look the same? Why do they make the actors and models look like mannequins? No one beats the US at stuff like this and the Japanese also do interesting ones.
Won Bin looks like Chen Kun. And beside looking the same, I feel that they are both talented in acting and electrifying eyes.
That’s what I alway say too. It’s funny how u and I catch that.Those 2 look so alike. I also thought that
Lee Dong Wook looks similar to them. Maybe that’s why I like them b/c they are are so damn good looking and also very talented. ^O^
I confess when i read Love & marriage recaps, she looks ehmmm, well… then watch her in action, i felt like being smack in the face, she gorgeous, just need the right style, and people will know what i am talking about. this endorsement show how beautiful she is. for me, she is the healthier version of Lee yeon hee (based on face).
Although I think she’s lovely in 2D, I agree that it’s in 3D where she really shines. She has such a bright spark inside her– you need to see the twinkle in her eye and feel her charisma in order to appreciate her fully.
I just started watching Love and Marraige and she is STUNNING with her hair up. She looks a bit weird to me with her hair down (in that similar haircut) and looks oddly attractive which is my favorite brand of attractive. before I only saw pics of her and just thought she was weird looking, same reaction here too.
Some people don’t get that what gets relationships going is not looks but compatibility. Kim Min Hee is gorgeous by the way, I’d prefer her a million times above the usual symmetrical faced, “perfect” beauties that people cannot stop gushing over.
Maybe the physical traits are supposed to be the appeal factor, maybe even something that draws one person to another.. but it’s definitely like you said.. Compatibility, feeling a connection, giving it a go. That’s what keeps a relationship up and strong.
She is lovely but no comparison with SHK whom is way more beautiful ! But I don’t even know why to compare with SHK it’s not like he’s in loveline with her after TWTWB !?
I admit that she isn’t as beautiful as other actresses and I haven’t watched any of her drama ! But IJ looks younger than her actually ! Ha though I hope them the best !
SHk might be ”prettier” in the yes of others, but I don’t see a sparkle I see when KMH on screen, KMH is alive, gorgeous and has something that pulls you in, while SHk is just there, pretty but boring.
HELLO! Happy Saturday morning to you!
I love these – both seemed so relaxed in the photos. The colors are lovely and muted.
Thanks for the peritty.
Miss Korea (Daegu) Contestants:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/25/miss-korea-contestants-2013-photos_n_3157026.html#slide=1033960
from th article:
“As for the Korean ladies, it’s unlikely that all 20 have undergone cosmetic procedures –”
oh it’s VERY likely…probably the case actually.
Love Marriage is one of my favorite Dramas. Too bad it wasn’t that popular. No DVD Box T_T.
Love Marriage forever has a special place in my heart. I would not mind rewatching. I really enjoyed the low-key vibe of it. Plus, I had grown fond of Kim Ji Hoon, but this drama made me really like him heh They had such a cute, sexy romance that actually felt semi-real. The drama was sweetness galore that it always made me happy 🙂
OMG, read the title and imagined ‘wet and sexy for Chris Christie’. Ahhhh, mind bleach needed!! 🙁
haha and EWWW!
Same here LOL
She is lovely. I like her acting. Won Bin is easy on the eyes too.
I saw the 2013 Miss Korea contestants too. Yes, these women all looked similar. It’s a shame this has become the standard of beauty.
KMH in real life is a good friend of SHG so I don’t know why people are bashing KMH for dating JIS, I am sure as a good friend SHG knows about the spark between her co-star and her good friend.
To make it simple, KMH is for JIS coz Won Bin is for SHG :).
not really a fan of JIS or KMH or any other actor mentioned in this post. they can date anyone they like for all i care. wish them all the best.
Out of topic. that is the most boring ad campaign i have ever seen. it is just meh…. nothing compelling about it… nothing about it makes me wanna go out and buy whatever it is they are selling….
I have to admit that I have never watched any of kmh dramas and I didn’t think she was pretty based on the pics. But after watching the videos you posted, I think she is really attractive. Love her eyes – there is something very alive and expressive about them. Now I feel like watching love marriage! (love Kim ji hoon !!!! He looks so young here.) is it worth a watch ?
P.s. won bin looks really chiselled in those pics. Is that his usual look?
This post is very timely I have been watching Love and Marriage this week and I am only 2 episodes from the end. I agree with everything you wrote about it. It is my first KMH drama and I find her charming. I also love KJH so the drama is a win for me. But I still can’t help feeling that she is playing a role for JIS. Whenever I watch him my gaydar goes off. I love him and hope that he is happy but I am sad for him if he has to hide who really is for the sake of his profession. Though I am sure he is not the only man in Korea (and elsewhere) that has to suffer like that. I just hope that whatever the situation KMH is not hurt. And yes! This is just my two cents so please JIS fans do not get upset and start writing angry responses.
I get it when fans bash some actrice being paired with an actor for drama or a movie, but when it comes to real life, i think its none of anyone’s business. I don’t think we can say who’s better then who, cuz we don’t know them in real life. When it comes to looks, I think she’s pretty but I don’t see her as the prettiest, but I’d choose her looks over any face thats just a copy because of plastic surgery.
Thank you so much for this, Koala! Kim Min Hee rocks! And I’m so glad that you brought up the issue regarding the epidemic of plastic look-alikes. Btw, it turns out those were MIss Daegu, and not (yet) Miss Korea contestants. I’m really disturbed by the trend of so many SK women following the same plastic surgery template. It’s like everyone’s trying to look like a Korean Barbie. I worry about all of the young, beautiful girls who don’t see themselves as being beautiful because they don’t look like all the (plastic-looking) K-pop stars and actresses whose images they’re bombarded with.
i loved Love Marriage and just watching the clip reminds me why, both were so quirky and had their own issues and imperfectly perfect.
Certainly she is unique.I thought she should be around 40 based on those pictures. At first I admired her for having such a energetic look at that age. After checking her profile, OMG! What a surprise! She is only 31! Can’t believe it. Double check, Wikipedia stated her birth date March 19 1982, AsianWiki March 1 1982, OMG! MY judgement is always accurate because I used to do guessing. Why?
Cigarette & alcohol do accelerate the ageing process.
Ms. Koala
Just finished the final epsiode of Love and Marriage and wanted to see if you or anyone else felt the same way I did about the ending. I have rarely seen such a satisfying closure for the non-otp couples. I thought that they way they handled the goodbyes of both the exes was wonderful. The ride to the airport with KJH and his ex-wife lovely and the bike ride down memory lane with KMH and her ex-boyfriend was really moving. I am sorry that more Kdramas dont give the non-otp pairings the same sweet, dignified and emotional closure scenes such as this show did. Bravo! Though I never felt that the OTP had any real chemistry they are both very likeable and the show was as Javabeans says in her ratings “like a meal of dessert. Sweet filler, but speedy, flirty fun.” I could not say it better.
I completely agree with your comment. One of the reasons I love this show is becuase the second leads are not so perfect that you feel sorry for them in their “forever alone” state or so bad that you want to punch them every time they are on screen. It was a very mature ending to me because people in real life sometimes just change and love other people and in the show there was none of this “we must remain together because you were my first love” crap that is often shoved down our throats. They all seem very grown up. I am always sad when shows like this do not do well in the ratings because it means that we will get more of the other angsty, birth secret, exgirlfriend/wife as harpy shenanigans.
Trotwood you have nailed it. I am always sad to see shows that handle things in a more mature and realistic way not do well with ratings. I have such a problem with tendency for the “angsty, birth secret, exgirlfriend/wife as harpy shenanigans” that I almost exclusively watch shows after they have completed rather than while the are airing because I have been burned far too many times.
Who knew people were being idiotic about someone else’s love life? Minhee is one of my all time favorite Korean actresses and one can only congratulate and hope they are able to build a happy and solid relationship. Who cares if she’s not pretty or famous enough for some fool in who has no stake to make or break their bond?
My only issue is when will people learn to stick to their own business and not to assume anything of anyone, especially being you don’t know any of these individuals personally? The peek fans get into an actor’s lives and loves in so minuscule it’s laughable anyone tries to have opinions that don’t rest in indifference or pleasantries.
It’s refreshing to see an actress not of the cookie cutter variety. Thanks for the walk down Love Marriage lane. Now I want to rewatch the whole thing!
Maybe the photo-shoot should have been Won Bin and Song Hye Kyo. 🙂
That would have been PERFECT !!!!
Someone looks younger that kim min he will be a better match for won bin.
She is 31? I thot she is older than that! I’ve just found out that CL of 2NE1 is only 22! I thot she looks older than that! Some Korean actresses look older than their age…
Won Bin looks younger than his age….Im always a fan! 🙂
I love the photo.
Good call, Koala! I really hate it when people fail to grasp the difference between acting and real life. Two actors’ sizzling chemistry (or the lack thereof) does not automatically equate to love or hate for realsies. They can like it each other to pieces but still act
Dang it, computer fail-ups!
As I was saying, two incredibly good actors can make us believe that they are passionately in love with each other when in truth they can’t stand each other’s guts. Rarely does it happen that co-stars actually fall for each other and date (not everyone’s Eugene and Ki Tae Young, you know). Sure it can happen, but sadly not all the time.
Also, those who bash on Kim Min Hee for being undeserving of Jo In Sung: I really wish you just stop. If you truly love JIS, you would respect his choice choices and not push your own down his throat. He’s an adult and he knows what he wants.
And, oh, be sure to check out some of Kim Min Hee’s body of work because she actually is an amazing actress. She is in no way an “unknown”. Really, before you judge her (or any other actor) be sure to check her talent first. Watch dramas and movies even of people you don’t know and you will discover many great talents. During my Lee Byung Hun phase, I discovered Hwang Jung Min, Park Hae-il because of Song Kang Ho.
i don’t find her attractive, she looks like a comedianne….not pretty!
Yes not pretty not attractive at all.
Agree, jo in sung is very lucky to have her.
Wonder why people call her “motherly looked ahjumma”. Maybe she looks old, much older than jo in sung and older than won bin based on some of the pictures.