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Han Ye-seul makes a bad situation worse

The netizen flame war has just taken a turn for the weirder, mostly because Han Ye-seul doesn’t know how to stop when she’s ahead.

The Tazza actress was on the receiving end of a surprisingly large amount of backlash after she apologized online (sufficiently, I thought) for a perceived insult to a fellow actor. The post on her homepage defending herself generated hundreds of negative comments. Still, at this point the controversy was on its way out — or should have been.

Not patient enough to let the matter die on its own, Han then replied — angry and frustrated, it seemed — to those posts on the 8th, taking offense at netizens’ comments.

Han responded: “I’ve seen plenty of your comments. But I can’t understand these kinds of attacks. I can no longer put up with comments saying I don’t have any passion for acting and only care about popularity. What’s the problem with me writing something on my homepage to my fans? I’d really like to see who you are. Want to see me in person?”

(By the way — and other Korean speakers, let me know if you agree or disagree — I’ve always felt Han’s Korean to be a bit…off. Assertive, maybe too casual. She’s not rude, but sometimes I wince when she says something that comes off a bit brash.)

So then, amidst the supporters and the haters, a bunch of netizen fans wondered if they should purposely slander the actress to win a chance to meet her in person. The homepage drew over 10,000 visits that day, until finally Han closed her site temporarily on the 9th.

You know, I get Han’s frustration, and sometimes you’re tempted to shoot back irritated comments when people post particularly aggravating ones on your site (I may have a little experience with this). But Han is a star, and this is a prime example of why stars should be careful when wielding the internet pen, particularly in a moment of pique. Homepages and fan interaction can do a lot for one’s career, but you’re only ever one impassioned diatribe away from joining the internet crazies (see: Mariah Carey, Rosie O’Donnell, Courtney Love). She’d have been better off keeping her mouth shut.

Via IS Plus

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All i can say is that though she's an actress, she's still human. I'm glad she's fighting back and don't let those crazy netizens to make her depressed and commit suicide.

I think she also wants to meet them netizens so that they can discuss it face to face. The problem with the Netizens is that they hide behind their anonimity, therefore can say anything they want to the point of driving the receiving to suicide.

aja, aja, aja HYS!

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this could go either way depending on the PR strategy for her image. who knows, maybe she could turn into the first female version of "shock jock" among korean actresses? (unless the culture isn't ready for that.) she's got enough charisma to wing it. though i always expected jung ryu-won to "crack" first - or was that just her screen character? :D

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Javabeans - "I realize the English is fairly tame, but it does read a little rude in Korean. It has kind of a “What the hell is your problem, you people?” tone, although those words aren’t used."

That's not the tone that I got from reading it at all. And she wasn't referring to everyone ("you people") when making that comment, she was specifically referring to that particular poster who wrote multiple harsh comments on her character stating that she had no passion for acting, only relies on her looks and popularity, etc, even after she left a lengthy apology. I don't think HYS came off as rude/brash at all, I totally could agree with her response which basically just stated that she cannot tolerate when people say that she doesn't have a passion for acting, and only relies on looks/popularity, etc.

If you can read Korean, you can see for yourself as I've uploaded the capture of her response her:
http://img360.imageshack.us/my.php?image=99917958li6.jpg

It sucks that when celebs in Korea sincerely apologize, in this case for an incident that really didn't need an apology, that they get bashed, and if they don't apologize, they also get bashed. It would've been better for HYS to not have apologized and let this die down because her apology, ironically, seemed to have harmed her more than it helped her. Most of the people didn't even watch the award show, let alone know that she left early, it's not an issue that typically would've went noticed, but her apology made it widely known.

Also, the comments left on the Korean articles related to this are so immature. The majority of people left comments stating that if it means that they'll get the opportunity to meet HYS that they'll start writing bad things about her too. I mean grow up. How immature.

I swear reporters in Korea must really have nothing better to report on than to go searching in a celeb's PERSONAL minihompy that only that celeb's fans would typically go to see, and try to make this into a big issue. Well, I guess it's a big issue since star's rarely respond to comments directly in Korea (as we can see why based upon this incident). These reporters should really go out of their office and report instead of surfing through celeb's minihompy's to find gossip related stuff to report on.

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Hm, that's interesting #54. The article (linked above) quoted her as saying: "여러분의 글은 충분히 봤다. 하지만 이런 식의 비방은 이해할 수 없다. 제가 연기에 대한 열정이 없고 인기만 따진다니, 참을 수가 없다. 제 홈피에서 제 팬들에게 전하는 글을 올린 게 왜 잘못된 것이냐? 정말 어떤 분인지 뵙고 싶다. 나를 한번 만나주겠냐?"

That certainly reads more aggressive than what you posted. This touches on a pet peeve of mine for Korean reporters who seem not to understand that quotation marks go around QUOTES, and that one should not go around changing verb conjugations willly-nilly within the quotations. In this case, press did not help with their reportage.

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"한예슬은 연기에 대한 욕심도 없고 열정도 없다"며 비방하는 목소리도 많았다.
이에 한예슬 역시 8일 다시 한번 글을 올려 제가 연기에 대한 열정이 없다니요.
제가 인기만 따진다니요"라고 불편한 속내를 드러냈다.

한예슬은 이 글을 올린 뒤 자신의 미니홈피를 폐쇄했다.

In response to the comment that said that a cyworld shouldn't be a place where you leave apologies? She responded by saying: how is wrong to leave a letter to my fans on my personal cyworld?
제 홈피에서 팬들에게 전하는 글이 어째서 잘못된 것이며
속사정도 전혀 모르면서 끊임없이 집요하게 비판만 하신다"며
"정말 어떤 분인지 한 번 뵙고 싶다. 저를 만나주시겠느냐"고 답답한 마음을 드러냈다.
강지훈 기자 jhoon@mydaily.co.kr

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"a feisty assertive Korean American gal"

Is there any other kind? ;)

"though i always expected jung ryu-won to “crack” first "

JRW has thought about quitting before, and she went through similar struggles as Han Ye Seul. The focus is on Korea here, but it's really like this in all of Asia.

Fangirl culture is what it is. Intense adoration. Intense hatred. Flowers and rotten eggs coming your way.

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#54 Based upon the way the article stated what HYS said, it does sound a lot more straight-forward and brash than the way she actually responded by changing the conjugations she used. This is why it's always important to look and judge based on the primary source than to fully accept as fact what reporters and journalists (secondary sources) say, since they often tend to change things up to try to make them more exciting/interesting and gain attention.

Also, in Korea and in the entertainment industry, reporters are known to twist a lot of the things that celebs say, and there have been many incidents when stars have expressed their dismay and frustration over this (i.e., when they see interviews they've done where the reporters have completely changed the context and the content of the things that they said during the interview). Same goes for politicians which is why they're always extremely careful with every single word they say and use so that it cannot be used against them.

#57 haha. I wouldn't know about "feisty," but more like a Korean-American girl who knows how to speak her mind when need be (not all the time).

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Oh, I definitely read reports with a grain of salt. However, I did presume that things that were QUOTED would be preserved intact. (I guess I can't anymore.) I have no problem with a reporter paraphrasing outside of quotation marks, but within them... Conjugations matter! That's not an issue of mere carelessness or drama-baiting, but a real lack of journalistic standards. Korea, plz fix.

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#59 Yes, I definitely agree. It's a big problem if conjugations are changed WITHIN quotation marks because it defies basic journalistic standards and surely the credibility of the author writing the article. Also, I find it disturbing when reporters take a few words or one sentence from a source and use it out of its original context. Although it might not be as severe, it's similar to doctoring results in one's research. Unfortunately, I doubt it's just a problem present in Korea. I'm sure lots of reporters around the world do the same.

Javabeans, I would like to thank you for continuing to provide us with impartial and well-written reports and drama reviews. Keep up the good work!

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it seems that netizens will never be satisfied. the actress has already apologised, so what more could she do? and it's none of our business anyway.

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Hi everyone,
anyone knows what is han ye seul website???
Thank..

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In USA, there are so many trolls and that's why they control what they say on fan sites. It's hard to find any discussion sites without them, and the trolling has gotten quite sophisticated. Don't Koreans get the same concept too or is that going against the grain of Korean net culture?

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people should moderate on bashings, abusive comments to avoid further losses. peace out.

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Hey thanks ZZZZZ...now that I got to read her response in Korean...it doesn't sound that bad. It actually sounds pretty restrained IMO. I would have really snapped off on those idiot netizens who think they know her because they've seen her on TV!!

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I'm glad she said something instead of doing nothing at all like most others. Netizens seem to think they are always right and they are never pleased with anything, so calling them out instead of just talking online is quite a move.

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I don't think she wrote that comment herself... Stupid reporters making all up.

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As for her Korean sounding a bit "off", it's probably due to the fact that she grew up in LA. I'm sure it has some level of influence. Hey, I'm not Korean and don't speak Korean, but I sure have seen enough Korean dramas to know that her Korean is flawless. For someone who grew up in the states, I'm quite impressed that she's so fluent in both Korean and English. I knew something was up when I heard her speak English the first time, haha. I thought, this girl's English is way too good for a Korean native! (no offense... I'm not trying to be racist... but let's be honest, non Korean-Americans usually have very thick accents when they speak English).

As for her "over speaking". I mean, yes, as a celebrity, it's best to ignore and leave things be, unless they get way too out of hand. But she's only human after all, and it's not always easy to just turn the other way or let things slide. Every now and then you're bound to react more. Sometimes it could be aggravated by other factors as well. It's not like she's been in the biz for decades or since childhood. Give her a break. I just hope for her own well-being, she won't let silly nonsense get to her in the future. =]

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In short, many if not most celebrities have had to make some kind of public apology throughout their careers at one point or another. Ya just can't win when the media decides to be nasty. You get criticized whether you apologize or not.

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