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Flower boy power

Lee Min-ho, Lee Min-ho, Lee Min-ho.

Everywhere you look right now, everyone’s talking about Lee Min-ho. And for good reason, since the formerly little-known actor has experienced a meteoric rise in visibility — and popularity — since last week, headlining KBS’s newest smash success, Boys Before Flowers.

The newfound attention has turned up pictures that show Lee Min-ho with another rising “flower boy” (i.e., pretty boy), Jung Il-woo. Actually, the pictures aren’t new and the friendship isn’t a secret — the two were high school classmates — but Lee Min-ho just wasn’t famous enough for it to be interesting until now.

The two friends will both be heading dramas simultaneously, too, when Jung Il-woo’s Return of Iljimae starts up next week. (They won’t be battling timeslots though; Lee’s on a Monday-Tuesday series while Jung’s is Wednesday-Thursday.)

Apparently, Lee had also been scheduled to make an appearance on the 2006-07 MBC sitcom Unstoppable High Kick (the show that shot Jung to stardom), but couldn’t after he was in a car accident.

As for Boys Before Flowers, despite some glaring flaws and criticism for overuse of CG, the drama seems (in my opinion) to owe much of its appeal to Lee, who is earning the lion’s share of the positive feedback. Say what you will about its problems, you can’t deny its popularity.

The drama also looks like it may be able to finally topple East of Eden from the top ratings spot, or at least prevent it from reaching 30%. Eden has dominated Mondays and Tuesdays for months, but now its numbers are starting to decrease while Boys‘ numbers are rising. At last count, Eden‘s episode 40 pulled in a 28.4%, while Boys‘ episode 4 scored a 21.4%. Even Boys‘ reruns are producing double-digit ratings — for instance, re-broadcasts of episodes 1 and 2 pulled in a 10.1% and a 15.1%. (For comparison, Eden‘s reruns in the same slot were a 4.6% and a 8.9%.)

Via Hankyung

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not a fan of the pants in the last pics...heh!

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the attention he's been recieving is well deserved because just like you said,
drama owes much of its appeal to Lee Minho.

I'm impressed with how the ratings of 'Boys Over Flowers' is good even after only 4 episodes being aired, the drama already have ratings of 21%.

I don't watch 'East Of Eden', but based on the comments of people that watch it, 'East Of Eden' is getting worst and worst.

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love love love lee min ho!

my favorite character and person on the show!
& he's adorable : )

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Why does he look like Takuya Kimura in some of the pictures? Or is it just me, huh?

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you just made me love him more.

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Lets hope the fame doesn't go to his head...

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@KERIK...

oh YES!!! Finally someone have the same thought with me. The more I look at him, I just gasp and sigh and gasp and sigh... he is the new Kimu taku. He definitly look like him the starring eyes and way of smiling and his nose too. I don't care with the rating or how they used the cheap cg I don't even care for the other F'4 yes Kim Hyun Joong (sadly ) too. Right now Lee Min Ho is my new boy. the one that I visit in my dream day or night doesn't matter.

I like him even more because he does look like the young Kimu taku!!!!

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*drool* the boy is just great!! I think I found my new crush now hahaha.
I thought my only prince charming in BOF will be Kim Bum, but man LMH is taking all of my attention right now. He's so good. He's so handsome even in his wavy hair. And his acting is superb.
fighting LMH :D

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Lee minho<33333
I know he's good friends with Jung Ilwoo, both of them are such cuties<33
They're eye-candy in my eyes @_@
Lee Minho does deserves his fame and popularity, i hope in the future, he'll take another good drama project~

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LMH ..the man of the hour! This makes me feel less depressed about Denial Henney getting the best actor award.
LMH is my hero for saving the otherwise surprisingly not that great Korean HYD. The Korean take of my fav moments in HYD ....the accidental kiss, the first date left me somewhat dissatisfied. I hope they don't make it too realistic because then it would just end up being a typical rich boy/ poor girl Kdrama. Over the top when it's done right is fun!

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"he is the new Kimu taku. "

I myself tried to fight that feeling, but I simply cannot deny it. Within 30 seconds of his proper F4 entrance, I was like "OMG. It's . . .it's . . OMG . .."

For a long time, I was ambivalent about Takuya Kimura as an actor, but as a presence, he was and is absolutely mesmerizing. It's the way his sneer, his intensity, his impatience transcends mere arrogance into a kind of feline sensuality. His presence is a hypnotic effect, an improvisation of blue notes, and you can't say no.

Lee Min Ho has that, and he may be the only other actor (Korean, American, Chinese, whateva . . .) that even remotely channels the same vibe as Kimura. That stillness, that immutable vortex. His charisma is so strong that even when Jung Pyo is doing bad things, he's absolute love anyway. He is a major star in the making, and I can't wait to see Lee Min Ho when the storyline gets to The Good Stuff (aka the Island Scene.)

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"Denial Henney"

omg. that's awesome.

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I love Lee Min Ho is handsome

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^-- LOL! Omg, that's just funny.

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How bad was LMH's car accident? A few scrapes and some healing or some major damage?

Hoping BOF dethrones EOE. I haven't been watching it, but I am sure it's a snoozefest. Oh, and I abhor SSH.

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LOL I like Daniel but even I think that's awesome. :D

"I don’t watch ‘East Of Eden’, but based on the comments of people that watch it, ‘East Of Eden’ is getting worst and worst."

You know, I think East of Eden actually got better after they switched writers. The tone is grimmer and sadder, and Lee Dong Chul actually seems now a dangerous, dangerous guy. There's less stylized dialogue (which admittedly has made President Guk less delightful.) As a result, the character do less speechifying, and they are much more realistic for it. It even looks like a different PD is shooting the series. The scenes are now shot much tighter (more like conventional TV), and it gives the action scenes a more claustrophic and immediate feel.

Having said that, you can also pick up that some of the actors look really unsure about the writing. Lee Dae Hae is almost winking at the camera -- "WTH is this?!?" :D

I don't see Boys Before Flowers overtaking East of Eden. (That would be just embarassing, since EofE is ENDING.)

But, BBF is kicking mountains of ratings ass. This looks destined to be the best performing KBS2 show in almost 3 years. This show has a good shot at achieving national drama status as a teen drama (which even Coffee Prince and Goong didn't manage.)

When EofE finishes, BBF's ratings are going to skyrocket.

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are EoE and Boys over flowers in the same timeslot ? I like both dramas and I can't wait for Eden to end but the dropping in ratings is so pointed at LDH exit >.< BOF will be able to pull a 30 easily due to teen romance storyline but why are teen dramas aired so late , my raw for ep 1 had 10:00 at the beginning....don't koreans have school the next day? hopefully both will be top rated ...BOF has already taken 1st place on mysoju but Eden is still top in Mon-tues and its changing daily but I guarantee that as much as teh rating is decreasing people will be extremely curious on how it'll end taht they will watch thge few last 5 eps or something....and stupid writer messd up YR.
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Lee min ho is doing such a great job if BOF ! i hope he will get his deserved award this year ! FOR HIMSELF and i am gettin use to jan di...her screamin is so overdone though

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hahaha! Was the "Denial" spelling intentional or just a happy mistake? (perhaps a Freudian slip?)

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Intentional!!! I really enjoyed writing that.
LMH has the star quality of Takuya Kimura but he doesn't have that androgynous thing going which Mr Kimura revels in. I hear he's a huge gay icon in Japan.
I find LMH a mix of Jo Jin Mo and Kim Rae Won.

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...He is really attractive.

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@belleza: word.

I shocked my friend's pants off telling them I'm actually enjoying BOF for what it's worth, and yes 90% of it is pure LMH. I'm not a fan of both J or TW versions of HYD. J: none of those boys r remotely pretty enough to be 'flowers'. TW: even for the genre..please just some tiny bit of acting. At least K has 2 VERY cute boys for me (and can act sufficiently well).

And he is screaming a very tall Kimutaku to me also, maybe even new and improved. I know he does resemble a bit of LDW, but LDW doesnt have his absorbing presence imho....and yeah a tiny bit of Jerry Yang (TW douminji) but he has zero acting ability even if all he needs is to strut and pose. (I'm not apologizing)

How tall r those boys?! geez, LMH is 185 already and his buds r all at least his ht if not taller.

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but...EOE....getting better...is still not saying much. *hug*

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I loved LMH's expression when the bimbettes showed him the photos. He suddenly got that focused dead calm look which reminded me a lot of Tony Leung. That's when it hit me.......this guy has it! That innate star quality.

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^ lol sonam, and I thought what's wrong with me droolzing profusely over him in that particular scene...

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Amazing how popularity can make an otherwise unnoticed event, pictures, seem extremely important to the public although its something which,to me, seems like well deserved attention... Lee Min-ho is my fav in the BBF drama. I just can't look away from the screen while he is on...hope his popularity stays strong, of course if his acting improves and stays strong as well

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I'm looking at the black and white picture....the fourth of them have similar face....or..is it tipical of korean male.....

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Am I crazy to think that Lee Min Ho looks better with permed hair than straightened?? Or is it because he portrays Jun Pyo so well that I can't imagine him looking any other way but with permed hair??? Ai ya ya!

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I'm not surprised his acting is pretty much the SHIT right now to me.
Yes I like his acting. I like how he proved me wrong when I was bitching about him not quite meeting the Tsukasa standard seeing as how Jun Matsumoto raised the bar up for me. I thought no one can take that innocence, angst and stupidity to another level.

Lee Min ho owns me.

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gawd, 2 hotties hanging out together. i so wanna be in the middle of that.

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@ Debbie -

Glad I'm not the only one. I think Lee Min Ho looks much more striking (in a good way) with the perm. He doesn't look as noticeable with the straight hair.

Anyway, I have to say Lee Min Ho is nailing it as Jun Pyo. His presence in the show always brings a smile to my face. Am loving his chemistry and interaction with Jandi to the point where I don't want Ji Hoo to come back.

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@ Debbie
"Am I crazy to think that Lee Min Ho looks better with permed hair than straightened??"
if that so, then I'm willing to join the club ;-) the boy looks HAWT in perms lol hehehe OMG I'm fan girling all over him!!

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I'm hearing his name all over school....I'm surprised at his talent watching the drama. The girls love him at school ~ wish him the best.

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Yeah... i think the permed hair sets him apart from all the other Korean actors, and I love that. With straight hair, he just looks like any other Korean actors.

Anyway, not only is he good looking, he can act too. That's something I appreciate very, very much! I hate watching shows with pretty-boy actors who can't act and I also hate pretty-boy actors who are famous just because of their looks.

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yep i also think he looks effing HOT with the perm! but he still look effing hot with or without it! i'm totally gonna be depressed with BBF ends and i won't be able to see him for a while! T_T

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i agree, there is a jerry yan resemblance! (strong nose + dimple, anyone?)

but mostly i think it's the character he's portraying (and how well he's doing it) that has suddenly made him so hot, looks and popularity-wise :D

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wow they all are so good looking! LOL..

Lee min- ho is pretty good at acting...

he is making me like him even more from his acting in BBF!!!

Loving the korean BBF!!!

:D

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I'm glad that he got this big break. He deserves all the spotlight. I really like his rendition of JunPyo and make it his own character. He just has a different aura.

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javabeans

gosh!! thanks for putting up more news about Lee Min Ho!!
gosh..i love him!!!

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@otk,

"are EoE and Boys over flowers in the same timeslot ? I like both dramas and I can’t wait for Eden to end but the dropping in ratings is so pointed at LDH exit >."

EofE and BBF run in the time slot (Mon/Tuesday at 9:50-11:00PM), and so they are competing. The last EofE episode drew a 28.4, on par with the show, and the finale should have a reasonable shot at finishing around the low-30s upon completion. And that's partially why BBF's ratings are so unprecendented in this current era of dramas.

BBF hit the 20s by episode 3. It took at least six episodes for similar teen-driven superhits, Coffee Prince, Goong, Iljimae, and My Girl to break 20. NONE of these shows had to compete with a show that was averaging 28+. NONE of these shows were run on KBS2, typically the 3rd best performer for trendies. Arguably, in the past 3 years, only rom-com My Name Is Kim Sam Soon has caught a bigger fire.

"BOF will be able to pull a 30 easily due to teen romance storyline but why are teen dramas aired so late"

Unlike Japan and Taiwan (where idols truly rule), teen/idol romance shows usually struggle for ratings in Korea. Part of it is the time. Much of it has to do with mom controlling the remote (and the shows are aired late), and teens tending to watch the show through stream (where a separate Netizen metric is used to guage interest) or on reruns. Teen-oriented shows usually don't do well with conventional ratings unless there's some kind of crossover appeal (Eun Chan, Kang Mae, etc.) Hong Gil Dong was a big hit among teens and Netizens, and you can tell it still drew buzz at the last KBS Awards Show. However its average conventional ratings were around 15, which is actually still pretty good. BBF has got it all: big TV ratings, huge Netizen buzz, and a true star in the making.

@sonam,

"I find LMH a mix of Jo Jin Mo and Kim Rae Won."

Jo Jin Mo is the Korean Antonio Banderas. :D

"I hear he’s a huge gay icon in Japan."

Yeaahhhhh . . . in the sense that Kimura Takuya is an ubericon in every sense of the word (they even retired him as a jeanist, because he won it like 15 years in a row!) I didn't really consider the androgyny part, because androgyny and vague homoeroticism are part of the fan service associated with "Johnny Boys." (See last scene in Nobuta wo Produce :D ) Even today, Lee Jung Ki and Korean boy uljjangs are mere child's play compared to Jin and Kame of the hyper-permed Kat-tun, or the entire cast of Gokusen 3. I've never seen luxurious hair until I saw Gokusen 3. :D

@mookie,

"TW: even for the genre..please just some tiny bit of acting. "

I kinda give a pass on the acting in Meteor Garden, because it was literally the first true idol show in Taiwan. Visually, they're still for me what I consider the most correct F4. Tall, tall, and uhhh TALL. :D Both Jerry and Vic have a natural, athletic masculinity that's actually closer to the idealzed F4 than the J-drama version. (Yes, Rui is depicted as pretty in the manga, but early Rui was also depicted still very much as a guy and a terrific basketball player. And of course Doumyouji is a brute straight up .) The typical "bishi" vibe associated with shoujo isn't as typically strong in Kamio's work, though it was played up a bit more in the J-drama version.

The Korean F4 is terrific too, true to the spirit of the original story, but also true to the Korean sensibility of "being what you wear." The attention to detail in their clothing, grooming, and so on more pointedly expresses each character's sensibilities in a way that the other two versions never intended.

"How tall r those boys?! geez, LMH is 185 already and his buds r all at least his ht if not taller."

F4 really should be tall, and it's true to the Meteor Garden requirement of all their actors being close to 6 foot. Obviously not done for the Japanese version. I guess they could have cast Tomoya Nagase (some men are sexy; Nagase is sex) as Doumyouji, but then there would be no point in Rui of the F4. And Inoue Mao (who's a big Kimataku) probably would have gotten into giggly fits being pursued by Nagase.

Come to think of it -- that is how I feel about Boys Before Flowers. Lee Min Ho is just so . . wow . . . that it's actually kinda hard to not feel like Jan-di is totally stalking the wrong guy. :D

"but…EOE….getting better…is still not saying much."

Actually my first impressions of EofE was pretty close to how I feel about BBF right now. For me, the "cute" Jan-di (as opposed to the "serious" Jan-di, who's pretty good . . . who knew Makino had multiple personality disordeer) may be the single worst female K-drama character I've probably ever seen. It's terrible. Stunningly stunningly terrible. It's Koo Hye Sun (who apparently never blinks in this show) doing a parody of Kim Ha Neul doing a parody of "The Girl" . . . after having snorted a few lines of coke while reciting Scarface on TV. She's not so much overacting as she apparently has a neuromuscular disease that prevents her face from twisting up over itself. Ironically, I don't even blame Koo for this. She's a good actor (and I liked her in Nonstop 5); but the director made a terrible, terrible choice in deciding that the most mannered, most extreme performance in the whole show should come from the main female character. Everybody else seems NORMAL compared to her. I'm more scared of Jan-di than Jung Pyo. Yet, having said that, I like Jan-di when she's not on the white horse . . . but so far the drama is more enjoyable as The Importance of Being Lee Min Ho.

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I myself think Lee Min Ho somehow resembles Choi Si Won of Super Junior.
While Si Won has nice, kind of aura, Min Ho has the cool, idontcaretheworld kind of aura.
I like them both, young pretty faced but talented and can act actors.

Since Javabeans mentioned, I always watch LMH's facial expressions and I love them to bits... Especially in epi 3 ( last ep I've watched ), when he amused by himself, when he got jealous, when he was angry..well all of them!

Lee Min Ho, dude, you surely have a bright future!

( well I don't think he looks like LDW, but that's just my opinion )

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@ Debbie

i think i am also crazy coz i think he looks hot with the perms...no one can pull that perm better then him...

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To all those that think Lee Min Ho looks better with permed hair, I think we should start a petition to ask him to keep it even after he's done filming BBF! just kidding... sorta...

I'm definitely in the crazy club now! WHEW! ;)

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kimu taku resemblance, definitely!

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I have a small tiny problem with Lee Min Ho; I like him, BUT it's like once it's your breakout role, you'll always be remember for that character. I'm not sure if I'll still like him as much when he's playing another character.

I think I fell for his smile most of all.

Oh, he also has GREAT lips. It's perfect.

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Gosh, I love Lee Minho - thanks to the drama. I never knew him before. I was rooting for HyunJoong and I fell in love with him and Goo Hye Sun instead.

He deserves all the hype. So yummy.

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what a bunch of good looking friends!!

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first of, omg those hotties are friends????? waaahhhh!!
i love those two.

@Emdash,

lol, i agree there.. i love KHJ but yeah i almost wish JH stuck with MSH in france or something. lol.

but i agree with the LMH comments. he has the star quality. i love it. he has the charisma too. i love that he can act with eye expressions too. so yeah he rocks. and i do hope he doesn't get type cast.

and just to note, how come it's always jan di being violent (ie. punching, kicking Jun Pyo, while i find JP's violence not as much in a certain degree) lol.

i was rooting for KHJ initially so much, but suddenly LMH just grabbed my attention ( though i still like KHJ) and Kim bum too is just love.

i hope the ratings skyrocket even more. i cant really get into EoE for some reason.

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What amazes me about Lee Min Ho is how it only took Joon Pyo two episodes (the first two of BBF) to completely won me over! I seriously do not know how he won me over cause at the first episode when F4 made their famous entrance at the school with the slow motion and the bright light, I was like "He's so unattractive" but by the second episode I kept on smiling to myself like a little girl whenever Joon Pyo appear in the BFF scenes. I love Lee Min Ho expression on episode 3 when he was at the bar with Jandi! I had to replay that scenes I love the way he looked at Jandi! Amazing and good looking actor

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i find myself smiling like an idiot whenever Lee Min-Ho is on screen because his character is such a M whenever he's not cool/moody/destructive. i think Lee Min-Ho is the perfect Doumoji look-wise because as much as i like Matsumoto Jun he looked like a gust of wind can break/blow him away. i also like Lee Min-Ho's portrayal of the character but i'm distracted whenever there's a scene of him walking since it's such a model's way of walking, like he's about to strike a pose. i only tune in BBF to get my weekly dose of Lee Min-Ho~~~ also Kim Bum and Kim So-eun

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@Bellezza
the whole comment about JE boys and Gokusen 3 make me almost laughing my ass of the seat... indeed those two (Jin n Kame) are beautiful boys...
and what you said about the taiwan F4 i also feel the same, they're TALL, compare to the J verse. Matsumoto Jun only 173 cm,and the tallest one (oguri) is about 184 cm, but he didn't look as tall as the taiwan F4...

since LMH's performance in ep 1, i only watched the show when he appears, to see the chemistry between him and Jandi or the other F4, or just admiring his good looks... and after last week he just got himself lots of CF deals if i'm not mistaken...
Go Lee Min Ho...

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My gosh!!! Lee Min-Ho is undeniably the best looking actor in recent kdrama history. He is simply amazing! I looove him sooooooo much! He makes me want to pack up my bags and go to korea and live there permanently!!! He is really UBER HOTNESS personified!!! I wish I can keep him in my pocket all the time! Hahaha!

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