Jung Seok-won for Esquire

51 Newbie

April 24, 2013 at 11:17 PM

OK, I know I'm in the minority here, but all I can think of seeing muscled men like him is how much time they need to invest to get such a body. Hours. And all this time could be spend so much better! Like reading a book. Nourish your brain so you won't become boring during the years. Imagine you'd have to live with such a (very likely) vain man. Diet and sports. Nothing much else.

Yep, bluntly generalizing and party pooping, but so it is.

(Now I've outed myself as a really old ahjumma, coming from a generation which didn't care about lots of muscles and e.g. manscaping *eek* at all.)

That said, I like him and am enjoying White Christmas right now.

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ck1Oz

April 25, 2013 at 12:17 AM

Actually a couple of hours a day is all it takes 5 days a week.
Plus a good diet. Besides a healthy person lives longer and has more energy to do things. They sleep better too.
So he may be more effective doing other stuff.

He is an actor after all and needs to look after his looks/body and he's only 27. He's finished his army, has stead jobs and ready for a wife. Plus exercises regularly.

How many bookworm guys are ready for these at his age?

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Newbie

April 25, 2013 at 12:23 AM

Oh, I'm all for sports. But a regular person doing the by doctors recommended amount of exercise doesn't look like this and is still fit, full of energy and healthy.

Actually these kind of overtrained bodies don't look healthy to me. At all. But as I said, I come from a different generation that didn't follow this body cult like it is today. :)

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bd

April 25, 2013 at 12:38 AM

Actually, if a guy has the genetics, all it takes is an hour in the gym 3 to 4 times a week and eating right (can eat a lot, esp. protein and vegetables, but cut down on the carbs).

Also, the lighting for the shoot really shows off the muscle definition - he wouldn't look as muscular in normal lighting conditions.

And JSW isn't that big - having a gymnast's build tho probably on maximum side of size/musculature for what many women like); he's not like Kim Jong-kook who really is close to a body builder's type of physique.

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KDaddict

April 25, 2013 at 3:55 AM

He's an actor, so looks come first. They r forever dieting: steamed chicken breasts, boiled eggs for protein, salads n steamed veggies. To keep up that kind of physique, it takes at least an hour in the gym every day, acc to other K actors w choco abs (interviews).
She is a crooner. 2 entertainers r a good match. For the rest of us, whatever type we want to grow old with in real life, drooling over his pics on a monitor is a sure win.

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skinnymocha

April 25, 2013 at 8:09 AM

Ooh, so I'm not the only one who finds it a turn-off. As someone has said before, it looks too much like an "ornament."

Btw, I'm only 21...

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skinnymocha

April 25, 2013 at 8:10 AM

And congratulations to the couple!

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52 Valerie Gudorf

April 25, 2013 at 12:31 AM

Interesting, the question of whether he's considered attractive to the average Korean woman because, "he's not pretty." I can't imagine that such an exquisite example of male pulchritude wouldn't be considered smokin' hawt by a goodly portion of the female Korean population. He'd be seen as smokin' hawt by a goodly portion of American women, if only they knew he existed. I imagine flower boys (the pretty, slightly feminine sort) are more popular among a younger demographic, just as Justin Bieber (an American flower boy if there ever was one) appeals to a younger demographic here. But a real man---well, let's just say it takes a grown up woman to appreciate.

The Western notion that Asian men aren't sexy/manly is just all sorts of wrong. Just wait until the plethora of Asian sexy starts to become better known here in the U.S....We'll see what becomes of that ridiculous idea.

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bd

April 25, 2013 at 12:39 AM

"The Western notion that Asian men aren’t sexy/manly is just all sorts of wrong."

- You can thank Hollywood and Madison Avenue for that.

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lili

April 25, 2013 at 1:40 AM

Are you implying that women who don't appreciate those kind of men (burly and manly) are not grown up women? lol, you know beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I'm in my thirties , though I like my men to have some muscles (who doesn't?), too much is definitely a turn off...that's my
opinion. And no, I'm not into Justin Bieber type either.

I might be in the minority but I don't find this photo shoot "sexy". Don't get me wrong, I like Jung Seok Won as an actor but looks wise, he's not my cup of tea (moreover he does look older than his age).

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bd

April 25, 2013 at 3:49 AM

I never stated that.

I stated that there were women (not girls) or liked masculine as well as those who didn't.

And I also stated that JSW is at one end of the muscular range which many women find attractive (most women don't go for the body-builder type), but even then, he would be too muscular for some.

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lili

April 25, 2013 at 4:22 AM

Sorry, my reply was aimed to Valleydale's comment...but thanks for clarifying your view on the subject.

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Hazel

April 25, 2013 at 6:09 AM

Yeah, I hate that implication that "real men" have to be these big, muscly burly types, which is analogous to that "real women have curves" line of thinking that body shames any skinny girl for having the "body of a ten-year-old boy" (you hear that line about stick-thin girls all the time); of course, I appreciate that in the women's case they're trying to fight back against societal pressure to be unhealthily thin, but I think all they're doing is adding to a culture where women are criticized no matter what body type they have.

And though I don't find Bieber remotely attractive, the 'lesbian' insults he always gets bother me.

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Quiet Thought

April 25, 2013 at 4:54 AM

Hmmm . . . as a hetero Western male, I hadn't heard that East Asian men aren't considered sexy/manly. Of course , the only East Asian males I've seen recently outside of character roles are Daniel Dae Kim, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li.

Still, it would be helpful if Hollywood found more roles for East Asians other than the token stoic martial arts expert on the team.

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katmoo

April 25, 2013 at 11:06 AM

Agreed!

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53 crazykel

April 25, 2013 at 3:56 AM

He's soooo fine! Baek Ji Young is so lucky! My blue ranger forever!

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54 malta

April 25, 2013 at 4:50 AM

Despite how handsome this man is, this is a weird and unattractive photo shoot. Fashion is creepy.

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55 SuzieQ

April 25, 2013 at 6:02 AM

Holy hell.

I don't think I can say anything else coherent right now.

*scrolls back to the top*

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56 kumi

April 25, 2013 at 8:12 AM

Has anybody found the shadow on pic 2 a bit naughty? ;)

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57 whatsthescenario

April 25, 2013 at 10:19 AM

Can I get an AMEN!!!!!!!

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katmoo

April 25, 2013 at 11:07 AM

AMEN!!!!

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58 beggar1015

April 25, 2013 at 12:04 PM

I'm just here to read the article.

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59 Ophie

April 25, 2013 at 2:04 PM

I can't stop laughing at all the comments. I think the reason I am laughing so hard is because I agree with most of them and I'm a little embarrassed. :)

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60 meanrice

April 25, 2013 at 2:55 PM

I dont have an appreciation for those suspenders. Like they are preventing a very important image from being captured.

Pout!

Congrats to him and Baek Ji Young. Their babies will be cheek-pinch cute I bet.

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61 Valerie Gudorf

April 25, 2013 at 5:57 PM

Hi, Lili. Apparently I wasn't clear in my post about what "real women" (read, more "mature" women) find attractive. Please re-read what I wrote. I was actually responding to the idea that he's "not pretty." "Pretty", to me, brings to mind "Flower Boy". Now don't get me wrong, I can appreciate the attractiveness of many a Flower Boy. I used to have a major adolescent crush on David Cassidy back in the day, for instance. But, being of a more, let's just say, "seasoned" age, I find men who couldn't ever be mistaken for jail bait far more attractive. Flower Boys don't make me want to fan myself in the same way someone like Jung Seok Won does. I made no comment about his muscular build (though I do think that contributes to the hawtness), nor did I disparage anyone for whom such a physique leaves them cold.

Mostly, my post was "musing out loud", so to speak, upon ideas about what constitutes "pretty/Flower Boy" and what constitutes just plain "Hawt, sexy grown up male." And before any one says those traits are not necessarily mutually exclusive, I will readily concede that to be a fact as well.

Lastly, while watching K, J, and T Dramas, and looking at many DB posted photo shoots, I have marveled more than a few times over the very unflattering image of Asian men pushed by the American entertainment industry. That's how
the idea that it's "all kinds of wrong" came about.

I respect that you don't find Soek Won's body particularly sexy. Were he any more bulked out, I would heartily agree. I find the bodies of competition body builders, for instance to be somewhat freakish, and to be honest, just plain gross. But, as they say, YMMV. Everybody is entitled to their views of what's sexy, I didn't mean to sound as if I felt my view invalidated anyone else's.

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