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Lesser Known Korean Stars #3 – Kim Min-sun/김민선

Today’s subject is 28 year-old Kim Min-sun (also spelt Kim Min-seon, or Kim Min Sun), who will be starring in the detective-horror Mask (가면) that will be released in Korea on the 27th of this month:

Although Min-sun is best known in Korea for her roles in dramas, of which she’s appeared in over fifteen so far, this movie isn’t as much of a departure for her as many young fans only familiar with her dramas will think, because actually she made her acting debut in the horror movies Memento Mori (여고괴담 두번째 이야기) in 1999 and then Bloody Beach (해변으로 가다) in 2000.

As the reviews in those links show, while Bloody Beach was a forgettable teenage sex/slasher movie, now only played on cable to fill gaps late at night, Memento Mori was the successor to the highly acclaimed Whispering Corridors (여고괴담) of 1998 (for many stills see here), which used horror as a means to highlight the harsh physical punishments, conformity and authoritariansim of the Korean school system. But in contrast to the explicit social commentary of that movie, which almost got it legally banned by several teachers’ and education groups, this reviewer says that instead, Memento Mori “only briefly touched on the relentless pressures of the Korean system of learning, electing instead to examine its fallout: peer pressure, forbidden same-sex love, teacher/pupil relationships and the eternal shame attached to the act of suicide on both sides of the divide.”

Still, because teenagers were its target audience, in conservative Korea its lesbian element had to be significantly toned down to give it a 12+ rating (remember that that was back in 1999 – Korean cinema has liberalized quite a bit since then). But it has been described as “the most inventive and eerily beautiful film” of that year, particularly for the “intense, compelling performances” of Kim Min-sun and her co-stars in their first cinematic roles. In short, a new actor of only 20 couldn’t have made a better debut, and next year she even won the Movie Reviewers’ “Best New Actress” award at the Baeksang Media Awards for it. Luckily for us, the whole movie is available with English subtitles on Youtube. Here are the first ten minutes:

Unfortunately, physical abuse is still a big problem in Korean schools eight years later, and if they if they spent two hours away from playing Starcraft and/or their cellphones, then Korean teenagers today would probably still be able to identify with the characters in the movie.

Kim Min-sun has appeared in several movies since then, including My Beautiful Days (스물넷) and A.F.R.I.K.A. (아프리카) in 2002, Low Life (하류인생) in 2004, and finally For Eternal Hearts (별빛속으로) earlier this year. I’ve seen several references from 2006 to a movie called Heavenly Creature (천상의 피조물) too, but have been unable to find any information about it in English or Korean that say more than this, and so in the end it may not have been made after all. If any ZR5 readers have any more information, please let me know!

But dramas have been her main focus, first appearing in Medical Center in 2000, and then in Like Father Unlike Son in 2001. Although her roles in both were very minor, again she won the “Best New Actress” award at the KBS Entertainment Awards for the latter. In this old poster for it, Kim Min-sun can just be made out in background at the back right: 

Since then, she has appeared in so many dramas its quite difficult to keep track! Some of her most notable ones have been I Love Hyun-jung in 2002, the first time in which she played a lead role, Fairy and Swindler in 2003, and then Han River Ballad in 2004, for which she won the “Second-best Actress” award in the MBC Entertainment Awards. Possibly because of that award, she played leading roles in two dramas the next year, first Yeong-jae’s Golden Days, and then Loveholic (stills available here). Loveholic was especially popular, and so again there are many different collections of all the episodes of Loveholic available on Youtube. Here is the first of one collection that has English subtitles:

With her hectic movie schedule in 2006 and 2007, Kim Min-sun appears to have taken a break from dramas, but earlier this year she did make a special about a trip to Queenstown in my native New Zealand called She’s O’live – Kim Min-sun in New Zealand, and here are the first and second halves of it:

I’m glad I found those videos, because I don’t want to give the impression that she’s only a serious actor. In fact, in addition to that light travel-documentary, she was part of the team of presenters on the slapstick-comedy program Hi Five until recently, and there’s literally dozens of episodes of those available on youtube…and what better to show her lighter side than a video in which her and her teammates are taught how to be cheerleaders by American professionals?

Finally, to round things off I’ve given a music video that she starred in for JYP in 2001, and under that some sexy dancing she did for some very appreciative Korean men doing their military service. I hope you enjoy it as much as they did!

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2. Lesser Known Korean Stars #2 – Han Eun-jeong/한은정
3. Lesser Known Korean Stars #5 – Go So-young/고소영
4. Lesser Known Korean Stars #1 – Go Ara/고아라
5. Ha Ji Won 2004 SBS Drama Awards