No doubt about it, the Philippines is still Lee Minho country.
“I still recognize some faces of my fans (I first saw) from when I first came here after Boys Over Flowers….,” a visibly touched Lee Minho said in a talk show-style program Sunday (Oct. 15, 2023) night during the SMDC special event to mark the 65th anniversary celebration of SM.
Korean star Lee Minho, the Hallyu god who helped pave the way for the Korean wave phenomenon in the world, has one of the strongest—and most loyal— fan bases in the Philippines. He has been here three times at least, as a brand (Bench) endorser, the first time even before the K-drama and K-pop phenomenon swept the country like in many parts of the world.
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The last time he was here was seven years ago. Thus his visit over the weekend for the market-leader property developer SMDC of the SM conglomerate was hotly anticipated, the excitement so obvious in the presscon and in the deafening screams later at the SMDC dinner at SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
Lee Minho with SM Supermalls president Steven Tan and Jica Sy
In a presscon earlier that Sunday afternoon, the star said so himself how he felt elated seeing the welcoming throng at the airport as soon as he landed, reviving his old ties to the country.
In person, Lee Minho is a towering lanky figure (6 ft-2), his eyes so loved by the camera. He said that his sleep on the plane coming here was his first long rest in quite a while.
Lee Minho is familiar with the Philippines. He knows too well the local dishes, especially lechon and adobo (there are YouTube reels of his previous visits showing him eating those). His acclaimed movie, Gangnam Blues, for its OST, even has the popular Freddie Aguilar OPM hit Anak. (It was reported that in a local shoot many years ago, he asked the staff to play Anak to make him feel at home.)
In the presscon and later in the dinner event, he kept saying “Mahal kita” to his audiences. Obviously he remembered these most important Tagalog words.
He loves our islands. Asked in the presscon what he wanted to do to take a break, he said he wanted to go to a “quiet island,” and that anyone who wanted to recommend a secret-island destination could please “tell (him) in secret.”
The early popularity of Lee Minho’s many drama series, starting in Korea, of course, played a critical role in building the Korean Wave phenomenon worldwide, from Asia to Latin America. He has a huge fan base in Latin America—it is well known how his followers from Argentina flew across the globe many years ago to welcome him back from the mandatory military service in the height of winter.
For this SMDC event, there were fans from Indonesia who apparently flew in to get at slot at the dinner show and see the actor in the flesh.
Lee Minho fans are a loyal lot. At the talk-show dinner ,Lee Minho noted how many of them still call him Go Jun Pyo, the rich boy character he played in Boys Over Flowers. This drama series, released in 2009, became a pop culture phenomenon in Korea and some parts of the globe that were beginning to appreciate the power of Korean drama.
Like in global K-fandom, Boys Over Flowers and Lee Minho were the introduction of countless Filipino fans to what would be a growing obsession with K-drama. Indeed, Lee Minho was fans’ starter in this addiction.
Any K-drama follower is familiar with the Lee Minho classics, apart from Boys Over Flowers: The Legend of the Blue Sea, The Heirs (the dinner audience shouted the name of his character Kim Tan), City Hunter (this cliff-hanger captivated the netizens such that there was growing debate over its ending and the series’ producer had to issue an official statement clarifying its ending once and for all, whether the male lead died or lived), Personal Taste (our favorite, with Song Ye Jin), Faith, and many others.
Indeed, a Lee Minho filmography is like a road map to the evolution of K-drama
Indeed, a Lee Minho filmography is like a road map to the evolution of K-drama.
The actor’s latest coup is the foreign-produced series Pachinko, based on the acclaimed novel. Released on worldwide streaming site, Pachinko clinched Lee Minho’s reputation as a global star. Pachinko 2 will be released next year.
Asked what’s the secret behind his longevity, Lee Minho paid tribute to the love of his fans who, he said, helped keep him at the top of the game.
On a more personal note, he replied to the question about what to him were the essentials in setting up a home: “A bed,” he said, “double king-size…. a sofa…microwave.”
Later in the evening show, he said what was important was having a being when one came home, the warmth of a companion. In his case, this would be Choco, his mini pinscher so popular among his fans. And earlier he admitted that Choco was “getting old.”
He said he loved a home to be minimalist, in a nature setting.
It is interesting that SMDC explored the event to reveal its latest residences: Sands, Sail, Glam, Gold, among others. In the audience that night was the SMDC clientele.
To the surprise of the audience, he said that he Googles himself regularly, if not every day, because he’s curious about the latest, what the netizens are saying about him.
In the Balance question portion—Balance game being popular in Korea—he revealed that he preferred sleeping, that he’s a night (not day) person.
From a board of Post-it messages from fans, he was asked to pick a few. Among those he picked was a Post-it with a photo of the fan. He asked if the fan was in the audience—she was. Jumping with excitement, the fan went up the stage, and in tears, had a selfie with the actor. She didn’t want to go down the stage until she thanked him that she passed the board exams recently because he “inspired” her. She then broke down in tears.
That’s what we call the Lee Minho effect.
Lee Minho, known to be a video game buff, said that if he weren’t an actor, he would be a YouTuber today and talked about how he enjoyed watching people’s lifestyles on YouTube.
They played the popular YouTube of him diving—an awkward splash in the water. Host Sam Oh chided him about it. He laughed, like he did many times in the presscon, and at the dinner.
That signature Lee Minho laugh—yes, that was what Manila missed the most.
