What did you say your name was? Part One

Just like in American film, tv, and music, Koreans have stage names. This is where it gets sticky for a Kdrama lover who doesn’t know Korean, and that’s me. Now that Judy is in school learning Korean, I don’t think this includes her, but, hey, for all I know all she’s learning is how to count to ten. Judy, weigh in! Yes, we covered counting a few weeks ago; right before I dropped out! ~Judy

Hyun Bin, the actor in Crash Landing on You, was originally named Kim Tae-pyung. From what I have read, the reason he adopted a stage name was that his birth name was difficult to pronounce. Really? For non native Korean speakers, I’d say both names seem difficult to pronounce!

Kim Woo-bin is another example. His birth name is Kim Hyun-Joong. He most recently was in the omnibus Kdrama, Our Blues.

Here’s a singer and actor who has adopted a stage name: Cha Eun-woo, whose original name is Lee Dong-min, was is in Rookie Historian. According to what I’ve read, he started to use this name exclusively only after fans started calling him by his role in a web drama that became very popular.

Let’s not forgot the women! IU, the uber cool singer, songwriter, and actress, was born Lee Ji-eun. Although I’ve never seen her in any of my Kdramas, I know she sang one of the songs in Crash Landing on You. She was in My Mister, one of the Kdramas on my wish list.

Shin Min-ah was born Jang Min-ah. She had the lead role in Hometown Cha Cha Cha. (This is for the romance followers of this blog. In real life, she and Kim Woo-bin are a couple.)

Lastly, and definitely best, is Son Ye-jin. Her birth name was Son Eon-jin. And I’m certain everyone reading this knows she’s married to Hyun Bin!

I think Pat may be showing off a bit here with her in-depth knowledge of all this! ~ Judy

Truth be told, I had to Google all of this info, except for Hyun Bin. He is what started me thinking.