There appears to be some sort of a gap between Korean and international audiences when it comes to why the Geoje episode went viral, and here are some thoughts from me:)))
A lot of K-pop idols nowadays come from Seoul or wealthy backgrounds. It’s become much less common to see idols who grew up in small places, and woni, in fact, is from Geoje, a city near Busan. Compared to Seoul, it is really rural.
When the PD asked her, “If you had the chance to choose again, would you still want to be born in Geoje?” she said. “After living in Seoul, coming back here made me realize I was actually living in a really wonderful place.”
I think this ties into something Koreans call 향수 (hyangsu), a deep nostalgia and attachment to one’s hometown. As children, we dream of the biggest cities and the brightest futures. But after growing up, many people realize the place they were trying so hard to leave was the place they were the happiest in.
I guess it’s sort of like the reversed version of the American Dream (correct me if I’m wrong…) You spend your childhood believing success means making it to the big city, only to realize later the home that you left behind.
One YouTube comment captured this beautifully:
“I tried so hard to speak standard Korean, yet I became popular because of my Geoje dialect. I lived more like a typical Korean than anyone else, yet I became popular as the Japanese gyaru.“
And when the video ends with Amor Fati, the love of one’s fate, it brings the video to a higher level.
(If you haven’t seen the Geoje Episode, go check it out!!)
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