“When I first came to Korea, nobody really liked me…”
Korean American actress Han Ye Seul quickly rose to fame with her debut role in the K-Drama Nonstop 4. But she didn’t achieve success without obstacles. The actress told the hosts of The PSICK SHOW that she’d been a victim of bullying early in her career.
As an American coming to Korea, Han Ye Seul experienced a major cultural difference with Koreans who disliked her for not fitting into “conservative” Korean culture.
When I first came to Korea, nobody really liked me because I was very opinionated. You know how Americans say what [they] think? But in Korea, it’s a different culture.
— Han Ye Seul
That dislike turned into bullying when Han Ye Seul began her career as a model. She revealed, “The first experience coming to Korea was a supermodel contest. I was always bullied.”
The actress thought her ambition to succeed might’ve intimidated others and caused jealousy. She said, “Maybe because my ambition got the best of me that they didn’t like how I was pursuing my career.”
As a result, Han Ye Seul couldn’t recall having any good interactions with the girls she was working with at the time.
I had a lot of troubles with girls. I was never liked by other girls, so it was difficult.
— Han Ye Seul
Despite the bullying she experienced, Han Ye Seul continued to pursue modeling until she finally debuted as an actress and achieved success. Now, she’s living a happy life.
Although Han Ye Seul acknowledged that Korean culture has become less conservative, that wasn’t the case in the early 2000s. Listen to the actress talk about being bullied for always speaking her mind.
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