![]() Whatever he pursues, however, Han hopes he can spread positivity through the stage he’s been given. In the far future, the model dreams of launching his own clothing brand or perhaps living abroad for a few years. “I joke around with my younger siblings a lot, so that should be fun,” said Han. The camera had followed him around at school, as well as at fashion shoots and at home, offering glimpses into the life of a biracial family in Korea. He had just finished shooting the first episode prior to the interview. His next project, premiering this month, is JTBC reality show “Stranger.” Han, the eldest of five siblings, will star with his family and detail his everyday life. “I’ve never been a studying kind of student.” School is not a priority, he says candidly, with a laugh. In the near future, Han will focus on gaining more experience as a model, both on the runway and in commercial shoots. Through Han, fans have come to the realization that being different can now be an advantage in Korean society. “I think I’ve learned to enjoy people’s looks and the spotlight,” he says. His social media accounts flood with messages from other biracial young people living in Korea who say he’s given them confidence. Recently, Han says he’s been able to feel the widening diversity in Korea. “I think they’re hoping that more people who look like me or have grown up in backgrounds like mine can have the courage to do bigger things,” he said. Han says he regards the Time magazine selection more as a symbolic gesture than an acknowledgement of his current achievements. Each time, however, his mother would tell him, “You’re special.” “There were times I wanted to hide in a hole,” he says. Blatant stares and invasive questions filled his childhood. Insensitive kids would throw around racial slurs. Friends’ parents would tell their children not to play with him. On television shows, Han has frequently told stories of both the subtle and outright discrimination he has experienced growing up here. It was a kind of feeling I had never felt before in my life,” Han said. There were people on the streets who resembled me. “But in Europe, they didn’t look at me twice. Whether out of curiosity or admiration, people tend to do a double take when they spot him, he says. In Korea, the dark-skinned, bushy-haired, 191-centimeter-tall model makes heads turn. What struck the biracial model most when gallivanting abroad, however, was neither the different tastes in fashion nor the exotic architecture, but the sensation that he did not “stand out.” He took in the street style, both punk and bespoke suits, which he witnessed on the streets of London, drawing inspiration and archiving the looks in his mind. When it came to everyday attire, people seemed to march entirely to the beat of their own drums. Shops carried niche items that would not have been deemed popular in Korea. ![]() Every single building was beautiful.”įrom a model’s point of view, London’s fashion had been particularly impressive, he noted. “Europe was so nice,” he said, having visited big fashion cities like London and Paris and parts of Portugal. “That’s true, I had never been abroad then.” During the past year, however, he has traveled to Europe twice for photo shoots, as well as to North America and Southeast Asia. ![]() Han recalled our last interview as if reminiscing on a distant memory. Han Hyun-min poses at a shopping mall in Dongdaemun, Seoul, on Feb. He arrived after a long commercial shoot in Gangnam, clad in his school uniform and looking slightly tired but with the ease of someone who’s been through the grind numerous times. 7 at a cafe in Seoul’s Dongdaemun shopping district, almost a year after our first encounter. Now in his first year of high school, Han sat down for a second interview with The Korea Herald on Feb. He’s fulfilling his wish to travel extensively, filming TV shows and photo shoots all over the globe. Han has become a variety program regular on Korean television, entertaining viewers with his easygoing demeanor and schoolboy ingenuousness. He’s been interviewed by international fashion magazines and modeled for Nike. In November, Time magazine named him one of the 30 most influential teens of 2017, and his celebrity status skyrocketed. His striking visuals and smooth walk had caught fashion insiders’ eyes. He began garnering modest media attention after debuting on Korean brand Heich Es Heich’s runway during the 2016 Fall-Winter Seoul Fashion Week. Since then, the Nigerian-Korean model has quickly ascended to global fame. When Han Hyun-min met with The Korea Herald last spring, the then-15-year-old budding model had never traveled outside of Korea.
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