I believe this article conveniently ignores the deeper issues of being of mixed race heritage in the Korean and Korean American community.  Obviously, I can only comment on the section that is excerpted for MMW, but it'd be interesting to see how the writer of this article put a positive spin on the acceptance and treatment of mixed race individuals in Korea.  I believe the main reason why Lee Yu Jin is accepted as being mixed race is b/c she is tall and beautiful, and a well-known actress from a popular Korean soap opera.  If she weren't a successful actress, I doubt some people would be so accepting.  And I'm sure that many people, especially women, envy her for her big eyes and Western looks.  It shows that attractive people having it easier in life is true in most cultures.

I understand this particular issue as a mixed race person of Korean descent.  My mother has told me many times that she thinks that I should not identify myself as Korean American--just American.  She has told me that she doesn't understand why I speak about issues facing the Korean community in America or Asians in general b/c Koreans would not consider me to be Korean.  The only time my mother thinks I should call myself Korean is when I could possibly get discounts from Korean business owners--like those who own laundries--but then she tells me that I should say "My mother is Korean."  I believe this is the reason why she never spoke Korean to my brother and me, and why she has never taken us on any of her visits to Korea--she doesn't want to have to deal with stares or questions she may receive about our racial heritage.

My mother is "full" Korean but has "big" (or creased) eyes.  It is a source of pride for her.  But she has also considered surgery to make her eyes even "bigger."  I tell her that her desire to do this doesn't make sense, but this is a way of thinking that has been culturally ingrained into her for her entire life. 

My mother has also told me that if I had grown up in Korea, I would have been shunned and called terrible names b/c I am mixed race.  She used to tell me this when she'd hear me talk about the discrimination and racism I've faced as a person of Korean descent in America.  I guess this goes to show there is really no such thing as an ideal society where people can be accepted on their merits as individuals rather than their racial and cultural heritage.  This is why it is dangerous to essentialize or idealize any nostalgic desires for "home" or "motherland"--such nostalgic fantasies and longings often lead to disappointment. 

Without rambling on too much further, I found this article to be interesting not so much for what it revealed about Korean society's attitude and treatment of mixed race individuals, but of how Lee Yu Jin responded to such attitudes: she responded by trying to pass as "pure" Korean (I found it sad that she was conditioned to believe that her only two options in life were to become a model/actress or a prostitute, both of which serve to objectify women in similar ways).  And although she said people constantly asked her about her racial background b/c of the clues--her eyes and height--they were willing to go along with it and let her pass b/c she is pretty.  In a twisted sort of way, although she criticizes the trend in plastic surgery to look more Western, Lee actually helps to perpetuate such feelings and procedures b/c of her visibility and acceptance in the Korean media.  It's a Catch 22.

All in all, I felt this article showed that in a world that is more globalized than ever before and where diasporic communities of every group of people and culture can be found living outside of their nation of origin, whether temporarily or permanently, the issue of identity needs to be interrogated and made more elastic to include hybridity as well as diversity.