Why no female Korean martial arts/action star?

[Yihetuan]

China/HK/Taiwan dominate this field with actresses who are primarily known for their martial arts films but Japan is well represented with Etsuko Shiomi and the HK transplants such as Yukari Oshima & Michiko Nishikawa, Michelle Yeoh from Malaysia, Veronica Ngo from Vietnam, JeeJa Yanin from Thailand but where are the Korean actresses?

[thekfc]

In my opinion, you also have to look at the time period & what kind of society South Korea (& the region) was at the time. 

It was a male (and still is to an extent) dominant (movie) society, women were not given that action heroine role (even if they could do it) - that was reserved for the males.

The women were treated as a sex object, damsel in distress, or women to be pursued and seldom as an action star (that would come much later in the 2000's).

Some of the other territories were different as they had a much earlier head start to the female heroine type of movies (1960's). By the time South Korea catches up, martial arts movies were "dead" and the shift was to action movies.

Even in the HK scenes, at times the female action roles had to take a backseat to the guys. example Cheng Pei-pei taking a back seat in her own movie. Also, next to no female action star fighting in a Chang Cheh movie.

[ShawAngela]

Pearl Lin Yin Zhu is one of them.

[PandaPawPaw]

They ain't got time for MA! I hear there's a lack of Kpop girl bands...................................

Question answered! NEXT!

[Yihetuan]

On 10/15/2023 at 7:56 PM, ShawAngela said:

Pearl Lin Yin Zhu is one of them.

I mean who's ever heard of her? I doubt even hardcore MA fans know who she is - I mean an instantly recognizable Korean martial arts actress like most MA fans would recognize Angela Mao or Moon Lee. There's more famous Gweilo actresses (Cynthia Rothrock, Sophia Crawford, etc) that worked in the HK film industry than Korean females.

[thekfc]

There are plenty of Korean Martial Arts/Action stars, just to name a few on top of my head:

Lee Si-young

Ha Ji-won

Tae mi

Kim Ok Bin

 Son Ye Jin

Bae Suzy

Bae Doo Na

Lee Si-Young

Jun Ji Hyun

They may not be as recognized to some fan in the west (as some don't watch Korean movies) as well as the Korean movies not being as readily available as the other Asian counterparts. 

Also, next to nobody makes martial arts movies any more (or in the past 20 yrs), just action.  

[laagi]

14 minutes ago, thekfc said:

Also, next to nobody makes martial arts movies any more (or in the past 20 yrs), just action.  

Edited October 17, 2023 by laagi

[Yihetuan]

30 minutes ago, thekfc said:

There are plenty of Korean Martial Arts/Action stars, just to name a few on top of my head:

Lee Si-young

Ha Ji-won

Tae mi

Kim Ok Bin

 Son Ye Jin

Bae Suzy

Bae Doo Na

Lee Si-Young

Jun Ji Hyun

They may not be as recognized to some fan in the west (as some don't watch Korean movies) as well as the Korean movies not being as readily available as the other Asian counterparts. 

Also, next to nobody makes martial arts movies any more (or in the past 20 yrs), just action.  

That's my point. Where were the Korean female martial arts stars during the heydey of the 70s & early 80s? You just listed a bunch of dramatic Korean actresses that happen to take some action roles. Suzy Bae? Really? Much akin to Bridget Fonda & Sharon Stone appearing in action films but they are not action actresses per se.

[thekfc]

29 minutes ago, Yihetuan said:

Where were the Korean female martial arts stars during the heydey of the 70s & early 80s?

Hmmm, how many Korean Martial Arts movies have I seen made during that time period?

31 minutes ago, Yihetuan said:

Suzy Bae?

Ok, you got me on that one but she was good in Gu Family Book & Vagabond. Just don't tell @One Armed Boxer I said that.

51 minutes ago, Yihetuan said:

You just listed a bunch of dramatic Korean actresses that happen to take some action roles.

Not all of them are dramatic actresses, some are trained in the arts.

Lee Si-young is a former amateur boxer.

Ha Ji-won - Boxing, Kendo & Sunmudo.

Tae mi - Taekwondo

Kim Ok Bin - Kapkido, Taekwondo, Muay Thai & Boxing.

52 minutes ago, Yihetuan said:

Where were the Korean female martial arts stars during the heydey of the 70s & early 80s?

Ahhh, you never did put a time period in your initial post.

And technically, some of the actress you mention are not from that time period. The last 2 are from the 2000's. The 3 before them are from the mid 80's onward. 

[thekfc]

Tae Mi

[Yihetuan]

1 hour ago, thekfc said:

Hmmm, how many Korean Martial Arts movies have I seen made during that time period?

Ok, you got me on that one but she was good in Gu Family Book & Vagabond. Just don't tell @One Armed Boxer I said that.

Not all of them are dramatic actresses, some are trained in the arts.

Lee Si-young is a former amateur boxer.

Ha Ji-won - Boxing, Kendo & Sunmudo.

Tae mi - Taekwondo

Kim Ok Bin - Kapkido, Taekwondo, Muay Thai & Boxing.

Ahhh, you never did put a time period in your initial post.

And technically, some of the actress you mention are not from that time period. The last 2 are from the 2000's. The 3 before them are from the mid 80's onward. 

As you know many HK & Taiwanese Kung Fu films were filmed on location in Korea during that time period & joint co-productions too. Even if my time frame was off that still doesn't negate my point. How many Western Kung fu movies were made but you still had Karen Shepherd, Kim Maree-Penn, etc at that time working in HK.

[Yihetuan]

1 hour ago, thekfc said:

Tae Mi

I'll give you Tae Mi. I used to watch her on a KBS variety show called Let's Go Dream Team & it was always fun when she came on and participated in the obstacle course.

[One Armed Boxer]

On 10/16/2023 at 1:56 PM, ShawAngela said:

Pearl Lin Yin Zhu is one of them.

18 hours ago, Yihetuan said:

I mean who's ever heard of her? I doubt even hardcore MA fans know who she is

Can I be honest? She was the first person who immediately sprung to mind when I saw your question as well.  (Although her actual name is Im Eun-ju)

[Yihetuan]

8 minutes ago, One Armed Boxer said:

Can I be honest? She was the first person who immediately sprung to mind when I saw your question as well.  (Although her actual name is Im Eun-ju)

Well you would be that 1 out of 100 if MA fans were randomly quizzed on if they're familiar with Lim Eun-joo. It's just puzzling that a country with such a rich martial arts history (hapkido, tekkyeon, taekwondo) would produce one recognizable female onscreen martial artist & even that's debatable.

[De Ming Li]

Maybe it's got to do with the male chauvinism in Korea?

[Yihetuan]

56 minutes ago, De Ming Li said:

Maybe it's got to do with the male chauvinism in Korea?

yes, I'm beginning to suspect that might be the case as @thekfc mentioned above. At first, I was doubtful if Korea was really anymore chauvinist than its East Asian neighbors who have much better female representation in martial arts films but I think it can attributed to a multitude of factors. HK had the tradition of women playing males in cross dressing roles in early Wuxia films and this carried over once female fighters found their own identity in general MA films & Japan had the Lady Snowblood, Crimson Bat, Red Peony characters who all could fight valiantly with the sword but I couldn't find any examples from Korea.