Breaking barriers by being happy in his own skin
WHEN Han Hyun-min first broke out into the South Korean fashion scene, the then 15-year-old budding model had never travelled outside of the republic.
Since then, the Nigerian-Korean model has quickly ascended to global fame.
Han first garnered modest media attention after debuting at the 2016 Fall-Winter Seoul Fashion Week. His striking looks and smooth walk caught fashion insiders’ eyes.
In November last year, Time magazine named him one of the 30 most influential teens of 2017 and his celebrity status skyrocketed.
Han has since become a variety show regular on Korean television, entertaining viewers with his easygoing demeanour and schoolboy ingenuity.
He is fulfilling his wish to travel extensively, filming TV shows and photoshoots all over the globe.
Han affectionately recalls that “innocent time”.
“Wow,” says the first-year high school student, shaking his head.
“It’s true, I had never been abroad then.”
Over the past year, however, he has travelled to Europe twice for photoshoots, as well as North America and South-East Asia.
“Europe was so nice,” he says, having visited major fashion hubs like London and Paris. “It was exactly as I imagined. Every building was beautiful.”
He finds London’s fashion most impressive.
“People seem to march entirely to the beat of their own drums on the streets of London, from punk style to bespoke suits.”
What struck the biracial model most, however, was the sensation that he did not “stand out”.
In South Korea, the darkskinned, bushy-haired, 191cm-tall model makes heads turn. Whether out of curiosity or admiration, people tend to do a double take when they spot him, he says.
“But in Europe, they didn’t look at me twice. There were people on the streets who looked like me. It was a kind of feeling I had never felt before in my life.”
On TV, Han has frequently shared stories of both the subtle and outright discrimination he experienced growing up in South Korea.
Friends’ parents would tell their children not to play with him, he says. Insensitive kids would blurt racial slurs. Blatant stares and invasive questions filled his childhood.
“There were times when I wanted to hide in a hole. But each time, my mother would tell me,
‘You’re special’.”
Han regards the Time magazine selection as more of a symbolic gesture than an acknowledgement of his current achievements.
“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 notes.
Han believes he can feel the
widening diversity in South Korea lately. His social media accounts are flooded with messages from other biracial youths living in South Korea, who say he has given them confidence and helped them realise that being different can now be an advantage.
His reality show Stranger features Han with his family. Detailing the daily life of Han,
who is the eldest of five siblings, it offers glimpses into the life of a biracial family in South Korea.
In the future, Han dreams of launching his own clothing brand or living abroad for a few years. Whatever he pursues, Han hopes he can spread positivity through the stage he has been given.
“I just hope all people can be happy,” he says. — Korea Herald/ Asia News Network