Harisu, who made a big impact in the entertainment industry in the early 2000s, recently appeared on the YouTube channel “Baejjangi Entertainment” and shared her recent updates.
Harisu is the first and most popular transgender celebrity in Korea, known as “a woman prettier than a woman”.
When asked if she had ever received a marriage proposal, Harisu said, “Yes, by a Japanese company president when I was in Japan, but the age gap was too big. In the past, many chaebols and celebrities hit on me .”
Let’s take a look at Harisu’s heyday when she was so popular that she attended 40-50 events a month.
Since childhood, Harisu never considered herself a boy, but hung out mainly with girls, playing with rubber bands or the role of mother in role-plays.
She is known to have debuted in the entertainment industry in 2001, but in fact, she started earning pocket money by appearing in dramas as a child actor or background actor since middle school in 1991.
When she was in her second year of high school, she decided to live as a woman and started working at a transgender bar to save money for her surgery.
In 1993, after graduating from high school, she crossed over to Japan with an entertainer visa and started Korean traditional dance, and the following year she moved to Tokyo and underwent gender-affirming surgery.
After returning to Korea in 1998, she began to attract attention by starting her career as a magazine model at Dongdaemun shopping mall.
However, she said there were restrictions on her activities on bigger stages because changes to her resident registration number had not yet been made.
Then, in 2001, she officially debuted on TV as a CF model for Dodo Cosmetics.
In the commercial, a woman with a delicate appearance swallowed her saliva and showed a thick Adam’s apple. This confused many viewers.
However, this advertisement caused a huge sensation at the time, and inquiries about “Who is the model in the advertisement?” flooded the advertising company and the cosmetics company.
Thanks to this advertisement, interest in Harisu increased, and the advertiser received a lot of attention to the point where sales skyrocketed.
As a result, she made a full-fledged entry into the broadcasting industry, fueled by public curiosity about who Harisu was.
Harisu was also active as a singer. Before her solo debut, she caused another sensation with her stunning visuals as the female lead in the M/V of the title song ‘HISTORY’ from Turbo’s best album, which was about to disband.
Then she entered a glamorous heyday. She recalls she could earn 1 billion won (approximately $840,000) a day just by attending two events.
She could rightly be called the ‘Queen of Events’. She was especially popular in the Chinese-speaking regions.
She was invited to a Louis Vuitton event in Taipei, Taiwan, as a representative Korean celebrity along with the singer Rain, and was also selected as a CF model for cosmetics and underwear brands.
In addition, she was chosen as the lead actress in the Chinese-Malaysian co-produced movie ‘Jeonshin’.
In November 2006, she attracted attention by announcing her marriage to singer Micky Jung, who is four years younger.
However, in May 2017, after more than 10 years of marriage, they agreed to divorce.
After the divorce, she appeared on MBC’s ‘Video Star’ and revealed the reason for the divorce. Micky Jung suggested a divorce first because he was busy with business and was worried that Harisu would struggle because of too much debt.
Currently, Micky Jung has remarried a girlfriend two years younger, and Harisu is also in a relationship with a boyfriend.
Harisu continues her music activities. In February 2018, she announced her comeback as a singer with double title songs, one dance, and a ballad.
She also released a digital single and showed her passion for music by releasing up to her fifth full album through continuous practice.
In 2020, she appeared on ‘Voice Trot’ and was recognized for her skills by legendary judges like Hye Eun-yi and Nam Jin.
She has had a lot of pain since childhood, but she has overcome it and achieved the highest title. We support her various challenges in the future.
By. Min Joo Park
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