Wonder Girls Share Favorite Korean Food and Tourist Spots at Special Fan Meeting Event

On December 15, the Wonder Girls and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) held a fan meeting at the headquarters of JYP Entertainment. Soompi was invited to cover the special fan event, featuring cover performances by the winners of last month’s “Be My Baby Dance Contest,” and a Q&A session where the Wonder Girls shared some of their favorite Korean food and hot spots in Seoul.

KTO and JYPE ran the “Be My Baby Dance Contest” for two weeks in November. Five winners (two from Korea, one each from Vietnam, Canada, and Indonesia) from more than 1,000 contestants were invited to Seoul for three nights for a chance to meet the Wonder Girls and also visit popular tourist attractions recommended by the girls themselves.

For the event, all five winners were given a chance to dance in front of the Wonder Girls. After each performance, Wonder Girls gave their opinion of the dance and took photos with each group. Following the dance session, the Wonder Girls talked about their favorite places to visit in Seoul and which Korean dish they enjoy the most. The following is an excerpt from the Q&A session: 

Q: Sohee said her ideal type of man was Park Hae Il. But he’s married now. Is he still your favorite male celebrity?

Sohee: I like him as a fan, not as a lover, so I think it’s fine. My ideal type of man just has to be taller than, older than me, and just fun to talk with.

Q: Any plans for a concert in Vietnam?

Ye Eun: It’s so nice to see our fans from Vietnam today. We’ve never been to Vietnam yet but will do our best to visit there as soon as possible.

Sunye: We love pho noodles!

Q: Can each of you tell us what you do for your spare time?

Ye Eun: I just like to watch movies, read books, eat good food, you know, just the simple things. Sometimes I write songs and play the guitar or piano too. 

So Hee: I love to sleep. Usually I just sleep in my room!

Moderator: We’ll pass on Sunye because we know she’s busy dating!

Sunye: Actually, he’s not in Korea now. He’s Korean-Canadian. But I’d love to visit Canada one day!

Yoobin: I like listening to music too. I love rock music. I also like reading comic books, watching TV, you know, same as you guys, like playing the guitar and stuff. 

Hyelim: I usually just stay home and chill. I like not doing anything. Oh, I also like to write my diary, but most of the time I’m just home.

List of Wonder Girls’ favorite tourism spots and Korean food:

 Ye Eun: N Seoul Tower and Dak Dori Tang (chopped roast chicken)

 Sohee: Kyung Bok Goong Palace and Kal Gook Soo (handmade noodles)

 Sunye: Fu Spa Palace and Gop Chang (chitterlings or grilled pork intestines…Sunye mentioned it might sound gross at first, but you’ll love it once you try it!)

 Yoobin: Shin Sa Dong “Tree-lined Street” and Hwanghoo Sam Gae Tang (chicken broth with ginseng)

 Hyelim: Samsung D’light shop and Street food (Dukk Bok Gi or spicy rice cake)

The girls went on to take group photos with all the contestants. They all seemed very relaxed and enjoyed every moment of the fan meeting event, dancing and singing along the contestants. It was really interesting to see all these fans from around the world show so much love for Wonder Girls, coming all the way to Seoul to see their favorite idol.

This event was KTO’s first promotional event featuring a K-Pop star. All airfare and hotel accommodations were paid for by the KTO. The three night trip includes a free tour of Seoul and JYPE’s headquarters, and a chance to meet the Wonder Girls. Following the success of this event, KTO hopes to continue having popular K-Pop celebrities promote Korean tourism. Actor Ji Jin Hee and miss A are also scheduled for special KTO events later this month. You can learn more about the Korea Tourism Organization at their website here, or Facebook page here.

Thunderstix is the Editor-in-Chief for soompi.com. You can email him at eugene@soompi.com, or follow his twitter.com feed at @eugenekim222.