Lee back as `zombie' bride

By Kim Ji-soo

Singer Lee Jung-hyun

The cover of singer Lee Jung-hyun’s special single, “V.”

A “zombie” bride appears amid a house swing pop tune. Fully clad in puffed-up wedding gown, the zombie bride executes curt, angular dance moves to the catchy song “V.”

Lee Jung-hyun, 33, is back on the Korean stage.

She released “V,” a special single, this month to keep a promise she made to her fans three years ago in 2010. Two films “Juvenile Offender” and “Myung-ryang, the Crying Sea” kept her away from music until now.

“It’s amazing, the pace the fans from other countries are responding to the song. I am grateful to hallyu fans,” Lee said in an interview with The Korea Times.

Hallyu, meaning “Korean wave,” refers to the popularity that Korean pop music, drama and film is enjoying overseas, mainly in Asia. For the music video for “V,” director Park Chan-wook and his brother Park Chan-kyung, who is also a director, chipped in their talents.

Lee, a singer and actress, has been at the forefront of Korean entertainment since her breakout album “Let’s Go to My Star” and the song “Change” in 1999. She is popular in China, and has appeared in television dramas there as well as in Japan.

Wrapping up her brief stint in Korea, she will go on to perform in China on Aug. 5.

“I have been active largely in Asia, so if I can go to other countries such as Europe that would be great,” said Lee.

There are no specific plans yet but since the showcase of “V,” the market and fan response has been SNS-era immediate. She remembers how for her first debut album in 1999, her agency initially thought that it was a flop as other female singers were either cute or sexy. It took three days to prove that they were wrong.

“The response is real fast,” she said.

Not that this fazes her. Conjure up her name and people know to expect something bold, different and new.

It’s an image that she has carried since her debut.

Lee first started out at the age of 16 as an actress in the film “Kkotnip,” and struck gold as a singer with Change. “Bagkueo, Bagkueo” (Change, Change) she sang, and Korean society including politicians adopted it as an anthem. Other songs on the album such as “Wa” followed as mega hits.

The style she featured with the song and the album — she wore a long Oriental robe, with a fan and a hairpin to appear akin to an Oriental female warrior — became so indelibly imprinted in the minds of fans that Lee came to represent a strong persona. Her performance presence was so strong leading to rumors that she was possessed by spirits “As for those rumors, I look back on it as a funny happening,” she said.

At 33, Lee shares the music stage with so-called “idol” K-pop groups with her signature daringness and bold style in song and fashion.

“I love the K-pop groups. These are people who got their first breaks by imitating me and my song,” she said, laughing. “They are so talented and presented in such a beautiful way. I love their presentation,” Lee said.

A singer who knows what people expect from her, she doesn’t aim to compete with the younger group-themed K-pop singers.

“What the fans want from me is something different and strong, not sweet and girly. When I sing, it’s largely for me. It’s fun to sing on stage and I focus on that,” she said.

“One of the reasons I am popular in China I think is because I present a forceful image, a presence,” Lee said.

She doesn’t mind that; and hasn’t thought of changing genre by trying a slow ballad.

“There are so many other talented ballad singers. I don’t think I would have a chance,” Lee said.

“One has to do what one enjoys. Just enjoy having fun, rather than think about age, or position.”

Sometimes she is compared to Lady Gaga, which she sees as an “honor.” But Lee’s spirit as an artist is just as full and if not more complex. As to the question whether she was a combination of passion and “han” a Korean sentiment of feeling regret, she merely smiled.

But see her on the big screen, and she speaks multitudes with her eyes. On the music stage, she bursts with passion and energy.

“The job of an actress is long and physically challenging work where I need to analyze and bring out a new character. But in the end, it’s a process through which I become mature,” Lee said.

As for music — the singing and performing, “it’s pure fun.”

It’s the fun that carries her over when she has to deal with the current schedule where she has been having difficulty finding the time to sleep for almost one month. At 158 centimeters tall and fragile-looking, the singer and actress said that she has lost weight.

“I look too thin, right?” she asked the reporters.

She is thankful for being born with the physical energy that allows her to digest such a schedule. “I don’t eat any health supplements. I think I am just naturally healthy where I get a cold maybe just once a year,” she said.

She has seen a tougher and more hectic schedule when she released the song “Change.”

Having broken out as an independent as of 2009, she said she is now more free to do her music and movies, a freedom that she cherishes.

“When I was affiliated with a large management agency, I had to put out new albums and songs. Although I could do it, I was doing it for the sake of doing it, and it was hard having to persuade all these people to go with the concept that I had in mind.”

She did not talk in depth about the highs and lows that she must have had in her 17-year-long career, saying that she is just thankful to be doing what she enjoys.

As a pioneering hallyu artist in the Chinese market, Lee did have a tip for other K-pop singers.

“If you’re going into the Chinese market, be open-minded and fully embrace and love China. When they realize your sincerity, they will love you back,” she said.

That sincerity is also what got her over the good and the bad years, she said.

Asked just how long she thinks hallyu would continue, she said, “Every year since 2000 when I first went into the Chinese market, I thought, okay, hallyu will end this year. But it’s still strong. So as long as Koreans continue to produce new, creative content consistently,I think hallyu can go on,” Lee said.

She didn’t give herself a deadline as an artist, but said that she would like to be active as long as she can.

“For me, presenting something different is essential as an artist, because different means fun,” Lee said.