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| Performers carry ‘Inmyeonjo,' a human-faced bird that appears in tomb paintings from Korea's ancient Kingdom of Goguryeo, during the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, Friday. / Yonhap |
By Nam Hyun-woo
GANGNEUNG, Gangwon Province -- The internet was busy Saturday debating about "Inmyeonjo," a mock creature which grabbed global attention during the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympic Games a day earlier.
The creature, having the face of a human and the body of a bird, became a trending search word on internet portals Naver, Daum and even Google, after appearing in the ceremony Friday.
Inmyeonjo is an imaginary creature which appears in tomb murals from Korea's ancient Kingdom of Goguryeo. The tombs are in what is now Jilin Province, China. The human-faced bird appears in Buddhist and Taoist mythologies and is believed to link the sky and the earth and bring perennial youth and long life to humans.
Responses were mixed. Some found Inmyeonjo creepy or even grotesque, while others argued that those who say this have no understanding of the bird's origin.
"It was shocking at first glance, but I'm getting used to it," Twitter user @LEDmonotype wrote.
On Twitter, internet users have uploaded parody photos and cartoons in which Soohorang and Bandabi -- the official mascots of the 2018 Winter Olympics -- are going on a quest to slay Inmyeonjo. Some even likened it to a "chicken god," taking care of Koreans who are in love with fried chicken.
Bae Il-hwan, one of the art directors for the opening ceremony, wrote on Twitter that "I designed the mock Inmyeonjo and didn't expect this explosive response over it. Thank you so much for loving our baby."
Song Seung-hwan, executive creative director of the opening ceremony, said in a press conference that it was inspired by the ancient Goguryeo tombs and was intended to symbolize ancient Koreans who loved peace.
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