Pengsoo named 'Person of the Year 2019'

Pengsoo, a penguin character of EBS, gives high-fives to fans at a meet-and-greet event in Busan, Oct. 26. Courtesy of EBS

By Bahk Eun-ji

Pengsoo, a lovable penguin character, is one of the hottest "persons" of the year, according to a survey made public Wednesday.

Created by the Education Broadcasting System (EBS), the giant penguin with an expressionless face has been listed as one of the "Persons of the Year 2019," in the online survey of 2,333 adults conducted over five days from Nov. 29 by recruiting website Incruit. Pengsoo won 20.9 percent of the votes in the entertainment category.

With more than 1 million subscribers on its YouTube channel Giant PengTV, Pengsoo soared to sudden stardom with his straight-talking style and witty, brazen attitude.

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Although the character claims to be 10 years old and had come to Korea from the South Pole to become a global star like BTS and Pororo, his gigantic figure combined with a husky voice has already shown that Pengsoo is certainly not a typical children's cartoon character.

It was initially targeted at children, but many young adults in their 20s and 30s have become major fans.

In the same category, Pengsoo was followed by trot singer Song Ga-in, who won the trot audition program "Ms. Trot," with 17.6 percent, K-pop boy band BTS (16.7 percent), freelance TV personality Jang Sung-kyu (9.1 percent) and actress Gong Hyo-jin (5.8 percent).

Meanwhile in the social and cultural category, celebrity chef Baek Jong-won topped the list with 29.7 percent, followed by film director Bong Joon-ho, who won the Palme do'Or at the Cannes Film Festival with "Parasite" at 21.1 percent.

Kim Ji-young, a character in the film and novel "Kim Ji-young, Born 1982," was listed in the third place in the social and cultural category, although she is not a real person.

Among sports stars, professional footballer Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur came first with 46.3 percent; while Park Hang-seo, the manager of the Vietnamese national football team, ranked second with 16.3 percent; followed by and Major League baseball player Ryu Hyun-jin in third with 10.2 percent.

Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, topped the economy and business category with 39.7 percent, followed by Koo Kwang-mo, chairman and chief executive of LG, with 10.0 percent, and Chung Mong-koo, CEO of Hyundai Motor Group, with 7.6 percent.

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