To Girlfriday:
You have researched Gumiho well. And your command of English is great. Thanks for the article.

Nice posting! I'm a Korean and learned few thing too.. lol.

Just to correct one thing, shortened form of actress (여배우) is not 여우, but it's 여주. Short form of 여자 주인공 (female actor). So we never call an actress 여우, unless she actually has an foxy(?) trait(?). Haha..

I'm US, but currently live and work in beautiful Korea. Recently, a wonderful Korean co-worker did something very clever for our company and I wanted to congratulate him. So, I shook his hand and almost said, "Mr. H, you sly fox!" when I realized that such a statement might be offensive in light of what little I knew about the legendary gumiho. So I just shook his hand and said he was very innovative.
I’ve seen ads for MGIG and enjoyed the movie, "The Fox Family” (I don’t speak a word of Korean, but can usually understand the gist of the story) but now that this blog has expanded and deepened my understanding of the ancient legend (thanks girlfriday!), I tend to think (armchair anthropology here) that:
1) because every living thing is hard-wired to get its genes into the next generation, after all, isn’t that what sex is really all about?
2) it behooves males (not just human, but other animals too) to control female sexuality to ensure the offspring the female is carrying is truly his & that he is not unwittingly investing his own resources (time, money, protection, affection, etc) on another male's offspring (genes).
3) A gumiho is attractive, clever and both enjoys and initiates sex – the perfect combination to capture a man’s resources (eat his heart/liver), but it also makes her the “perfect storm” should she become pregnant. A gumiho, to my thinking, is considered dangerous and evil because being clever, attractive and liking sex, the very attributes admired in men, in women can potentially lead to that one question men through the ages have nervously pondered and look to be pondering in many of the series' still photos, “Is or will the baby really be mine?”
Anywhere you go on this planet, any culture, in any language, it’s ALL about sex and/or resources.
Just sayin'...

I love learning more about Korean culture. Previously, I had relied on my own powers of deduction after seeing something in the dramas and trying to confirm/re-evaluate said deductions through the handy help of Wikipedia and the interweb.

Here's something I've always wondered the origins of: I understand its contextual use and that it is the English equivalent of "Go for it!", "Good luck", and other encouraging phrases, but...

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why the gerund"Fighting"
and its accompanying hand signal ???

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I asked this of a male Korean graduate student once - whom I had met during my college days - and he just said that, culturally, it seemed like a good enough English word that sounds like it fits the right mood...or something like it. But he acknowledges that it isn't English-grammatically correct, his-Korean-self-that-lived-in-Korea just never thought about it.

Is there a traceable source for the use of "Fighting" in all its encouraging context that is so prevalent among the Korea media clips and dramas I've seen and will continue to see?

Just curious.

In England they use the saying 'foxy lady' to infer a woman who is sexy and beautiful. That is gender specific to women only

Theres also the saying 'Crazy like a fox' which means to act in a cunning, clever way whilst not appearing that way.

On the whole in western folklore its the wolf, rather than the fox that are seen as evil. Foxes tend to be seen as smart, and whilst they may do bad things they are inconsequential and not dangerous like a gumiho

I LOVE THIS MOVIE SOLONGO GANBOLD IS MY FACEBOOK I LOVE KOREA

I WANT, I MEAT YOU

I understand that Korea thinks of the Gumiho to be mainly reserved as a female.

BUT:
While I was reading this post (which is very informative, intriguing and fun, since I love anything that involves fantasy, magic, fables/fairytales, and a storyline) I thought that it would be cool if a drama was created that changed a few things and played a bit with the Gumiho legend/story/fairytale etc.
For example, what if the Gumiho was a MALE, defying the norms of an ideal Gumiho.
He could be the black sheep of Gumihos, adding to it by refusing to follow the "principles" of being a Gumiho by refraining from eating human hearts/livers, but a snack once a century isn't so bad. This isn't a decision he made because he pitied humans and sympathized with them- he just doesn't WANT to. On the contrary, he sees humans as pathetic, useless, uneducated, childish, immature, selfish, and unworthy beings. All in all, he thinks humans are stupid and wouldn't be able to understand "life" even if they were to live as long as him. He scoffs at humans and wonders how they have been able to survive for so long with all of the mistakes they have made over the centuries. He doesn't understand why some gumiho(s) would want to become human- does it make sense to become something that has a shorter lifespan and is incompetent when compared to a gumiho?
Even though he doesn't favor humans, his dislike can't be taken as far as hate, he doesn't have a grudge or was wronged in any way. It's more like arrogance since his train of thought compares humans and gumiho(s) to see which is better. Since he was already born a gumiho, there aren't enough pros to become human, and seems like too much of a hassle, anyway, so why bother, right?

*Here I would like to apologize for any cheesiness that is to come ahead; I'm a die-hard closet romantic who loves romantic storylines. I'm sorry for these fantasies in my head. I'm sorry! (>.<)/*

WELL, one century, which just HAPPENS to be our 21st century, he decides to grab a little snack. Now, this guy has a thing where he plays with his food before eating, so he usually observes his "snack" for a few days before feasting. This kind of helps him with his "this human doesn't serve/have a purpose in life, so there is no loss for anyone else." Now, mind you, he only has snacks that fit these criteria.

WARNING: Now commences ultra-cheesiness and illogic

In our 21st century, his "snack" turns out to be a girl who seems to have lost it all. She is a college student who doesn't have a set career in mind and her family has just come across a few financial issues that add pressure to her uncertainty. She doesn't seem to have any goals or dreams in life and just lives. Her description goes like this: she has never dated or fallen in love, loves reading (especially fantasy genres), videogames, and dresses a bit like a tomboy. She's sweet and kind, a bit naive, trusts too easily, and can get rather attached (but not clingy). Soon, it’s her third year in college and she still doesn't have any plans for the future. I would like to point out that this girl (I will refrain from calling her a young woman since her mentality is still immature in the way of her lacking experience in the "real world") doesn't do this (lack future plans) on purpose, she has been trying to look at different careers, but none of them peak her interest.
Now, on a bad week where everything seems to be against her, our Gumiho is seen observing her and deems her as a waste of space and life. He concludes that it wouldn't affect society in the slightest if she disappeared. After a particularly horrendous day, her stress level has left her exhausted and she fights to hold in the tears and keep a cheery expression as she makes her way back to her flat. Our Gumiho thinks he has had enough and follows her home. As she passes by an alley, he pulls her into the shadows. At first, she looks at him with fear and asks if he wants money, she would give him her money-if she had any. He draws closer and, with a bored expression, very plainly asks if she is scared. After she gets a closer look at him with his white hair and strange outfit, her fear is replaced with confusion. She asks him who she is and his reply is to ask him WHAT he is. He now gets unnervingly close to her and tells her that he is a gumiho that came for a little snack since he was bored. He asks her if she is scared, and is surprised by her look of wonder paired with her "no." She asks what his view on humans is and why he wants to eat her heart/liver. He says that humans aren't anything special and only corrupt the world the longer they are in it and she doesn't seem to be any use to others, so why waste life on something that doesn't contribute anything in return? She stays quiet for a minute, and replies that he is right, (a suppressed tear escapes) humans are corrupt beings that are worthless and she is one of those "worthless" humans; if he feels that she should give up her life, she will. He is a bit taken aback since he is used to people begging for their lives instead of staying calm and agreeing with him. She continues to say that even if she is worthless, she would like to try to live life for once. She is willing to give up her life, but she wants to try and live first, before she gives up. She asks if he is willing to give her enough time to finish college and establish a set career mindset for her future, if she can't do this once the time is up, he can have her heart/liver. He stands dumbfounded and amazed; he never met someone like this before. He agrees and leaves.
After that incident, the girl tries to sort out her life, while the gumiho is left pondering her words. His curiosity grows and grows day by day, until he decides to observe (*cough* stalk *cough*) her, this only makes him more curious.
One day while in class, the girl thinks back to a few weeks (lets go with a week to a month) when she met the gumiho. As she thinks that, she heads out to a cafe to have some lunch with a few friends. (Either that scenario or one where she is still in class) a new student who transferred to shows up and sits in front of her. She recognizes him immediately as the gumiho and panics. He tells her not to worry-their deal is still on, he just wanted to have a closer look into her life since he was curious to how she would accomplish this task. (Poor boy, err gumiho-boy, you don’t realize the signs of a crush)
He pretty much forces her to give him room and board in her flat so he can oversee her plans.
Seeing as how I’m writing a novel, let’s put everything else in a quick summary and (perhaps) cliffhanger.
He notices: she doesn’t seem to care about her appearance in looking cute; she has never dated, and can’t seem to find anything that holds her interest. So, of course, he tells her that, along with pay (that she forces out of him by a part-time job) he will coach her to find a boyfriend and dress nice-she has to do the last one by herself, if he helped, there wouldn’t be a point in their deal. As the story progresses they develop a friendship and…
Let me know if you guys want me to continue! XD
Sorry about my lengthy post (yeah right, you can’t even call that a post, it’s a NOVEL), there wasn’t anything to do and I don’t feel like sleeping. So, javabeans, girlfriday, and everyone else, what do you think of my lengthy post (if you were kind enough to bother reading all of it.).

Found this through Google and I want to say to things. 1. Awesome post THANK YOY! 2. Feather, your post was really enjoyable too!

Would it be too much to ask the names of the films or shows associated with these interesting pictures? Korean makes the best films and I hope to see if these are available in subtitled format. Do you have any knowledge of a full length movie (horror) called Gumhio? Thank You so much for this informative blog,
- John

Hi :) I was wondering would choi kangchi and gu wol ryung in Gu family Book be an exception to the whole always being female thing or what's the story behind that? Thanks :)

[…] stories also draw from Korean folk lore: the wronged virgin ghost (gwishin), the nine-tailed fox (gumiho). One has to look no further than the numerous movie posters to see that Korea’s horror […]