"Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder." ― Plato

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." ― Margaret Wolfe Hungerford

"It is easy to be beautiful; it is difficult to appear so." ―Hosea Ballou

All Smiles :) for Lee Soo-hyuk, Kim Woo-bin, Lee Min-ho, Song Seung-heon, & Park Seo-joon.

If not for Rain, I wouldn't have even started She's So Lovable to begin with in the first place. And Rain is the reason why I am still watching albeit begrudgingly till the end.

If not for Lee Jung-Jin along with Park Ha-Sun, I wouldn't have even tuned in to check out Temptation in the first place. They are the reasons I ended up wading through it.

First discovered and took notice of Lee Sang Joon in My Daughter Seo Young. Apart from the fantastic job by Kang Ha-Neul, LSJ is the only reason I stuck with Angel Eyes.

Hey all let's not forget uri Jo Seung Woo sshi *.*

Agreed! I was seriously trying to convince my sister that Joo Won was the best just yesterday! I always thought he looked weird but after watching him in action, I was instantly smitten! I'm like, how could I have been so blind?!? He's obviously perfect.

2 things:

A) Girlfriday, you seemed to completely miss the point about the immaculate difference between Rain in Plan B, and Rain in She's So Lovable. Please believe me. Mute it when anyone else is talking and fast forward through anyone else is on the screen, and you have a new, Oscar-worthy drama: He's So Freaking Gorgeous Lawd Jizusuh Prayus HIIIM.

B) How did you guys make it so far sleeping on Lee Sang Yoon?? He's classicaly, worldly handsome. If I remember correctly--and I do--I watched the entirety of that weekend drama, Somethign about a daughter or something daughter S something. I don't even freakin remember the name because all I remember is him, and a little bubble in my heart for Park Hae Jin. I basically fastforwarded through anything not Hot Guy.

1. How are we forgetting Seo In Gook in this whole post?!?!?! He makes my heart quiver just thinking about him! He doesn't care about how he looks either and it's his full absorption and earnestness in his acting that makes him so hot and makes me want to tell him fiercely how amazing he is!

2. Are you kidding me, girls? I watched Lovable Girl and Rain is as attractive as the dead branch I passed in the park this morning. And Lovable Girl is such an easy show to act, the fact that he is doing it so badly just makes me feel a bit sorry for him because he should be good at this by now!

Dear Dramabeans and GF, please make a version of this post full of screencaps! If you have the time. I love it :D

Lol. It's that effortless swag.

Oh yeah.

It's true, the acting and confidence the actors carried make a difference in the hotness radar. I never cared much for Lee Sang Yoon in all of the drama I've seen of him, but I'm falling for him in the Liar's Game. Same goes for Park Seo Joon who was in Dream High 2 and I never recalled, I'm like what? He was so winning in Witch Romance and made me actually voted for noona romance! I only saw Lee Je Hoon in My Paparotti before Secret Door and I thought he was ok, not cute or good looking in any way, but in Secret Door I wish I'm one of his concubine (Hahahahhahaha j/k or maybe not). He's hot.

Hotness is relative (good thing: all kind of men can get a job).
Hotness can't save a bad drama, at least for me: Even my darlings can't keep me in front of my screen if the show is a dud.
I like Lee Je Hoon, Joo Won & Rain but they all picked a bad show & those dramas are failures as far as I'm concerned. Well, you live, you learn.

Thank you!!! Ive tried watching Lee Sang Yoon's older dramas, since there was hardly enough of him in Liar Game, and boy does he look different. His face is so much more rounded, the haircut in Liar Game makes him look like a whole other person!

Seems like a character can definitely make or breakean actors hotness. But honestly, in Liar Game LSY is so intense and mesmerising, its hard to follow the dialogue and plot. I'm glad I"m not the only one afflicted.

I think Ji Sung was one of those actors who didn't start out as attractive, to me at least, but the more you watch of him on screen, you can't help but fall in love.

" My favorite thing about him is that no matter how pretty he is, he isn’t vain in his acting."
Thank you SOOO much for stating the obvious regarding Joo Won.As to JW's hotness quotient....I must say this: You gals have finally seen the light!

ohh Lee Sang-yoon.. Gawd! Same here. just up to my 2nd Liar Game episode and I just fall deeply attracted and in love with him. Don't know why and don't want to find out either. Just SO HOT

Say YES to Joo Won and Park Seo Joon!!

I love Joo Won since Gaksital and dayuumm, he's so freaking hot as Cha Yoo Jin sunbae in Cantabile *dies

I only saw Park Seo Joon in Witch Romance and I must say that he mesmerized me with his hotness and cheekiness at the same time. I am so in love with him!!

And let's not forget Jung Kyung Ho. I find him so attractive in Heartless City. What a hot and sexy badass *sigh

I havent watched any drama of Lee Sang Yoon, but currently I find him attractive, wish one day can see him and Gong Hyo Jin co-staring :D

as for me, my CURRENT list, since watching It's okay it's love, Jo In Sung is one of the list and Lee Jin Wook has totally melted me specially after ep11 of TM, so he is currently the king of my list :D

btw, is it only me that doesnt get swooned at all by joowon? :P

The guys that I did not find attractive at first but after watching them act made me want to watch moaaaarrr of them are Uhm Tae-woong (Sword and Flower, he was the only good thing in that), Jang Hyuk (Fated to Love You), Cha Seung-won (Best Love), and Joo Ji-hoon (Goong). Their eyes melt me like a candle hahaha

Totally agree about the acting skills and charisma that define the hotness factor. I'll personally add a whit of mystery. And all these ingredients mixed together make me melt for the likes of Park Hae Jin, Kang Dong won or HA Jung Woo. * in a swoon*

I remember starting a drama and thinking countless times that 'Ah. He is so average looking. There's no way I will find him attractive'. 2-5 episodes later, non-stop drooling. I had this for Hyeon-bin in Secret Garden, Joo-won in Gaksital mmm Gong-yoo in Coffee prince or more recently Jo In-seong in It's okay that's love... their character just drew me in so much that I felt disappointed of living in the real world. These people became hot through their characters.

Then, there are other people whose character I adore, but I am just not attracted to them at the same level... I loved Lee Min-ho's character in City Hunter, Woo-bin in Heirs or Lee Seung-gi in King2Hearts... but I would really need an eye surgery to say that they are super hot. I mean I just don't have this I-wanna-stuck-in-an-elavator-with-them-feeling...

Lastly, the pretty boys. I must really shallow, but I just don't care they cannot act. I was head over heels for Kim Hyeong-joong, I adore L... I mean they are just soooo pretty that my jaw drops and I don't hear anything, don't care what they do just thankful that they are there.

I watch both Liar Game and Secret Door. Lee Sang-yoon. Hair cut makes a huge difference and I love that he is a smarty-pants with a gentle heart and a fierce look. Lee Je-hoon. Damn! Those teary eyed scenes made me want to be his tissue.

I felt the same way (not as good looking at first, but then I see them act so well and all of a sudden they're super handsome) too. Examples include Park Hae Il and Jo Seung Woo. There are some newer, younger ones too but for those two I remember thinking they're not the standard good looking guys and then I watched a movie of theirs and was obsessed and wanted, no needed, them to do more projects. I even looked them up on dramawiki to watch their older stuff. hehe.

My favorite ever description of Kim Woo-Bin in Heirs was that he looks "like an alien rock star." I have a feeling it was Girl Friday or Java Beans--if that was you, thanks! It still makes me laugh every time I see him.

Perfect timing: I was thinking just the other day about how odd looking some of my favorite K-actors are. Acting skill and screen presence matter so much! If I see good acting, then I start to find odd features attractive.

It seems like K-actors features are less important than being tall. Tom Cruise would never have made it to star status in Korea. The actors' faces matter, too, but the obsession with height means "the industry" accepts more variation in their faces--more alien rock stars--than in actresses faces. You might not find a tall guy who also has L's prettiness. (Oh my God, L is so disappointing in My Lovable Girl. So much better when he didn't have any lines back in Shut Up FBB. I had to stop watching that show even though Grown-up Rain is incredibly hot. Please, universe, give me more Grown-up Rain!)

Are there any K-drama leading men who aren't at least 6 feet tall? (182 cm for everyone using 21st-century measurement schemes). Is this why Kim Woo Bin can get away with those crazy eyebrows?

I love reading everyone's comments and adding dramas to my list for the future. Thanks, beanies!

Oops, I didn't mean to imply that KWB's height is what makes him a star. In my book, he can look as alien as he wants to with that charisma and screen presence. But if he had that face, that charisma, acting, screen presence, etc., and he was 5'10" (178 cm), would his career ever have gotten off the ground?

Only leading man I can think of who's under 6 feet is Yoon Shi-Yoon. Does having a flower boy face get you past the guards at the studio door who hold up the "you must be this tall to ride" yardstick? Ah, I love tall men, but think of the hot actors we might never know because they were an inch too short. Sigh.

I would agree on the Lee Sang-yoon front except I've been obsessed ever since Angel Eyes.

Also, now that you've pointed out that Park Seo-joon looks like a turtle, I can't unseen it. He really does look like a turtle!!! Cutest turtle ever.

Purely based on physical aesthetics and not an actor's charisma and/or talent which can certainly add to attractiveness.

Best looking Korean actors (not including hapas) in no particular order w/ ideal masculine features (not complete list):

Kim Sung-soo
Oh ji-ho
Ji Jin-hee
Jo Han-sun
Song Seung-heon
Cha Seung-won (esp. when he was younger)
Go Soo
Won Bin
Han Jung-soo
Joo Sang-wook
Lee Jin-wook
Yoo Gun

Actors who are good-looking, but not as good-looking as they are deemed to be.

Kim Soo-hyun
Hyun Bin
Jang Dong-gun
Kwon Sang-woo
Jo In-sung
Eric Mun

Reading this article (conversation) was so much fun. Thank you!

Totally happened to me with Song Jae Rim. I know he's hot and everything but my mind thinks of him as this cold blooded assassin... until I saw him in Surplus Princess. OMG. It's a whole new world of sizzling hot Song Jae Rim! Now every time I see him, my heart just keeps on pounding like crazy.

My heart never raced for Kim Soohyun before I saw him in YFTS. Same thing for Lee Minho until he became Kim Tan. Now I'm so into Im Siwan as Jang Geu Rae, it's crazy. So for me, it's not really the actor but the character that I like.

Joo Won is the best looking on my bias list or perhaps the only one I can describe as handsome or beautiful. His looks caught my attention in Ojakgyo Brothers but it was his acting and person that made me a fan.

I tend to like actors who can act rather than how they look. I sure enjoy my eye candy but just like candy, it is not satisfying in the long run. Actors that hook me based on their acting and onscreen charisma are Oh Jung Se and Kim Myung Min. In any case, in kdramas there are always actors who are good and looks good too.

Back to Joo Won. This man has infiltrated my hard disk, I have lots of his pics but I must say he looks incredibly handsome and gorgeous in Tomorrow Cantabile.

Screencapping each episode takes a crazy long time because he looks so good in every frame. And yes, he is so subtly expressive and those minor changes in facial expressions are driving me nuts.

I have many of actors who I see them as hot and gorg..eous but I think you forgot also Choi Daniel with his cute glasses ?Does anyone consider him hot?

yes. lee sang yoon is super hot. haha. and that dimplesssss... damnnnn

Aaaaahhh. Joo Won. The only one for me.

No one caught my attention like Joo Won did. And its not even watching his dramas but watching him in 1N2D that made me follow who this cute but hot guy is. And boom, Gaksital sealed my fate for him. Dang, those hot, tight pants....

Those expressive pool of eyes, they do suck you in your own fantasy world and rendered you helpless when you stare at them. That is actually one of the things that I love catching in every screencap I made of him. He can actually change his expressions in an instant that you need to backtrack just to catch it. His acting for me is superb, I cannot see any trace of Joo Won in any of the characters that he portrayed. And I really like him as a person.

And after almost 3TB of Joo Won goodies, yeah-yeah, I am a Joo Won-hoarder, I need to buy a new hardisk :D, a few times of seeing him in person, -gaaaawd he was so good in his musical Ghost- I still cannot get enough of the hotness, cuteness, sexiness and awesomeness that is Joo Won.

Hi, javabeans and girlfriday, I agree with everything you said about Joo won. He is so pretty and hot in Cantabile. I love his portrayal, his expressions, his conducting and playing the piano and violin - - looks and feels so real. I loved him in Gaksital, Ojakkyo Brothers and Good Doctor too. His crying scenes in Gaksital and OB were so heart wrenching.

I also love Oh Ji Ho – he is also so pretty and I love his voice.

It's been a few months since a drama (Korean or Japanese) caught completely my attention: lately I've been dropping quite a few, even though I really wanted to enjoy them! So, I tought, wow, I'm getting better, (better since I've started to watch kdramas and jdoramas some years ago!), now that I'm almost 30 I'm becoming reasonable and not obsessed too much, waiting like a creep for the next episode to come out etc etc…WEEEEELLLL…..NOOOOOO I was sooooo wrong :(

Since this post it's about hotness and being shallow…. here: I'm currently watching: Bad Guys (Jo Dong-Hyeok and Park Hae-Jin; and love the attitude of Kim Sang-Joong); Liar Game (Lee Sang-Yoon-what happened? why I did not pay attention to him before??-and Shin Sung-Rok); Pride & Prejudice(Choi Jin-Hyuk, looove him); Birth of a Beauty(Joo Sang-Wook); Cantabile Tomorrow (Joo-won)and dorama Kyou wa Kaisha Yasumimasu (Hiroshi Tamaki)… I would like to spend all day screenshotting images …If I look myself from the outside I'm quite ashamed of myself :(( a bit creepy…aahahaaha ;P

my questions may offend a few ppl there..whose the last hottie? i mean the last pic?

maybe i'm just actracted to visually interesting looking guys but i personally find park seo joon & lee je hoon both better looking than seo kang joon. i think seo kang joon is too damn perfect looking for my tastes--like his face is so beautiful that i don't find him attractive anymore? LOL. so weird to explain, i know.

i also find lee min ki & park hae jin so damn visually appeal omfg.