By Xu Aiying and Yoon Hee Young

Three Spanish-language articles written by Honorary Reporters from Mexico in the first week of this month ranked among the top five in the category in the number of views, with the others being in Russian and Chinese.

The popularity of the three stories is likely related to the composition of this year's class of Honorary Reporters. Among the 3,432 recruited, 1,305 were from Spanish-speaking countries, the most among the nine languages featured on Korea.net.

■ "Meet seonbi and their philosophy of life" (Ena Sofia Azcona Castillo from Mexico)

As the most read story of the week, this article introduced seonbi, or neo-Confucian scholars during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), and their origin, spirit and philosophy.

"Knowing Korea's seonbi culture makes us question our values and philosophy of life," it said. "The scholars' various knowledge, wisdom to live in the world and empathy to look after the people present milestones in an evolving world based on the development of technology  and innovation."

■ "Standards of beauty during Joseon Dynasty" (Marina Luchina from Kazakhstan)

No. 2 was a Russian-language article on beauty standards during the Joseon era.

The article looked at beauty during the period from a non-Korean perspective. Introducing the standard of Joseon beauty -- sambaek (three whites), samheuk (three blacks) and samhong (three reds) -- and natural makeup methods yeonji (red dots on cheeks) and gonji (red dot on foreheads), the writer said, "People in the Joseon Dynasty era emphasized a balance of outer and inner beauty."


■ "KCC in Mexico holds 1st Korean E-Sports Festival" (Kenia Guerra Valencia from Mexico)

The No. 3 spot went to a Spanish-language article on the first Korea-Mexico E-Sports Festival held from June 19-20 at the Korean Cultural Center (KCC) in Mexico.

The event livestreamed E-sports between the two countries including the internationally popular game "League of Legends" and "Battlegrounds" and "KartRider Rush+," two Korean games popular in Mexico. KartRider gained extra attention as a Mexico-based game YouTuber collaborated with the KCC to introduce the game. 

■ "Jeong Seung-won: next promising player in Korean soccer" (Veronica Zuniga from Mexico)

At the fourth spot was the article titled "Jeong Seung-won: next promising player in Korean soccer" on his recent performance and popularity. Named on July 1 to the Korean under-23 team to compete in the Tokyo Summer Olympics, the midfielder plays for Daegu FC of Korea's pro K League 1. "The player has gained attention not only for his excellent performance as a soccer player but also his handsome appearance," the writer said.


■ "Viewing Korean fashion in K-Pop" (Lu Yizhen from Taiwan)

Rounding out the top five list was the Chinese-language article titled "Viewing Korean fashion in K-pop" by a writer from Taiwan. The article introduced iconic fashion items such as colored pants, suits, school uniforms and loose socks, all of which have been trendy as stage costumes by K-pop acts.

"K-pop is the first step for many people to get to know Korea," the story said. "A large number of people start learning Korean and even go to Korea to travel or study after becoming fans of K-pop idols."

The writer mentioned K-pop fashion's global influence in that whenever a group wears the latest outfits, the same or similar items appear on online shopping malls, making the genre the Hallyu leader in fashion.


xuaiy@korea.kr