Korea

Im Yong Soo is a character in the series Axis Powers Hetalia. He represents the country of South Korea (韓国,Kankoku).

He was originally slated to make an appearance in the anime, as evidenced by an early character design on the site (which was later removed), but was cut from the series, due to becoming controversial enough to warrant online protests, and for the series to be declared a "national crime" by the South Korean government.

Appearance
He has short black hair, with a flyaway curl on the right side of his head. The curl is often drawn with a face in the middle, to represent his "Korean spirit". He dresses in a white and navy blue hanbok.

Personality And Interests
Yong Soo is a free-spirited type, obsessed with video games, dramas, studying abroad, and the internet. He always claims credit for others' inventions, and feels that his older brothers should call him their older brother. He likes to put the family first, but can't keep his hands off his brothers. He often uses the phrase "da ze".

Kiku Honda (Japan)
Main Article: Kiku Honda

Yong Soo claims to hate him, but is constantly copying his style and creations, and believes that he has ownership over his breasts. At one point, he wanted to dig a tunnel to connect both their countries.

Wang Yao (China)
Main Article: Wang Yao

He is obsessed with Yao and wants to be acknowledged by him, but his feelings are unrequited.

In The Anime


Yong Soo was originally part of the cast for season 1, and was shown in various promotional images for the series, as well as appearing in the official site's lineup of characters.

However, several South Korean citizens, after learning of the existence of the series, found the character to be mocking and in poor taste. An online petition was launched to get the series banned, and over 16,000 signatures were collected. The case gained enough media attention to be brought before the government of South Korea, and the series was deemed to be a "national crime".

Kids Station, the TV network that was to air the Hetalia anime, responded that there were never any plans to include a Korea character in the series. Despite the claim, the protests continued and the anime adaptation wound up pulled from Kids Station's lineup due to "various circumstances". It is believed that reported death threats (and a bomb threat) from the protesters may have played a part in those circumstances.

Though he appears in the ending theme, Yong Soo is noticeably absent from the actual anime. A brief animation error in Episode 14, depicting him as part of the supermarket line from behind, shows evidence that he was originally animated into the series, but that Studio DEEN had to remove any references to him, presumably due to the protests. The part he played in the rest of the episode was completely removed, as was a brief cameo he would have had in Episode 01.

The Cast Commentary track on the third drama CD, Prologue 2, contains an appearance by the seiyū Kaoru Mizuhara, in the roundtable discussion of recording for the characters in both the drama CDs and anime. Mizuhara's section suggests that she was to voice Yong Soo in the upcoming anime version, though as he was dropped from the series, she was presumably let go from the role.

In his unused anime design, Yong Soo's dark hair was changed to a chestnut brown shade, and the "Korean spirit" in his haircurl was removed. The navy blue part of his hanbok was also changed to violet.

Trivia



 * An initial character design by Hidekaz Himaruya reveals that Yong Soo was originally going to be a female character. In the early design, the female South Korea is depicted wearing a hanbok with long, flowing oversized sleeves. Her hair appears to be tied back into braids. Further liner notes in the special edition of Axis Powers Hetalia volume 2 suggest that the female Korea was to be an aspiring idol who decided to travel to the United States.
 * Yong Soo's birthday was originally listed as being May 1st, 1919. The date was later retconned to August 15th (no year given) by the time the published version of the manga was released.
 * Though the correct Korean rendering would be Im Yong Soo, the variants Im Yonsu, Im Yong Su, and Im Yun Soo have been seen in some Japanese fanworks. Earlier misnomers included Ren Yong Soo, Lim Young-soo, and Lee Young-soo.
 * Although referred to as simply Korea most of the time, the nation name being listed as Daehan-minguk (Republic of Korea) on his original profile first indicated that he is meant to represent the southern half, which also tends to be referred to as simply Korea. Since he has only appeared in the modern day-set strips so far, his flag also confirms that he is South (though the original Korean flag was similar before the split). It remains to be seen whether a North Korea character will be included in the series.