Korea

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

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, possibly in an attempt to avoid protests. Despite being written out of the anime, the character became controversial enough to warrant online protests and the series to be declared a "national crime" by the South Korean government.

Appearance


He has short black hair (sometimes colored brown), 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, though in his unused anime design, the navy blue part was colored violet instead.

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.

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 pigtails. 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.