Kwak Ka-hyun was crowned Miss Korea Seoul at the regional beauty pageant held at the Sheraton Walker Hill Hotel in Seoul on April 25.
Kwak, 24, is studying theater at Dongguk University, and generated mild controversy due to her fledgling career as an actress under the stage name Lee Ka-hyun. She starred in the Korean TV drama Dong Yi, or The Horse Healer, in which she played the Queen.
Some netizens were upset that a TV actress was allowed to participate in a beauty pageant, theJoongAng Daily reported. While her role in The Horse Healer was a starring role, she has had only small parts in other TV dramas.
Pageant organizers downplayed negative fan reactions, saying there were no rules in place to prevent actresses from competing.
“It is not an audition program [to become a celebrity],” said an official, according to local media reports yesterday. “We don’t understand why people who talk about ‘fairness’ [are raising concerns].”
The first runners-up were Han Soo-min and Choi Yu-rim, while second runners-up were Choi Yu-na, Park Hye-yoon and Jeon Soo-yeon. All six young women will compete at the 2013 Miss Korea pageant as representatives of Seoul on June 4 at the Sejong Center.
