Vegan K-pop and K-drama stars: 4 Korean celebrities who follow a plant-based diet (well, mostly) – Lee Hyori, Im Soo-jung, Claudia Kim and Lee Ha-nui
Given Korea’s famous love for barbecued meat it might seem a struggle for many K-pop and Korean drama stars to cut out the carnivore within – but more and more celebrities are opting for a vegetable-based diet – and they are inspiring a new generation of young fans to try plant-based eating
Korea isn’t the most vegan-friendly place in the world, with its big signature dishes being barbecues, sea food and bone broth-based soups – but the food scene is slowly changing and veganism is gaining interest among the younger generation, especially women. Recently, the regional fast-food chain, Lotteria, released its vegan menu option featuring a “miracle burger” on the Korean market.
Doubtless many new plant-based converts are taking inspiration from the small but growing number of Korean stars leading this fresh wave of “green” eating.
Im Soo-jung
The most famous vegan celebrity in Korea, Im Soo-jung started her plant-based ways when she discovered she was allergic to animal protein five years ago. Although a vegan diet was a necessity for her, she came to enjoy it and now she is at the forefront of promoting veganism in Korea, sharing information on good vegan restaurants and meal options on her Instagram.
Some of her favourite dishes are pizza made out of brown rice with vegan cheese on top and vegetable chobap (Korean sushi) with mushrooms and bell pepper as toppings.
Lee Hyori
She is Korea’s answer to J.Lo, and recently made a comeback as part of the group Ssak3 with emcee Yoo Jaesuk and Rain. Having settled down in the interim on Jeju Island, a one-hour flight from Seoul offering a greener space for her pets, she also chose to become a pescatarian, or a pesco-vegetarian, out of her love for animals, as she explained in the talk show Healing Camp back in 2012, saying, “Nowadays people are eating meat more than ever and to meet up to the demand animals are suffering being caged, and I wanted to start making efforts on what I could do.