Oh, no, WaPo has caught on to the so-called Korean Wave (which is one year later than The New York Times, in turn at least a year late to the actual phenomenon). Some choice bits:

Thin and gorgeous in a slinky black dress, Mikimoto pearls and a low-slung diamond Tiffany pendant, 26-year-old Kazumi Yoshimura already has looks, cash and accessories. There’s only one more thing this single Japanese woman says she needs to find eternal bliss — a Korean man.

She may just have to take a number and get in line. In recent years, the wild success of male celebrities from South Korea — sensitive men but totally ripped — has redefined what Asian women want, from Bangkok to Beijing, from Taipei to Tokyo.

Oh, rats, I am already married!

Then again, I don’t look or dress like this:

And the phenomenon is apparently sex-orientation neutral:

The lovelorn Yoshimura signed up last year with Rakuen Korea, a Japanese-Korean matchmaking service, to find her own Korean bachelor. And she is hardly alone. More than 6,400 female clients have signed up with the company, which says its popularity has skyrocketed since 2004, when “Winter Sonata” became the first of many hot Korean television dramas to hit Japan. Even in Shinjuku ni-chome, Tokyo’s biggest gay district, niche bars with names such as Seoul Man have sprouted like sprigs of ginseng in a Pusan autumn [Boldface mine].

Maybe I should be glad I am already married.

And why are Korean men in such demand, you ask?

“South Koreans are so sweet and romantic — not at all like Japanese guys, who never say ‘I love you,’ ” [Snip]

A hearty diet and two years of forced military duty, industry leaders and fans insist, have also made young South Korean men among the buffest in Asia. Most important, however, has been the South Korean entertainment industry’s perfection of the strong, silent type on screen — typically rich, kind men with coincidentally striking looks and a tendency to shower women with unconditional love.

I knew Kimchi was going to play a role here somewhere. Now it would be complete if there were some stock phrase to X of Asia. Oh, wait:

Entertainment industry leaders in Seoul credit the phenomenon to good marketing coupled with an uncanny response throughout Asia to the expressive nature of the South Koreans — long dubbed the Italians of Asia.

Wait a minute. I thought Koreans were the Irishmen of Asia, on the account of their near universal alcohol addiction and predilection to fight amongst themselves? I guess they are also the Italians of Asia in that they live to eat, not eat to live (and love garlic).

“Maybe I’m living in a fantasy world,” she said, pouting her blood-red lips.

Yes.

Well, I will say this, things have certainly come a long way since the days when Korean men were stereotypically described as drunken overbearing louts who beat their wives, but with less money than Japanese men… even if WaPo is two years late to the story.

And two years from now WaPo will report on the negative blowback to the Korean Wave in Japan. You read it here first, folks!