Fanboy in Busan: Richie Koh too 'paiseh' to try this with Park Eun-bin, changes his Girls' Generation bias from Yoon-a to Soo-young

Sometimes, actors are just as starstruck by other actors as us mere mortals.

Local actor Richie Koh was at the Asia Content Awards in Busan last weekend as a representative of the cast and crew of Mediacorp’s Chinese drama Your World In Mine, nominated for Best Content.

Rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest stars from South Korea and beyond, we can’t blame him for being a bit of a fanboy though.

Posting on Instagram on Monday (Oct 10), the 29-year-old wrote: “What a weekend! Star-studded nights with idols!”

He shared the photos he took with Extraordinary Attorney Woo’s lead actress Park Eun-bin, Squid Game and Money Heist: Korea’s Park Hae-soo, and Girls’ Generation’s Choi Soo-young.

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Speaking to 8Days, Richie said that he was most star-struck by Eun-bin, 30: “There were a lot of people around her when she came and Pierre Png started talking to her and asked if we could grab a quick photo together.”

Though he wanted to, Richie said he felt too paiseh to try out Eun-bin’s signature “Woo to the Young to the Woo” greeting from Extraordinary Attorney Woo with her. 

The wildly popular K-drama was also nominated for Best Content.

He said: “I was definitely happy [to receive the nomination], this means that other people from Asia are watching our show. And to be nominated with Extraordinary Attorney Woo…”

He was ultimately not disappointed that Extraordinary Attorney Woo won instead of his show, stating that if they had won against a show of that calibre, it would have been a “bonus”.

Richie also got to present the awards for Best Asian Animation and The Rolling Youth Film Award with Titoudao actress, Malaysian Koe Yeet.

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Another star he was excited to meet was Girls’ Generation idol-turned-actress Soo-young, 32, whom he only got to see for a brief period after the award show ended.

“When she was leaving, I quickly ran up to her and said, ‘Hi Soo-young, can I take a picture with you?’” he said.

“I think she was quite stunned that I ran up to her but, you know, this is my only chance!”

The short encounter has even made him change his mind on his favourite Girls’ Generation member. While it was formerly Lim Yoon-a, Richie found himself to be partial towards Soo-young lately, and he reckons it might be because he got a photo with the latter.

From seeing Daniel Dae Kim in the flesh to chatting with Hae-soo, who was conversant in English, Richie considers the experience in Busan his “most memorable” one. 

After the award show, he even shared the same mini-bus as Hong Kong singer-actress Gigi Leung and also ran into Ryohei Kimura, who had won Best Actor, at a restaurant and congratulated him on his victory.

drimac@asiaone.com