Pengsoo

Pengsoo (Korean: 펭수, Pengsu) is a penguin character that appears on the YouTube channel Giant Peng TV, run by Educational Broadcasting System (EBS) in South Korea. Pengsoo is a ten-year-old trainee at EBS who dreams of being a universal superstar.[1]

Pengsoo
Penguin character "Pengsoo" holding an instrument
First appearance
  • Tok!Tok! Boni, Hani
  • March 20, 2019
Created byLee Seulyena (EBS Producer)
In-universe information
Full namePengsoo
SpeciesGiant Penguin
GenderGenderless
OccupationContent creator (EBS Trainee)
AffiliationEducational Broadcasting System
FamilyUnnamed mother and father
OriginAntarctica

The popularity of Pengsoo, expanding outside the initial target demographic for the character, has resulted in Pengsoo appearing in television programs, games, radio programs, advertising, government PSAs, and on multiple branded products both physical and digital.

On January 29, 2020, Giant Peng TV (자이언트 펭TV), Pengsoo's YouTube channel, reached 2 million subscribers.

History

Educational Broadcasting System (EBS) first conceptualized Pengsoo as a character "the whole family could like" and was originally designed to target a demographic of children in South Korea around 10 years old. While EBS had significant success with children's programming, the company had generally targeted a younger age group with simple, "cute and cuddly" personas such as Pororo the Little Penguin. Pengsoo was intentionally written with a personality more akin to an antihero.

In May 2019, the number of subscribers was only 37.[2]

Pengsoo portrays the role of an anti-hero such as a light behavior or an honest expression of jealousy. It breaks existing social norms in Korea and contrasts with another famous penguin character on EBS, Pororo the Little Penguin, who is a more gentle creature.[3] It began to gain popularity as he appeared with other characters in the program called EBS Athletics Championships (E-Yuk Dae),[4] and the scene of complaining about the name of EBS's president Kim Myung-joong without hesitation gained a great response from office workers.[5]

Currently, it is called the PO-president of adults. Pengsoo appeals to Kidults and has built a fan base of more than 2 million YouTube subscribers.[6]

Character

According to the self-introduction on the official website, Pengsoo is 10 years old and currently is an EBS trainee.[7] According to Pengsoo in its audition video, it said that it had been swimming in Antarctica to become the best creator, then crash-landed in Switzerland to learn the yodeling song and swim from Switzerland to the coast of Incheon, and he wanted to be like Pororo of EBS.[8] Pengsoo is deliberately genderless, and the height of Pengsoo is 2m 10 cm.[9] In addition, Pengsoo is described as using Pengsoo's own toilets and showers.[10]

Media appearances

It also entered the 2021 EBS College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) special lecture and was featured as the EBS PerfectScore Workbook cover model, which was released in 2020.[11] Pengsoo was selected as a presenter for the 34th Golden Disk Awards[12] and has made content with K-Pop group TWICE.[13]

Popularity and influence

Pengsoo's rise in popularity is largely credited to its unique character. It has been described as rude, back-talking, and brazen.[14] Within a nine month span in 2019 - 2020, Pengsoo generated 10 billion won (approx. 7.6 million USD) in revenue.[15] In 2019, Pengsoo's popularity was cited in increased searches by South Koreans of travel to Ushuaia, a point close to Antarctica allowing for wildlife viewing such as penguins.[16] Pengsoo was chosen as the "Animal of the year 2020". Pengsoo is one of the most influential penguins in South Korea currently. The official fandom name of Pengsoo is "Peng Club" (펭클럽).[17]

In 2019, Pengsoo beat BTS to become South Korea's "Person of the Year".[18]

Pengsoo has received attention from the South Korean government, and was invited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and met Minister Kang Kyung-wha on November 6, 2019 to promote a special summit between South Korea and the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.[19] has shot many TV commercials and public advertisements for encouragement, cheering on the public during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Buzzwords

Pengsoo is credited with popularizing buzzwords like "눈치챙겨 [keep your wits], 엣헴엣헴 [ahem], 신이나 [it's fun/I'm having fun], 펭러뷰 [Peng(soo) loves you], 펭하 [Peng hi], 펭빠 [Peng bye]"[20]

Merchandise and licensing

The Pengsoo character has a large variety of merchandise and has been licensed with multiple products. Pengsoo Mall, a website hosting many of Pengsoo's official products, has featured Pengsoo branded fashion, kitchen, bathroom, beauty, technology, and food products.[21] Pengsoo has appeared on debit cards,[22] Companies who successfully secure licensing for the character saw increased stock trading activity and rising stock price in 2019,[23] with the cost to win a bid to license the character being compared to the same cost to the rights to popular Disney characters.[24] Pengsoo also made an appearance as a playable character in Nexon’s mobile game KartRider Rush+ since November 26, 2020. A digital sticker pack released on KakaoTalk featuring Pengsoo became a bestseller immediately upon release.[24]

In March 2020, EBS announced an effort to legally target copyright infringements of Pengsoo.[25]

Discography

As a lead artist
Title Year Peak chart
positions		 Album
KOR
[26]
"This Is Pengsoo" (펭수로 하겠습니다)
with Tiger JK, Bizzy, Bibi		 2020 54 Billboard Project Vol. 1
"Christmas Returns" (크리스마스 리턴즈)
with Kim Tae-woo (g.o.d), Park Jin-joo, Yoon Sang		 152 Non-album single

Filmography

Television show
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2022 Scholarship Quiz Special MC with Jaejae [27]
The Perfect Age for Politics, Thirteen Narrator with Kim Su-ji [28]

References
  1. "TV". home.ebs.co.kr (in Korean). Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  2. Lee, Yu-jin(이유진) (2019-11-08). ""대한민국은 펭하!" 경계를 넘나드는 펭귄, 펭수앓이 왜?" [“Korea is Pengha!” Penguin crossing the border, why is the penguin?]. Kyunghyang Shinmun.
  3. '펭TV' 펭수 "교육은 가르치는 게 아니라 인생 그 자체", 한국경제, 2019-10-2.
  4. Jang, Yu-ha(장유하) (2019-10-21). "애들 지각시켰다고 항의 많이 받았던 개그우먼의 근황". jobsN.
  5. Lee, Min-jung(이민정); Kim, Ji-hye(김지혜). "꼰대 깨부수는 병맛 센스···'어른들의 뽀로로' 펭수 만났다" [Sense of breaking ggondae ...We met Pengsu called 'Adults' Pororo',]. JoongAng Ilbo.
  6. 지금까지 이런 펭귄은 없었다...2030도 사로잡은 '펭수', 노컷뉴스, 2019-10-17.
  7. "Character Introduction". Giant Peng TV.
  8. "EBS 최초 연습생 펭수의 오디션 합격 TIP *최초공개*" [EBS' first trainee Pengsu passed the audition TIP *First public*]. Giant Peng TV Youtube.
  9. "펭수에 대한 모든 QnA" [All QnA for Pengsu]. Giant Peng TV Youtube.
  10. "[단독] 펭귄 의혹 전격 해부! ㅣ독점 인터뷰: 김민교, 양치승 [Ep.57] (ENG)" [[Exclusive] Dissecting the penguin suspicion! ㅣExclusive Interview: Minkyo Kim, Chiseung Yang [Ep.57] (ENG)]. Giant Peng TV Youtube.
  11. "[방송소식] 펭수, EBS 수능특강 표지모델 外". news.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  12. "BTS, TWICE, And NU'EST Have A Blast Taking Photos With Pengsoo". Soompi. 2020-01-07. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  13. "Watch: TWICE Teaches Pengsoo How To Be A JYP Trainee + Dances "Feel Special" Together". Soompi. 2020-04-13. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  14. "Pengsoo: The rude giant penguin that South Korea fell in love with". BBC. BBC News. 19 May 2020.
  15. "Sensational character Pengsoo generates W10 billion in revenue in 9 months". koreatimes. 2020-09-02. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  16. Bizwire, Korea. "Pengsoo Effect Being Felt in Travel Industry". Be Korea-savvy. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  17. "'100만 유튜버' 펭수 팬덤명은 '펭클럽'… "팬미팅 하고 싶습니다"". 서울Pn (in Korean). Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  18. Gifford, Storm. "Penguin mascot Pengsoo voted South Korea's Person of the Year". New York Daily News. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  19. "Penguin character Pengsu".
  20. 이, 정현 (2020-01-03). "'놀면 뭐하니' 펭수 연예대상 대기실서 '정체' 공개될까? 플린 김동준 관심도 수직↑" ['How do you play' Is Pengsu going to reveal his identity in the waiting room of the entertainment award? Increased interest in Kim Dong-joon, YouTuber 'Flynn'.]. 내외경제TV (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  21. "펭수몰". www.pengsoomall.com. Archived from the original on 2022-10-03. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  22. Young-won, Kim (2020-02-17). "KB Card launches debit card featuring Pengsoo". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  23. "'Pengsoo' rocks Seoul bourse". koreatimes. 2019-11-15. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  24. "Companies dying to cast 'Pengsoo' for ads". koreatimes. 2019-11-22. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  25. Yuna, Park (2020-03-13). "EBS takes action to protect copyrights over Pengsoo". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  26. "Gaon Digital Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart.
  27. Jang, In-young (November 24, 2022). "재재·펭수, '장학퀴즈' 스페셜 MC…6년 만에 공개방청도" [Jaejae Pengsoo, 'Scholarship Quiz' Special MC... Public hearing for the first time in 6 years] (in Korean). Newsis. Retrieved November 24, 2022 – via Naver.
  28. Yoo Jeong-min (November 25, 2022). "MBC 창사 61주년 특집 다큐멘터리 '정치하기 딱 좋은 나이, 열세 살" [MBC's 61st Anniversary Special Documentary 'The Perfect Age for Politics, Thirteen']. iMBC (in Korean). Retrieved November 26, 2022 – via Naver.
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