It's sooooo cute!

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Leon Lee
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Korean artist stirs up fuzzy feelings with her sweet song and dance

Leon Lee |
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In Cantonese, it's duc yee. In Japanese, it's kawaii. In Korean, it's gwiyomi.

No matter what language you speak, there's almost certainly a way to describe something that's completely and utterly cute.

That's the feeling captured by the Gwiyomi Song, released by Korean singer Hari in February. The light, melodic track was inspired by a series of gestures by Jung Ilhoon of K-pop group BtoB.

Counting up from one to six, each number is accompanied by a cute move. The Gwiyomi Song and dance quickly went viral, inspiring loads of imitations from Korean celebrities and YouTube users.

As the song continues to pick up momentum, so has Hari's young career. The 23-year old was a model before being asked by Dandi, the producer of the Gwiyomi Song, to try her hand at singing.

"He called me one day and said he had a song and asked if I was interested in singing it. Then he asked me to sing it right then on the phone," she says, laughing.

Dandi is the brother of a friend of hers who just happened to live in the same neighbourhood as Hari in Seoul. Dandi joked that the reason he chose Hari was because she is not shy and is able to do cute things even when her face is expressionless.

Although that's a joke, there's much truth to it. The bubbly singer is cuteness personified. Throughout the interview with Young Post, Hari was smiling and laughing. Any mention of Korean group Big Bang, for example, or its lead member, G-Dragon, resulted in giggles and blushing.

Cuteness even extends to her name. "I had to decide on a name quickly so I went for a walk," Hari says.

"I walked by a laundromat and in front sat a cute dog. It had a name tag on its collar. I love dogs, so I decided to use its name."

Hari knows that she can't play cute for her entire career. But, for now, she'll give her fans what they like to see. She knows that she still needs to work on her performing skills and work out how to bring her music to a larger audience.

"When I first started, I never had any big ambition or dreams. I just wanted to sing this song well," Hari says.

"I just want everybody to be able to enjoy the song, regardless of age because the song is supposed to make you happy. It should be simple enough that everybody can sing and perform it and have fun with it."


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- Despite his parents' initial hesitation, singer David Choi turned his online fame on YouTube into real success

- Japanese R&B queen Misia talked to Young Post about celebrating the 15 years of her illustrious career

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