Half-Korean, half Black models are so in.
For years, Korea’s version of “diversity” was carefully controlled. Mixed-race celebrities existed, sure, but they almost always shared one thing in common: they were half-white.
Western enough to feel exotic, light enough to feel safe, and close enough to traditional beauty standards that nobody had to rethink what “Korean” really meant.
Over the past few years, half-Black Korean models and idols have started showing up in runways, commercials, magazine covers, luxury brand campaigns.
And while the industry likes to frame this as “progress,” let’s be honest: this shift didn’t happen because Korea suddenly became enlightened. It happened because global fashion changed, Gen-Z stopped caring about old rules, and pretending Black Koreans don’t exist became bad for business.
Here are four mixed-race models who are forcing that reckoning in Korea.
1. Han Hyun-min: The Blueprint
Han Hyun-min is one of the most prominent mixed-heritage figures in Korea’s fashion world. Born in Seoul in 2001 to a Nigerian father and Korean mother, he was discovered through Instagram at age 15 and quickly rose to national prominence.
Modeling Career & Media Highlights
Han has walked dozens of runways and was the first Korean model of African descent to gain such broad visibility on major fashion platforms.
He’s been featured in editorial profiles (including Dazed’s 100) that focus on how his appearance challenges traditional beauty standards in Korea. These pieces often highlight his early runway work and his perspective as a trailblazer pushing for more inclusion in the industry.
TV & Public Appearances
Beyond print and runway, Han has appeared on Korean television variety programs like Knowing Brothers, where he discussed how he entered the fashion world and the challenges he faced being biracial in Korea.
He has also participated in entertainment content (e.g., YouTube shows like English-bal), blending fashion careers with pop-culture visibility.
Agency & Current Work
In 2022, Han signed with Sublime, a major management company, expanding his reach into acting and international engagements.
Discrimination
Being Korea’s first widely recognized Black Korean model brought forth an uncomfortable conversation the industry had been avoiding: skin color, racism, who gets to be called Korean.
He’s spoken openly on TV and in interviews about the discrimination he faced growing up, and the backlash didn’t magically disappear once he became successful.
Now, as more mixed-race models enter the scene, Han’s influence is often referenced but rarely fully credited.
The doors he forced open are now being walked through by others, some gently, some enthusiastically, but none of it would look the same without him absorbing the early impact.
2. Bae Yujin: Refusing to Be “The Female Version” of Anyone Else
From the moment Bae Yujin appeared on the scene, the media slapped her with a label: the female version of Han Hyun-min.
Born to a Korean mother and Nigerian father, Bae grew up in Itaewon, one of the few places in Seoul where looking different doesn’t automatically make you a spectacle.
Still, interviews reveal she didn’t escape the usual mixed-race experience: staring, comments, and the subtle pressure to be grateful just for being visible.
In multiple interviews, Bae has pushed back against being framed as a replacement or sequel. She’s made it clear she doesn’t want to exist as a comparison. She wants to exist as herself. That alone already sets her apart in an industry that loves templates more than people.
Media Coverage & Interviews
In interviews with The Korea Times, Bae talked openly about growing up biracial in South Korea, including being teased in middle school over her skin color, and how that shaped her confidence and ambitions.
Her mother initially worried about the challenges of becoming a model in Korea, even suggesting she consider becoming a flight attendant instead.
Bae has expressed that, while early media coverage often compared her to Han Hyun-min, she wants to be known in her own right and not just as a “female version” of another model.
Career Highlights
- Modeling Debut: She signed with SHS Model Management and debuted at Seoul Fashion Week in 2018, walking multiple shows early on.
- Public Visibility: Besides runways, Bae has participated in CAP-TEEN (a talent show) and has been featured in interviews and profiles about mixed-race models in Korean fashion.
Media Presence
There are documentary-style features (e.g., Asian Boss interviews) that highlight her day-to-day life growing up mixed-race in Korea, offering a glimpse into both the challenges and pride she’s experienced.
3. Jenny Park: The Industry’s Favorite New Face
If Bae represents cautious progress, Jenny Park is full-speed industry acceptance.
Young, polished, camera-ready, and already signed to major agencies like Esteem and SM Entertainment, Jenny is what happens when Korean fashion fully commits. She’s booked for everything: luxury brands, beauty campaigns, runway shows, glossy magazines. And she did it all before most people finish high school.
Jenny fits the global fashion moment perfectly. She’s mixed-race, visibly Black, but styled in a way that’s trendy, high-fashion, and brand-friendly. That’s why you see her attached to names like Gucci, Miu Miu, Ferragamo, Dr. Jart+, and New Balance.
In interviews, she comes across disciplined, focused, and painfully self-aware.
Brands & Campaigns
Jenny has already modeled for a mix of global and luxury brands, including:
- Commercials: McDonald’s, New Balance, Dr.Jart+, Fresh Beauty, Vans, Crocs.
- Luxury Collabs: Ferragamo, BVLGARI, Miu Miu, Gucci, Valentino, MCM, showing strong crossover into both street and high-fashion markets.
Her appeal spans both K-fashion and global streetwear sensibilities, which has earned her placements in fashion magazines (Elle, Vogue, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Noblesse), which is a significant achievement before even reaching adulthood.
Public Persona
In a Teen Vogue interview, Jenny shared how she balances school with modeling, attends runway shows for designers like D-ANTIDOTE and KwakHyunJoo, and uses social media to connect with fans, emphasizing discipline and goal-setting as part of her success.
She has also appeared on stage and in commercials at major events like the Melon Music Awards and worked alongside artists like Red Velvet’s Seulgi, broadening her visibility beyond fashion.
4. Cabral Michael: Building His Own Lane
Not every mixed-race model gets runway invites or glossy magazine profiles, and Cabral Michael is proof that you don’t need institutional validation anymore.
Cabral has built his presence primarily online. Through Instagram and self-directed shoots, he’s created a fashion-forward, lifestyle-heavy image that speaks directly to audiences rather than waiting for permission from gatekeepers.
There’s less mainstream press coverage about but here is what we know about him:
Social & Modeling Presence
Cabral Michael (known online as @24k_crs) is a mixed-heritage figure who positions himself as a 혼혈모델 (mixed-race model) with roots noted as “from Hawaii” on his Instagram profile. While his public press coverage is far less extensive than the other models on this list, his social presence reflects a self-driven career path typical of digital-era models.
Branding & Personal Work
- Instagram Influence: Cabral uses social media as the primary platform to showcase editorial shoots, streetwear looks, and collaborations that focus on lifestyle and fashion content.
- Modeling Work: While there aren’t widely reported traditional runway or major brand deals documented by major outlets yet, his portfolio suggests a blend of urban fashion, automotive aesthetics, and individual creative direction.
Diversity Matters in Korea
These half black models in Korea are reshaping what K-beauty and Korean identity can mean in a more globally connected era. Historically, Korea has been ethnically homogenous, and public figures of mixed heritage faced discrimination and visibility hurdles.
Their success highlights gradual shifts in representation, encouraging broader acceptance and showing younger generations that Korean identity includes many backgrounds.
Furthermore, they’re not all being molded into the same “acceptable” version of diversity. Some are high-fashion darlings, some are pioneers, some are still building, but together, they reflect a Korea that can no longer pretend mixed-race identity is rare, temporary, or foreign.
And crucially, this moment isn’t being driven only by Western validation. Korean audiences themselves are changing, and with them, the faces they’re willing and eager to see.
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