In recent years, the wild success of male celebrities from South Korea has redefined what Asian women want, from Bangkok to Beijing, from Taipei to Tokyo. Gone are the martial arts movie heroes and the stereotypical macho men of mainstream Asian television. Today, South Korea's trend-setting screen stars and singers dictate everything from what hair gels people use in Vietnam to what jeans are bought in China.
近年來，南韓男性名流瘋狂成功，已經重新界定亞洲女人要什麼，從曼谷到北京，從台北到東京，過去那些功夫明星偶像以及主流亞洲電視老套的硬漢肌肉男已經退流行。今天，南韓引領潮流的影歌星支配一切，包括越南人用什麼髮膠，乃至於中國大陸人買那一款牛仔褲。
Yet for thousands of smitten Japanese women like Kazumi Yoshimura, collecting the odd poster or DVD is no longer enough. They've set their sights far higher -- settling for nothing less than a real Seoulmate.
但對成千上萬像和美吉村這種神魂顛倒的日本女人，收集珍藏版海報和ＤＶＤ已經不過癮，她們眼界要高得多──非得找個貨真價實的「首爾伴侶」不善罷干休。
The lovelorn Yoshimura signed up last year with 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.
失魂落魄的吉村去年就去向一家為日韓作媒的婚友社報名，為她找個理想的單身阿里郎。她並非個案，向這家婚友社登記的女性客戶已達六千四百人，該社指出，自2004年日本首次播出「冬季戀歌」等多部熱門韓劇後，他們的人氣狂漲。
"South Koreans are so sweet and romantic -- not at all like Japanese guys, who never say 'I love you,' " Yoshimura said as she waited for her blind dater. A telephone operator who lives with her parents in Hiroshima, she has spent thousands of dollars on her quest for a Korean husband, flying to Seoul 10 times in the past two years and bullet-training to Tokyo for seven blind dates with Korean men.
吉村說：「南韓人嘴巴甜，人又浪漫，一點都不像日本那些大男人，他們從來不說『我愛妳』。」她正在等婚友社安排的盲目約會對象。她是電話接線生，和父母同住在廣島，她為了找個韓國夫婿已經砸下數千美元，而且過去兩年間飛到首爾十次，還搭子彈列車到東京和韓國人盲目約會七次。
So far, though, she hasn't found the one she's looking for.
但她迄未找到真命天子。
In part, the new allure of Korean men can be traced to a larger phenomenon known as the "Korean Wave," a term coined a few years ago by Beijing journalists startled by the growing popularity of South Koreans and South Korean goods in China. Now, the craze for all things Korean has spread across Asia, driving regional sales of everything from cars to kimchi.
這股韓國男人的新魅力可以追溯到更大的「韓流」現象，這個詞是幾年前北京記者懾於南韓人和南韓東西在大陸越來越受歡迎首創。今天這股韓國瘋已經橫掃全亞洲，使這個地區所有韓國貨，從汽車到泡菜都狂銷。
Meanwhile, the number of foreign tourists traveling to South Korea leapt from 2.8 million in 2003 to 3.7 million in 2004. The bulk of the growth, South Korean tourism officials say, stemmed from Korean Wave-loving Asian women.
同時，到南韓旅遊的外國人已經從2003年的280萬人，跳升到2004年的370萬人，而據南韓觀光局官員表示，大部分成長源自狂愛韓流的亞洲女人。
For the South Koreans -- who have long suffered discrimination in Japan and who have hardly been known as sex symbols -- it all comes as something of a shock.
對長期遭日本歧視而且從來沒有被當成性感象徵的南韓人，一切來得令人措手不及。
Though the Korean Wave hit Japan relatively late, washing ashore only within the past 24 to 36 months, the country has quickly become the largest market for Korean stars. Bae Yong Jun remains the biggest, but his supremacy is being challenged. Actor Kwon Sang Woo, for instance, is charging $200 for some seats at an upcoming "fan meeting" in Tokyo. Some tickets are going for as much as $500 on online auction sites. Bae is now charging $5 million a film, the steepest price anywhere in Asia. In a few short years, Bae is said to have accumulated an empire worth an estimated $100 million. At least nine other Korean male stars earn more than $10 million a year.
雖然韓流襲日是比較晚近的事，在過去二十四到三十六個月才登陸，但日本很快成為韓星最大的市場。裴勇俊仍領先群倫，但他至高無上的地位已經遇到挑戰，像韓星權相佑即將在東京舉辦「粉絲會」，每席要價兩百美元，有些票在拍賣網站甚至已經叫價五百美元。裴勇俊現在拍一部電影片酬五百萬美元，是亞洲身價最高的明星。在短短幾年內，裴勇俊據說已經建構一個估計價值一億美元的王國，至少有另外九位韓國男星年收入超過一千萬美元。
（華盛頓郵報）
Korean Wave 韓流
Seoulmate 首爾伴侶（與心靈伴侶
Soulmate 音同字近）
matchmaking service （婚友社）
Winter Sonata （冬季戀歌）
blind dates（初次見面的盲目約會）
kimchi（泡菜）