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Meet Korea’s most popular cheerleader Park Ki-ryang

August 4, 2014

Voted ‘The Most Beautiful Cheerleader,’ she is nothing less than a celebrity in Korea, even landing TV roles and endorsement deals. 

(Newsis)

Some sports fans in South Korea think just watching Park Ki-ryang and other members of the cheerleading squads for pro teams are worth the price of admission. (Newsis)

By Kim Tae-jong

Park Ki-ryang has been chosen as the most beautiful cheerleader in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) league, according to a recent poll.

Ntreev Soft, an operator of an online baseball game, “Baseball Manager,” conducted a survey with 7,682 people participating from July 17-31.

Park, 23, who leads Lotte Giants’ cheerleading squad, won 32.78 percent or 2,518 votes, earning the honor a second time in a row. Last year, she topped the survey by securing around 29 percent of the votes.

Due to her surging popularity, Park has also secured  commercial and television program appearances.

She also belongs to other professional cheerleading squads ― for the Ulsan Mobis Phoebus and Daejeon Samsung Fire Bluefangs.

Park was followed by NC Dinos’ Kim Yong-jeong, who also came second last year.

Kim, who received 25 percent of the votes, is also one of the most famous individuals in the profession. Due to her charming looks, she is known as the “cheerleading Jun Ji-hyun,” named after the famed “My Love from the Star” drama.

LG Twins’ Gang Yoon-i came in the third, receiving 14 percent of the vote. She, too, has a lot of fans and has drawn comparisons to K-pop group Kara’s Goo Ha-ra.

Samsung Lions’ Lee Su-jin, Hanwha Eagles’ Lim Su-yeon and Kia Tigers’ Lee Ji-eun was also named by respondents to the survey.