상상도 못한 정체(ᄂᄋᄀ) - 신봉선 (미스터리 음악쇼 복면가왕)

Meme Name: Unimaginable Identity (ㄴㅇㄱ) - Shin Bong-sun (Mystery Music Show King of Mask Singer)

This meme originated from episode 125 of MBC's entertainment program 'Mystery Music Show King of Mask Singer', which aired on August 20, 2017. The original moment is Shin Bong-sun's surprised reaction when a masked singer revealed their identity. While it didn't become popular immediately after the broadcast, the scene was discovered around November 2017 in an online community and spread to various other communities, firmly establishing itself as a meme. It has consistently remained popular for several years since, and in January 2022, an NFT of this meme was even sold for 3 million won.

The 'Unimaginable Identity' meme is literally used to express surprise and bewilderment when faced with an 'identity one couldn't have imagined' or an 'unexpected situation'. Shin Bong-sun's surprised expression, her unique pose with one arm up and the other down, and the on-screen caption '상상도 못한 정체' (Unimaginable Identity) perfectly combined to create a significant impact. This meme is often represented by the Korean initialism 'ㄴㅇㄱ', which visually symbolizes Shin Bong-sun's arm shapes (ㄴ and ㄱ) and face (ㅇ). It is sometimes also used as emoticons like ㄴ(°0°)ㄱ or ┏(ºдº)┛.

Given its parody and usage across various media such as YouTube, online games, webtoons, dramas, musicals, and advertisements, this meme is widely used by all ages and both sexes, not limited to a specific age group or gender. While particularly active within internet communities and among younger generations, it also holds mainstream recognition, even appearing in broadcast subtitles.

• Shin Bong-sun herself named her personal YouTube channel "ㄴ신봉선ㄱ".
• YouTuber Sunba also parodied it in a video title.

• It was parodied as one of the quest names in the 'Ancient Ruins Partem' theme dungeon in the online game MapleStory. The second stage of the 2025 spring season event 'Raising a Golden Octopus' also appears to parody this pose.
• It was parodied in a wild tick awareness campaign on an advertising board inside Seoul Station.
• Parodied in episode 65 of the webtoon 'The Girl from Random Chatting!'.
• In the webtoon 'Boogi Movie', it is a frequently used parody in reviews such as 'Ok-su Station Ghost' and 'Marrying the Mafia Returns'.
• In episode 37 of the webtoon 'Uglyhood', Nathan Taylor and cultists parodied it.

• In episode 92 of the webtoon 'Return of the Legendary Spear Knight', the elf Ash falls in the 'ㄴㅇㄱ' pose.
• Kim Byung-hoon parodied it in the webtoon 'Love Revolution'.
• In YouTuber 'Red Underwear Yako's 'Grand Bow Song', when Yako performs a grand bow, subscribers and the YouTube algorithm take the 'ㄴㅇㄱ' pose.
• It was parodied with Lucidnyang, one of Somac Guffin's characters.
• In Dungeon & Fighter, the Homunculus Jack-o'-Lantern takes this pose during the Female Mage's Archmage True Awakening skill 'Ars Magna'.
• Actors performing the first group dance in the musical '42nd Street' tap dance while striking the 'ㄴㅇㄱ' pose.
• In the musical 'Chami', during the song 'I Understand', Chamiho initially shows the action of raising her left arm and lowering her right arm, and later, when four people gather in one place, Oh Jin-hyuk and Chamiho display that same action.

• In episode 5 of the drama 'Taxi Driver 2', Park Jin-eon, shocked by Kim Do-gi's marriage proposal, performs this pose.

The Korean initialism 'ㄴㅇㄱ' is pronounced roughly as 'ne-oh-gi' (nee-uh-gih), representing the shapes of the Korean letters 'nieun', 'ieung', and 'giyeok'. The full phrase '상상도 못한 정체' (sang-sang-do mot-han jeong-che) means 'an unimaginable identity'. The person's name is 'Shin Bong-sun' (Shin Bong-sun).