용원게이

Yong-won-gay (pronounced roughly as "Yong-wun-gay," where "Yong" rhymes with "song," "won" rhymes with "fun," and "gay" is pronounced as in English).

The 'Yongwon-gei' meme began to gain significant popularity in 2024, when actor Jang Yong-won appeared as a gay character on the YouTube channel 'Unexpected Film' (예상치 못한 필름). Although the channel uploaded its first video in October 2021, its subscriber count surged in 2024, driven by the 'Yongwon-gei' content. It reached 100,000 subscribers in June 2024 and surpassed 550,000 in October of the same year. The episode titled 'I Was Sane' (나는 제정신이었다) was a huge hit and played a decisive role in the meme's spread.

'Yongwon-gei' is the nickname for a character played by actor Jang Yong-won on the YouTube channel 'Unexpected Film'. This character is a secret lover who, when on the verge of being caught in an affair, improvises by pretending to be gay to escape the situation, thus publicly becoming 'gay'. Key features include lines like "Oh my, but your boyfriend is so handsome~ This girl has good taste in men. Ah-ha. Cute. What a shame," and his smooth, deceptive acting. It's important to note that he is not actually gay, but a character 'pretending to be gay,' and his explosive acting is credited as the main driver of the channel's popularity.

It appears to be widely used among young people, mainly teenagers to those in their thirties, who actively consume YouTube sketch comedy content. The rapid increase in subscribers and high viewership of the 'Unexpected Film' channel indicate its broad appeal to an audience familiar with internet culture and who enjoy comedic situational skits.

This meme is primarily used in comedic situations when a specific person lies to escape an awkward predicament, or when an unexpected twist occurs. It is also used when parodying or mentioning actor Jang Yong-won's character. For example, baseball player Lim Jong-seong earned the nickname 'Jongseong-gei' because of his resemblance to actor Jang Yong-won, and used a photo of Yongwon-gei in a short video encouraging All-Star voting. Additionally, character lines like "Oh my, but your boyfriend is so handsome~" are also used as popular phrases.

Since the 'Yongwon-gei' meme originated from actor Jang Yong-won's character who 'pretends to be gay,' care must be taken not to use it in contexts that could demean actual LGBTQ+ individuals or cause misunderstandings. Some viewers have mistakenly believed actor Jang Yong-won to be actually gay, so it's important to avoid confusing the character's setting with reality, causing unnecessary misunderstandings for real individuals, or reinforcing prejudices against LGBTQ+ people.