Being Korean certainly helped Grace Lee become a household name on Philippine television. But talent, hard work and ironically, Filipino pride, has kept her on top

BLAME it on K-Pop.

Or maybe her dazzling yet enduring love affair with this country, despite ? or precisely because of ? the obvious differences in language and culture.

But Lee Kyung Hee, or the prominent media personality on radio and TV we know as ?Grace Lee,? has emerged as the most prominent, stunning and celebrated Korean to grace the Philippine airwaves since Sandara Park.

Thanks to the country?s emerging interest in anything Korean, this communications graduate has been holding her own in several entertainment shows as well as current affairs programs.

?Actually, I was very, very lucky because the K-Pop phenomenon and the acceptance of Korean culture halos sumabay sa pagsimula ko sa [came just as I was starting out in the] industry,? Grace acknowledges in engaging Taglish.

The phenomenon, she says, has opened doors for her, as it continues to impact on local Filipino pop culture. ?I think it?s because they are packaged so well,? Grace says of the Korean pop craze. ?The [pop music groups] are packaged in a way that would drive girls crazy. And I see why. It?s the way the guys look; it?s the hairstyle, the outfit, the way they come up with their songs, the rhythm.?

Grace notes that the biggest factor behind K-Pop?s success is the training and packaging that these young Korean entertainers have to undergo. ?Just because you can sing and dance doesn?t mean [the producers] will immediately launch you as an artist,? she explains. ?They will train you at least three years before they package and release you to the public. This preparation, packaging and marketing is really what?s behind the K-Pop Factor.?

Banking on this ?K-Factor,? Grace, 27, seemingly had everything going for her to make it big ? hosting the daily reality talent show ?Diz Iz It!,? anchoring the entertainment news for ?News On Q? on QTV-11 and the weekend edition of GMA-7?s ?24 Oras.? But, at least for her, it wasn?t enough just to be Korean. Hard work and outstanding talent must be part of the equation.

Not that she?s downplaying her roots and heritage. Grace is proudly Korean, an expatriate who has resided in the Philippines for nearly 18 years. She left her native Seoul, South Korea for the Philippines when her father decided to relocate to this country in late 1992.

?I came here when I was 9 and have been here since. I haven?t left the country for more than two months in my entire 18 years of stay here. I always say I?m super Filipino,? she declares.

She recalls the time she first set foot in the Philippines. She did not know any English and in fact had not even heard about the country at all. ?I didn?t have a choice because I was a kid and did not know where we were going,? she recalls.?Even after I learned we were moving to the Philippines, it didn?t help much because I had never even heard of the Philippines. When we arrived here, I didn?t know how to write ABC, didn?t have any basic English at all.?

Soon after the family had settled in their new home in Valle Verde 2, Pasig City, Grace says her love for the Philippines started to blossom. ?From Day 1, I never had a problem with the way I was accepted and loved by people around me,? she adds. ?I was just in love.?

Grace recounts how their neighbors in the village warmly welcomed them. ?We were the only foreigners in the village, and everyone was so nice. Siguro natuwa lang sila sa amin [They seemed happy to see us]. Every time I?d go out the house, all of them would just come to us.? At times, she laughs, the attention made her feel like a ?monkey in a zoo.?

Not too long after they arrived, her father got her a tutor for English from Faith Academy, a school for children of Christian missionaries. After a year, she was ready for formal elementary and high school classes at St. Paul College Pasig. In school, she realized how blessed she was to have come to a place that was so open in its welcome to foreign students.

?Every day, may gift sila sa akin. Kahit isang piraso ng stationery nila, bibigay nila. Yung mga ganoon. Kahit pupunitin nila yung isang page sa notebook nila para may maibigay lang sa akin, gagawin nila [They always had gifts for me, even just a sheet of stationery. They?d even tear off a page of their notebook to give to me].?

And it wasn?t just the students who were kind to her. The principal and teachers, she remembers, were always giving her extra attention. ?I remember the principal at that time, Sr. Teresita Agana of St. Paul. She?d call me to her office every lunch time just to check what I?ve learned for the day. She?d ask, ?How are you?? And, she?d listen to my answer. And, she?d correct me, ?No, that?s not how you say it.??

Grace never found it difficult to adapt to and embrace the local culture, including the language. Unlike other expats who find it hard to immerse themselves into the country?s way of life, she says her problem was actually the opposite: readapting to Korean customs and traditions.

?My mom was getting worried about me forgetting my Korean ways. She was concerned that when we returned to Korea, we might have a difficult time adjusting to Korean culture.?
It came to a point, she says, when she would actually be more accommodating with Filipinos than her native countrymen. ?While traveling, when I would hear somebody speak in Korean, deadma lang, ok lang, whatever. I don?t really recognize the fact that I?m hearing Korean. But whenever I?d hear Tagalog, talagang lilingon ako [I can?t help but notice]. Uy, may nagta-Tagalog, may Filipino dito. Tapos kakausapin ko talaga, ?Pilipino ka ba? O, taga saan?? Tapos tanong sa akin, Filipino ka ba? Sabi ko, hindi, Korean. Bakit ang galing mo mag-Tagalog?? Grace recounts. [I?d speak to them in Tagalog and ask if they?re Filipino. But when they?d ask me in turn and I?d say I?m Korean, they?re amazed that I speak Filipino].

?I started to realize how much I was constantly comparing the Philippines to whatever country I was in at the time. I would say, we don?t do that in the Philippines. No, the Filipinos don?t do that. Then I started to realize, oh my God, I?m so Filipino. I can?t help it. I may look Korean but inside I?m all Filipino.?

Since settling in the Philippines, Grace has only very rarely travelled back to her native Korea. ?I go to Korea probably once a year. When I was a student, I would go there once every three to four years ? more frequently after graduation.?

After graduating with a Communication degree from the Ateneo de Manila University, Grace did the traditional rounds of job-hunting, leaving resumes in offices, particularly network news departments.

She was elated to receive a callback from GMA Network which wanted to hire her as a field reporter for the News and Public Affairs Department. But things didn?t turn out that way and she ended up in another show in the network?s sister station, far removed from the news beat.

?I was kind of given the choice of going to news or ?Sweet Life? [hosted by Lucy Torres and Wilma Doesnt]. My manager, Ida Henares, advised me to widen my horizon and start with entertainment first, then later on, if I still wanted to, move on to news.?

Her stint as one of the main hosts of the lifestyle and entertainment program in 2007 opened yet another door for her ? something that made her a household name.

?In ?Sweet Life,? we guested Mo (Twister) at one time and Mo really liked the fact that I was Korean and I had something to give to the show, so he invited me as a guest DJ ? and then that guesting lasted two and a half years.?

From early 2008, Grace became part of the popular morning radio show ?Good Times? on the FM station Magic 89.9, where she did disc jockeying, commentary and listener interaction chores, with DJs Mo and Mojo Jojo who made her famous among radio?s primetime morning crowd. She still hosts the program with them and the original lady DJ she was supposed to temporarily replace, Andi Manzano or Andi-9.

?There?s a charm about radio. You get to be more of yourself,? says Grace. ? It?s definitely not something for the weak-hearted. You really have to be tough on radio ? I really grew from there.?

Amid her continuing success as a top radio personality, GMA News gave Grace the biggest break on TV as host of the cooking travel show, ?Eateria.? It was a dream come true. ?It only lasted for one season but I had a lot of fun because I wanted to travel all around the Philippines, concentrating on the local delicacies and food. And that was exactly what the show was.?

Though the show lasted for only two months, Grace?s breakthrough stint on ?Eateria? proved her mettle as a host. Since then GMA News has tapped her to handle showbiz news segments in its newscasts, aside from her daily hosting job in ?Diz Iz It,? which is produced by ?Eat Bulaga? creator TAPE Inc.

?Through that show a lot of people recognized the fact that I was ready for a more serious show,? Grace stresses. ?That?s where I started with ?Diz Iz It.? Now I have ?News On Q,? ?Silip Showbiz,? and ?24 Oras? on Saturdays. It was a very smooth transition I must say and I?m very, very blessed.?

Grace Lee has always felt it was an auspicious time for her to join television ? right at the emergence of K-Pop popularity. Ironically, and perhaps precisely because of this success ? she feels ?even more truly Filipino.?

And for Korean Grace, being Filipino is a privilege. ?To every Filipino, I say, it?s your right to be Filipino ? you were born here, your parents are Filipinos. But I don?t have a right to be Filipino. It?s a privilege. And so, for me it?s a gift, given to me out of good will and out of love and acceptance.?

Truly, this is one amazing Grace. ?