Biracial Super Bowl hero is big hit in South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea — He is an unlikely national hero, a man who has barely spent time in South Korea, speaks little of the language and who under other circumstances might be looked down upon in this society.

Ever since Hines Ward was named the most valuable player of the Super Bowl last week, the half-Korean Pittsburgh Steeler wide receiver has been the toast of the nation. People are talking about throwing parades in his honor. His name dominates the TV and radio talk shows; his photo is splayed across the front pages of the newspapers. Especially popular are close-ups of his muscular upper arm, tattooed with his name spelled in Korean.

South Koreans' fascination with Ward, 29, is not simply a matter of pride but of curiosity. He is a novelty in that his mother is Korean and his father was a black GI.

In ethnically homogenous South Korea, such mixed-race offspring are generally viewed with contempt. And because social status is based on being registered under the father's name, children raised by their mothers alone in effect are treated as nonpersons.

Biracial men have been banned from the South Korean military, although the Defense Ministry said Friday, in a move some attributed to the Hines Ward phenomenon, that the policy is being changed.

"If he had grown up here instead of the United States, he would have had a hard time," said Park Mi-na, 17, a mixed-race high-school student. Park, who bears a strong resemblance to the black American father she has not seen since she was 2, said she has been taunted by children and stared at by adults "as if I were an alien from outer space."

Park speaks no English and does not know the difference between Washington, D.C., and the state of Washington. (Her father, she said, lives in one of the Washingtons.) But she hopes to study in the United States, if only to be someplace where she doesn't draw attention.

Ward's situation could have been much the same as Park's except he left Seoul when he was a toddler. After his parents' divorce, he initially lived with his father but later ran away to join his mother, who held down three jobs to support the two of them.

In interviews with media in Seoul, Kim Young-hee recalled that she did not move back to South Korea because of discrimination against herself and her child.

"Even Korean people who looked educated spat when we walked by," Kim was quoted as telling the Chosun Ilbo in a story published last Wednesday.

"I nearly cried when I read the story of his mother in the paper," said Yun Nam-jung, a taxi driver. Ward should be welcomed back with a parade through the center of Seoul, he said, adding: "He's a superb man. We're so proud of him."

South Koreans might get their chance to celebrate Ward's success. The MVP has said he will visit in April, perhaps with his mother. Already, the country's two leading airlines are competing to fly them over and foot the bill for the trip.

Among the many South Koreans who want to see him in Seoul are the administrators of Pearl S. Buck International, a foundation that provides support to biracial children.

"He is an American basically, not a Korean. But the way that he overcame the hardships of his childhood could be an inspiration to our children too," said Lee Ji-young, a social worker at the Seoul office.

There are about 35,000 mixed-raced South Koreans, most raised by single mothers and many fathered by American GIs. Several have achieved prominence as entertainers but that has done little to ease the stigma for others.

Insooni, a well-known biracial singer, said that despite her success, she made sure her 12-year-old daughter was born in the United States and thus could get a U.S. passport.

"I could bear any discrimination and taunting myself, but as a mother, I didn't want my child to have the same experience," said Insooni, who goes by one name.

Jinna Park of the Los Angeles Times' Seoul bureau contributed to this report.