True Beauty adapts Yaongyi webtoon to examine South Korea's beauty pressures

According to Collider, True Beauty is a South Korean television adaptation of Yaongyi's popular webtoon that follows high school student Lim Ju-Kyung (Moon Ga-young) as she learns to use makeup to navigate relentless bullying.

The series shows Ju-Kyung enduring mockery for her acne and features, surviving a public humiliation and a near suicide before being saved by classmate Lee Su-ho. After her father is scammed and the family moves, she studies online makeup tutorials, transforms into what the story calls a "goddess," and uses that new confidence as protection while fearing exposure of her real face. The plot also centers on a love triangle with Lee Su-ho (Cha Eun-woo) and Han Seo-jun (Hwang In-youp) and situates Ju-Kyung's experience within South Korea's strict beauty standards, noting high rates of cosmetic surgery and the country's significant suicide rate among OECD nations.

True Beauty, which aired in 2020–2021, frames makeup as both survival and social power: Ju-Kyung responds to cruelty by standing up for others, offering makeovers to help outward appearance reflect inner goodness, and the story emphasizes that personality matters as much as looks.

Key Topics

Culture, True Beauty, Yaongyi, Lim Ju-kyung, Moon Ga-young, South Korea