Kim Heechul, 'Korean Justin Bieber,' Takes Over Twitter

Sounds like 16-year-old Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber has some competition on Twitter: South Korea's Kim Heechul.

There's a bit of an age difference -- Heechul is 27 -- but both are musical heartthrobs for thousands of teenage girls with rabid social network followings.

Bieber (@justinbieber) may have the edge on Twitter followers -- with 5.6 million to Heechul's 245,000 -- but since this weekend, Heechul has been the one dominating discussion.

It seems as though thousands of fans declared Oct. 11 "Kim Heechul Day" and used Twitter to spread the message. Tweets trickled in from South Korea and elsewhere until there was an international following, and curiosity, solidifying Heechul's spot atop the Twitter Trends throughout the day.

(UPDATE: A HuffPost reader emailed in, "It's actually October 10, 2010 we declared Kim Heechul's Day.. that day we started trending him because he posts a cartoon pic of him and other of his friends using a Uface application on Iphone." However, the buzz continued on Oct. 11 and into Oct. 12.)

Bieber fans often dominate the social network with links and tweets of support. In fact, it's been said that up to 3 percent of Twitter's servers are dedicated to Bieber chatter. Bieber himself is an avid user of the site, known to say some ridiculous things on occasion.

The comparison between the two was made repeatedly during Heechul's reign in the coveted spot atop Twitter Trends. Mashable's Associate Features Editor Matt Silverman tweeted, "It's official: Kim Hee Chul is the Korean Justin Bieber."

UPDATE: As of Noon Eastern Time on Tuesday, Oct. 12, Heechul has been trending on Twitter for 65 hours, according to Twend.it.

Comments

[Tyhoon Um]

01:31 AM on 10/14/2010

Now his tweets are being translated into English by his fans here. http://bit.ly/ayQvna

[13elieve 13]

04:36 AM on 10/13/2010

우윳빛깔 김희철 사랑해요 김희철 희님=우주대스타ㅇㅇ 이건 절대불변ㅇㅇㅇㅇ
우주대스타 김희철ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[NekoNightingale]

08:44 PM on 10/12/2010

Umm... whoever wrote this Is WRONG. Kim HeeChul was around first and well Kim HeeChul, in my opinion has a better voice and personallity than bieber. I hat to break It to you but It could be the other way around :P Jus think of who's been in the music buisness longer

[Jenizz]

07:24 PM on 10/12/2010

Erm.. well.. no.
Kim Hee Chul is defently NOT a korean Justin Blubber. o.ô
Kim Hee Chul (or Heechul) is a member of a korean boygroup, called Super Junior.
Super Junior has 10 members.. so.. well? NO?!
Heechul cannot be compared to JB. Never.

[kuu]

03:37 PM on 10/29/2010

Doesn't Super Junior have 13 members? Not all are active at once I think...

[Amanda Meadus]

07:16 PM on 10/12/2010

Kim Heechul's actually also an actor, radio host and entertainer so his range of talent and professional endeavor is quite a bit broader than that of "typical" popstars, American, Canadian or otherwise. Obvs he's most widely known in Asia - but I'm in the U.S. and older than a teenager and I know about and like him. That's the beauty of social networking, that it can open us all up to a whole new world of exciting, interesting and talented individuals like Kim Heechul. To his great credit, he does an amazing job keeping in touch with his fans through Twitter and has been making the effort to tweet in English (and other languages) more and more; hey, I can't exactly tweet in Korean (or any other lang besides English and maybe a little French) so more power to him. He's definitely worth keeping an eye on (too bad you didn't post a picture of him here!)

[whittybit]

06:55 PM on 10/12/2010

We would all appreciate it if you did not refer to Kim Hee Chul as the 'Korean Justin Bieber'. It is incorrect. Kim Hee Chul is from the group Super Junior and is not an imitation of anyone.

[KasumiUmi]

04:38 PM on 10/12/2010

STOP SAYING THAT KIM HEE CHUL IS THE KOREAN JUSTIN BIEBER!

Kim Hee Chul is more than Justin Bieber, please, Kim Hee Chul doesn't know about Justin! Please, stop saying that.

Kim Hee Chul is unique & people like Justin Bieber founds them EVERYWHERE ~

[leetaeminfacts]

04:27 PM on 10/12/2010

Justin Bieber is the canadian Kim Hee Chul.

[MojiOuji]

11:58 AM on 10/12/2010

Uhh, excuse me ? Kim Hee Chul is not a JB, he's completely different from him. SuJu and Heenim trend at number one because there are KPop fans all over the world, and believe me, trending starts with the international fans.

[8journey8]

10:53 AM on 10/12/2010

Kim HeeChul is a complex personality: he can be hysterically funny or a smoldering sExpot...he has been in the public eye since his Korean debut with the group *Super Junior* in 2005, and has become an icon of Asian success stories. He sings and dances...he models and does commercials, he has appeared in dramas, he has done a live stage play, and been on game shows. He has done hundreds of interviews. He hosts radio shows and emcees huge events; on a more personal level, he draws and writes poetry. He has taken risks with his career and has caused controversy. When he is on a stage with many others, it is almost guaranteed that your eye will follow only him: there is some quality about him that is uniquely his own, and it's magic. He has an undeniable world class charm and charisma. To compare him to Bieber is ludicrous (and insulting?), like comparing a marble to a planet!

[cookienuttery]

08:35 AM on 10/12/2010

And yes, I realize JB is Canadian, but he's very popular here and I'm speaking of America's habit of labeling someone from some "other" country or group as the American (or in this case Western) version of someone else.

Almost bad as the black/white version thing....

[cookienuttery]

08:30 AM on 10/12/2010

Actually this isn't the first time a Korean idol or idols have "dominated" Twitter for a day; they do it all the time. Because Kpop fans the world over (that's right; it doesn't necessarily start in South Korea; international fans plan these trends, and sometimes Korean and international fans work together) love their idols and want the world to know.

And I resent the notion of a Americanized or American version of anything.

Why can't someone be popular for who they are? Americans aren't the only one's on the internet you know.

[fishleepink]

05:48 AM on 10/12/2010

Hee Chul is no Bieber...and should not be associated with JB. They're two different/opposing persona. - @tripleelfs

[FoxiEd0odLe]

04:56 AM on 10/12/2010

Heenim's been trending for 3days now...lol

ELFs tweet all about our boys all 13 of them +2 so Heenim didnt trend much because of that... but ELF population is bigger than that... We are all over the globe nt only Asia.. So this doesnt surprise me at all! And yes, Heechul shouldnt be compared to Bieber coz Heenim's a guy not a kid... ℒℴѵℯ KIM HEE CHUL ! ♥

[LILINGGGG]

03:28 AM on 10/12/2010

I think this should be the other way round. Canadian Kim Hee Chul ?