펭-하!

Origin

"Peng-ha!" is the greeting of EBS character Pengsoo, short for "Pengsoo, hi." As clips of Pengsoo waving at the start of videos and saying "Peng-ha!" spread, it became a catchphrase fans use to greet each other cheerfully.

Pengsoo is the star of the EBS program Giant Peng TV. According to the character's backstory, Pengsoo is a 10-year-old giant penguin from Antarctica, 210 cm tall, who joined EBS as a trainee dreaming of becoming a creator. The name combines peng from penguin with su (秀), meaning excellence. According to Korean Wikipedia, Pengsoo first appeared on March 20, 2019, and the program began airing that April. The early response was tiny: in May 2019 the YouTube channel had just 37 subscribers.

Spread

Adults were the ones who turned things around. Despite the cute penguin suit, Pengsoo speaks a bit like a middle-aged man, casually calls the EBS president by name and jokes about moving to another network, a boldness that gave office workers a vicarious thrill. In an October 2019 article, Vogue Korea described how even viewers who found the character awkward at first gradually got hooked, calling it being "seeped into by Pengsoo." The channel had 250,000 subscribers at the time, and Pengsoo was branching out with appearances on SBS radio and MBC variety shows. Asked about comparisons with Pororo, Pengsoo said, "I'm not concerned about comparisons. What I have to surpass is myself."

The popularity soon showed in the numbers. YouTube subscribers passed 500,000 on November 11, 2019 and 1 million on November 27. That year Pengsoo was named Person of the Year in broadcasting and entertainment in a job portal survey, and on January 1, 2020 became the first penguin to take part in the New Year's bell-ringing ceremony at Seoul's Bosingak. Pengsoo also appeared at that year's Golden Disc Awards and won the Entertainer of the Year category at the Korean Broadcasting Awards. The official fan club is called Peng Club. Along the way, "Peng-ha" became something like a password greeting that marks you as a Pengsoo fan.

Usage

• A casual greeting to friends or coworkers: "Peng-ha!"
• The opening line of comments on Pengsoo posts and videos
• Paired with an imitation of Pengsoo's farewell when saying goodbye

Sources

• Korean Wikipedia, "Pengsoo" — first appearance on March 20, 2019, 37 subscribers in May 2019, 500,000 on November 11 and 1 million on November 27, the 10-year-old EBS trainee backstory and meaning of the name, 2019 Person of the Year, the 2020 Bosingak bell ceremony, Golden Disc Awards and Korean Broadcasting Awards, Peng Club
• Vogue Korea, "Let's get to know Pengsoo: 'Peng-ha!'" (October 22, 2019) — the 10-year-old, 210 cm Antarctic penguin backstory, 250,000 subscribers, the middle-aged-man speech, naming the EBS president and joking about switching networks, SBS radio and MBC appearances, the comment on Pororo comparisons
• ELLE Korea, "Peng-ha! Pengsoo, the trending YouTuber taking social media by storm" — "Peng-ha" as short for "Pengsoo, hi" and its rise as a social media catchphrase