
Despite a year of unrelenting provocations from North Korea that has sent the globe into a state of alarm over the prospect of war on the Korean peninsula, South Koreans will more likely remember 2017 as the year the people brought down a president and installed a new, progressive leader in power.
As such, it was no surprise that memes related to the downfall of disgraced president Park Geun-hye and the subsequent election of the affable and humble former human-rights lawyer Moon Jae-in dominated the internet in 2017.

Face hegemony
Not only is president Moon wildly popular in Korea, but so are the people around him. Together with senior secretary for civil affairs Cho Kuk, chief of staff Im Jong-seok, and the president’s bodyguard, the popularity of this group of handsome men lies partly in their “face hegemony.” Moon and his cabal have been dubbed the “F4,” or “Flower 4” (link in Korean) of the presidential Blue House, after the moniker given to the four male heartthrobs in the Korean TV series Boys Over Flowers.