On July 25, 2026, Kang Haneul successfully held his fifth fan meeting, “ALWAYS Season 3.”
Both Haneul and MC ORI mentioned that Haneul had spent a great deal of time redesigning the program. He wanted to create as many opportunities as possible to interact directly with fans, so he kept revising the schedule over and over until he was satisfied.
One of those interaction segments was “Haneul’s Advice Corner.”
It was filled with thoughtful, heartfelt answers, so I’d like to share what I remember.
(Recording was not allowed, so these are based on my memory.)
Questions from Fans
①How can I smile all the time like you?
②How can I learn to enjoy spicy food?
③Final consonants (batchim) are so difficult when learning Korean.
④I’m this cute, so why don’t I have a boyfriend?
⑤I have a boyfriend, but I still want to marry you. How can I make my boyfriend my number one?
⑦Should I pursue the job I love or choose an ordinary career?
⑧Do you have any travel memories? (Asked in English by a fan from Germany.)
➉I came with my older sister, but we don’t get along. She stole my Kang Haneul hand fan!
⑪How can I become friends with someone I’ve just met?← Today’s Topic 💙
Gamer Haneul’s answer to “How can I become friends with someone I’ve just met?”
How can I quickly become comfortable with someone I’ve just met?
Haneul is someone who seems to be able to get along comfortably with anyone.
So this was a really good question—one that made me genuinely want to hear his answer.
저는 제가 가지고 있는 거에 매이지 않아요.
I don’t let myself be bound by what I have.
내가 먼저 허리를 굽히는 게 지는 게 아니라고 생각해요.
I don’t think that lowering myself first means I’ve lost.
그래서 상대방보다 못하는 사람이라는 느낌으로 다가가는 편이에요.
So I tend to approach people with the feeling that I’m less capable than they are.
And then came a phrase that really caught my attention.
그렇게 처음 만나는 사람한테 다가가면 방어막이 해제되는 것 같아요.
If I approach someone I’m meeting for the first time like that, it feels like their defensive shield gets deactivated.
…Huh?
방어막 (defensive shield)? 해제 (deactivated)??
When I first heard it, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the word 방어막 (“defensive shield”).
But when I looked it up later, I learned that 방어막 is a word commonly used in the gaming world to refer to a shield or barrier. 🎮
Like this ↓
You approach the other person humbly, and the “defensive shield” they have put up between you is deactivated.
Following anime-fan Haneul’s use of “equivalent exchange,”
this was another word choice that felt very much like gamer Haneul.
I don’t remember exactly how the interpreter translated this, but I thought:
Interpreting Gamer Haneul’s words for non-gamers must be an incredibly high-difficulty job.
“Lowering yourself” doesn’t mean losing
The expression Haneul used,
허리를 굽히다
literally means “to bend one’s waist.”
From there, it can be used to mean lowering yourself, in the sense of being humble or showing respect to someone else.
So, in Haneul’s view, it’s better to approach someone with the mindset of:
I don’t think that lowering myself first means I’ve lost.
허리를 굽히는 게 지는 게 아니라고 생각해요.
And as a result, the other person’s “defensive shield” gets deactivated.
By the way , when I think about how Haneul, a peaceful person who normally doesn’t seem to have even a hint of aggression in him, might be enthusiastically attacking and defending against enemies in the gaming world, I find it ridiculously cute. 💙
Clementine’s Note🍊
The “way-too-humble” Haneul problem?
When you hear 허리를 굽히다, I think many people might be reminded of Haneul’s “way-too-humble” problem (?).
He has always been so humble that you sometimes want to say, “Do you really need to bend that far!?” 😂
But after hearing his answer this time, I found myself strangely convinced that there is actually a philosophy behind that characteristic angle of his bow.
His philosophy on humility was also revealed in a 2015 interview, when he said that if you become twice as famous, you can still be criticized even if you become six times more humble.
It was January 2015, so Haneul was only 24 years old at the time💙 He really was a young man with a strong sense of self from such an early age.
I feel that the more firmly someone is grounded in who they are, and the more inner room they have, the easier it is for them to remain humble.
Haneul, who loves freedom.
Another word that stayed with me was 매이다 (“to be bound” or “to be tied down”).
Not being bound by his abilities, position, or possessions.
Not being caught up in comparing himself with other people, but simply being himself.
His words this time—
저는 제가 가지고 있는 거에 매이지 않아요.
“I don’t let myself be bound by what I have.”
—also made me feel that this is very much Haneul’s way of being: someone who loves true freedom, right down to his core.
Apparently, you need Korean from the world of subculture to understand Haneul’s words 100%…
Words and expressions from the worlds of anime and gaming occasionally appear in Haneul’s speech.
The 방어막 (“defensive shield”) he used this time may be a word that gamers can instantly visualize as a “shield” or “barrier.”
This was another reminder that if I want to understand Haneul’s words 100%, I’m going to have to become more familiar with Korean used in the world of subculture, too. 🎮
Source of Haneul’s Words
Official title: KANG HA NEUL FAN MEETING in JAPAN 2026 “ALWAYS Season 3”
Date: Saturday, July 25, 2026
Venue: KT Zepp Yokohama, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Interview: Newsen 2015.1.17강하늘 “2배 유명해지면 6배 겸손해도 비난” 좌우명(인터뷰)
