About

The Kim Seon-ho Smile Challenge is an internet challenge and social media trend in which internet users mimic a scene from the K-drama When Life Gives You Tangerines where South Korean actor Kim Seon-ho smiles at IU (Lee Ji-eun) during their wedding. The trend went viral on Chinese and American social media in early April 2025 as internet users began mimicking Kim Seon-ho's gesture by smiling and placing their hand over their heart while playfully pretending to faint onto their shoulders. The trend gained traction in the West on TikTok in mid-April 2025.

Origin

Episode 13 of the Netflix K-drama When Life Gives You Tangerines was released on March 28th, 2025. The episode featured a cameo from South Korean actor Kim Seon-ho, who played Yang Geum Myeong's (played by Korean actress IU) love interest in the season finale.^[1]

In this scene, Kim Seon-ho smiles at IU when he first sees her in a wedding dress during their wedding. He places his hand over his heart and playfully pretends to faint onto his shoulder. The scene can be seen in a video uploaded by YouTuber^[2] Cinematic Hearts on March 30th, 2025.

Internet users first began mimicking the scene in China, with several Chinese celebrities mimicking the scene on apps like Douyin and Xiaohangshu. X^[3] user @filoseonhohada posted a compilation of several Chinese internet users mimicking the scene, gathering over 4,000 likes in two weeks.

Spread

X^[4] user @seonhojoy also posted about the Kim Seon-ho Smile Challenge and its popularity in China, gathering over 500 likes in two weeks on a post from April 7th, 2025.

By mid-April 2025, the trend had spread to the West, with TikTokers mimicking the smile in videos set to a remix of the song "Supernatural" by Ariana Grande and "Wide Awake" by Katy Perry.

On April 10th, 2025, TikToker^[6] @abeltrld posted one of the earliest known videos mimicking the trend on TikTok, gathering over 10 million plays and 1.3 million views in two weeks.

On April 20th, 2025, TikToker^[5] @ms_yooni posted a video comparing Kim Seon-ho's Smile scene to a scene from Shrek, gathering over 12 million plays and 2.3 million likes in two days.

On April 19th, TikToker^[7] @haleyybaylee posted a video participating in the trend, gathering over 7 million views and 800,000 likes in three days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References