Plush Korean haetae sitting at the Korean Friendship Bell pavilion in Long Beach, CA.
On Monday, I dropped off the last of my haetae plush to be sent to a customer.
In 2021, I ran the Kickstarter for this plush thinking it was super niche and would end up being an expensive passion project. During the pandemic, I had started doing designs representing traditional Korean heritage. In my research, I came across haetae, mythological creatures believed to stand for justice and eat fire. And I remembered seeing their statues outside Gyeonbokgung when I had visited Seoul many years before.
To my surprise, the haetae has sold much better than the Korean tiger plush that also funded in the same project. Whenever I had them at cons, I had a little sign that had information about what they were since unlike dragons and phoenixes, they aren't as well known in Western culture. People would often stop and read it or snap a picture if they bought one so they could remember the information. It was such a cool feeling to see people pausing in the hurry scurry of con to learn a bit about my culture.
Plush haetae sitting at the Korean Friendship Bell in Long Beach, CA.
It is a bit of a bummer that I've now totally sold out of them just as everyone is getting interested in Korean mythology thanks to Kpop Demon Hunters being a huge success (such an amazing movie) and the hallyu wave that's been going on for a few years now. I’d like to restock them, but with the current tariff situation, I really don’t know when I can. However, I do have haetae on other items and I intend to keep doing more designs and drawing even more Korean mythologicals. So I hope you’ll stay tuned!
Korean Friendship Bell
Korean Friendship Bell pavilion.
I took the pictures of my plush at the Korean Friendship Bell in Long Beach, CA. I had found out about this place when I was looking for photoshoot locations for my Korean items and so one summer when I was down in Southern California, I made sure to get over there to see it. It sits at the coast and has a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean. They ring it on specific days during the year. You can visit this site to read about the history of the bell and the dates when they ring it.
Detail of the intricately painted roof of the pavilion showing the traditional dancheong style of Korean decoration.