Updated Jan.7,2004 16:44 KST

Lee Sabi to be Korea's First Playboy Model

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The first purely Korean Playboy model has arrived.

Adult entertainment channel Spice TV, Playboy¡¯s partner in Korea, said Wednesday that fashion model Lee Sabi, 25, has been selected as the first Playboy model to represent Korea.

Lee is to star in Playboy Magazine¡¯s 50th anniversary celebrations, underway worldwide. Starting last August, Spice TV began looking at potential candidates who might satisfy Playboy Magazine¡¯s stringent requirements. It settled on Lee, who is 1.74 meters tall, weighs 51 kg, and measures 35-24-36. In addition to her perfect body, her beauty seems to combine the best of East and West, and she speaks English, which earned her high marks from Spice TV.

Since her catwalk debut in Daegu in 1998, Lee has been a top model, busy both at home and abroad. In addition to Korea, she has also worked in Paris alongside supermodels such as Naomi Campbell, modeling world-famous brands like Givenchy and Loreal.

Korean-American models such as Lee Sung-hi have appeared in Playboy¡¯s special editions before, but Lee Sabi will be the first Korean recognized by Playboy with the honor of officially representing Korea.

Lee will have a busy schedule next week -- she will leave for Los Angeles on Sunday and spend six days posing for nude photographs and videos, and then head to the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills to attend a party sponsored by Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. Playboy Magazine has assigned nearly 30 top-class photo staff members for Lee alone. Her nude video is scheduled to be broadcast on Playboy affiliates around the world in February. In addition, if Lee wants, she will be given a chance to be a cover model for Playboy¡¯s Asia Edition. (Song Weon-seop, five@sportschosun.com )