Korea still has a long way to go in embracing diverse forms of physical beauty.

Just ask Kim Gee-yang, a plus-size model in the plastic surgery capital of the world.

Kim, whose English name is Vivian, drew attention from local media on Wednesday when she responded to malicious comments on Twitter.

"Excuse me, are your knees pregnant?" inquired one person online.

"Are you trying to rationalize the fact you are fat, lol?" asked another.

"If you go on a diet, I think you could be quite beautiful," said another, less outspoken person. "If you have the same confidence then as you do now, you should be fine."

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The Korean model, who is a Korean size 88, equivalent to a size 14 in the U.S., indicated she is well past getting hurt by the remarks.

"The malicious comments that keep coming out of people's mouths, regardless of my own will, don't faze me now," said Kim. "Even when I get creative remarks about having pregnant knees."

Kim has had little choice but to get accustomed to the hurtful comments, which started when she debuted as a model five years ago.

Plus-size model Kim Gee-yang addressed malicious comments on Twitter, Wednesday. (66100/Twitter)

In a culture well-known for its inflexible standard of physical beauty touted by female stars and idol singers, Kim is indisputably the odd one out.

"Especially in Korea, living as an overweight girl is akin to standing naked in the middle of the street," said Kim in an interview with local media.

Korea's narrow standards of female beauty were the subject of global derision in 2013, when media outlets worldwide pointed out that the year's Miss Korea beauty pageant contestants were virtually indistinguishable from one another, blaming plastic surgery.

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Kim said, "People said I could earn money by modeling for weight-loss supplements by home shopping food brands, but that just made me feel horrible.

"Given that there's a job I want to do, it offends me that that still seems to be a matter of debate," she said on the SBS television program "Good Morning" last week.

The model, who weighs 70 kg and stands at 160 cm, founded the plus-size fashion and culture magazine 66100 last summer to help kick-start the next-to-nonexistent market for bigger women in Korea.

Kim ranked eighth among 991 participants in a 2011 global campaign by American fashion brand American Apparel. She was also recognized at a "Colors" contest the same year by fashion company United Colors of Benetton, aimed at celebrating diversity.

By Yoon Sarah (sarah356@heraldcorp.com)