America’s Top Model, Koreatown-style

About time: Youngjoo Chang, Hey Kyung Lee and Seonghee Jung pose for a photo after their Silver Models USA audition at the Line LA Hotel. — Photos: Los Angeles Times/TNS

AS a girl in South Korea, Kristen Yoo walked with books on her head to cultivate a model’s ramrod straight posture.

When she moved to Alaska, United States, as a teenager, her dreams of strutting down the runway faded.