Tuong Lu Kim

Tuong Lu Kim, a.k.a. City Wok Guy, is a fictional character in the animated sitcom, South Park. Tuong Lu Kim is voiced by Trey Parker.

Character Traits

Tuong Lu Kim is a seemingly stereotypical character, prone to pronounce the word "city" as "shitty". He is well known for along with how he says other words, such as Rs instead of Ls (technically incorrect, as it is a Japanese stereotype, not Chinese). According to the DVD commentary on the episode Jared Has Aides, Tuong Lu Kim is based on an actual person. While working on their film Orgazmo, they would phone a real life City Wok just to hear the man's voice.

Another trait of him is, like other Asian characters, is that his eyes are slanted, Tuong Lu Kim however takes it to a new level with his eyes closed nearly all the time. He only opens them for brief periods of time such as in Wing where he looks at the Chinese Mafia. Strangely, his first name "Tuong" is Vietnamese, while "Kim" is Korean. However, it could be a parody of the case that people in Western culture frequently mix up Korean, Chinese and Japanese.

Another trait of Tuong Lu Kim is that he hates Mongolians. A running gag in the episode Child Abduction is Not Funny is the fact that the Mongolians keep knocking down "The Great Wall of South Park" which is designed to keep child abductors out. In the end Mayor McDaniels makes him knock it down, when everyone agrees that you shouldn't separate yourself from society - but bring each other together by pulling them down.

Career

Tuong Lu Kim's main job is the owner of City Wok, a Chinese take away service. The shop doesn't seem to be very popular in town, and it hasn't been seen since season nine.

Tuong Lu Kim also operates the dangerous airline service City Airlines. This has made one appearence, in It's Christmas in Canada when the boys fly to Canada to try and get Kyle's little brother Ike back. The plane crashed in the episode when Tuong fell asleep at the controls. This airline was seemingly terminated with the destruction of the plane. The small white and yellow plane can be seen in the South Park title sequence from Smug Alert! onwards. In the background of the crowd scene the small white and yellow plane can be seen hovering above the town.

Family

The only family ever shown of Tuong Lu Kim is his wife, Wing. Wing is an actual person who made a guest appearence voicing herself in an episode of the same name. Wing is quiet and is called "a delicate little flower" by Tuong. Despite the fact he seemingly loves her, he appears to shout and order her about very much.

Character History

First appearing in season six, Tuong Lu Kim was rung up by the boys as a joke just to hear him say "Shitty Wok". This is similar to what Trey Parker and Matt Stone would do. In the same episode, Jared Has Aides, the boys get Butters to put on weight, and then lose it. They would do an event similar to Jared Fogle but with Subway replaced with City Wok. In the end they got a small ammount of cash leaving them disappointed.

His next appearence was in season six again. In the episode Child Abduction is Not Funny, he is told to build "The Great Wall of South Park". Unfortunately for Tuong, the Mongolians are continuouslly knocking it down with various methods. At the end he has to knock it down by Mayor's orders, since walls separate people from society and that if the town tears the wall down it will once more bring other people to town.

Tuong next appeared in the season seven episode Krazy Kripples. In this episode Timmy and Jimmy become Krips. Tuong thinks they are robbing him and he gives them free food.

In the season seven Christmas special, It's Christmas in Canada, Tuong returns and takes the boys to Canada. His air service City Airlines manages to take them there but Tuong falls asleep and the plane crashes. He manages to parachute however.

Tuong's next; and final appearence to date, is in the episode Wing. In the episode the boys make a talent agency, they then make Tuong's wife Wing their client. The Chinese Mafia want her back since they have not been paid for transporting her. The boys think that the Mafia are opposing talent agents. The two groups enter a gun fight. In the end Stan manages to stop it all by explaining that nobody owns Wing since she is a living thing.