The Korea Times

Shamelessly corny Kim Bo-sung strikes gold

By Ko Dong-hwanAs an actor, Kim Bo-sung is a limited talent. He has exactly two skills ― an exaggerated laugh and a fake macho posture ― and this keeps him in comedy roles such as bumbling cops and brain-dead thugs.But Kim is treated like royalty in the world of advertisement where companies find his ludicrously corny personality as a perfect temple to promote a product.Kim’s recent advertisement for rice beverage Birak Sikhye, where he is seen punching rice bags and jars, knocking coffee and sports drinks off other people’s hands and making them drink Sikhye, all while shouting “eui-ree!’’ (loyalty), went viral.Kim is pleasantly surprised by the popularity of the advertisement. But he also says with dead seriousness that he hopes the advertisement will inspire people to be loyal to their friends, family and community.Perhaps, this is the essence of Kim’s charm ― he never seems to break out of his character to the point where you wonder whether the character is really himself.“I am grateful that people love the advertisement wh

May 23, 2014By Ko Dong-hwan

Shamelessly corny Kim Bo-sung strikes gold

Others

Singer honors late Roh Moo-hyun in new video

Lee Seung-hwan, left, and the late President Roh Moo-hyunBy Ko Dong-hwan Veteran singer Lee Seung-hwan, 49, is preparing to release a new video offering tribute to the late President Roh Moo-hyun.The video is for Lee’s song, “A Better World,’’ from his latest album “Fall to Fly’’ released in March.The song’s lyrics are based on a poem by Do Jong-hwan, whose verses made Lee think of how Roh lived and died, the singer said. “I thought about president Roh when I recorded the song,” Lee said in a media interview.Cartoonist Kang Pool, film director Oh Seung-yoon and calligrapher Gong Byung-gook participated in creating the video. The Roh Moo-hyun Foundation also provided a specially designed portrait of Roh for use in Lee’s video.Roh, Korea’s last president a liberal party, leaped to his death in 2009. While Roh left a mixed legacy as president, he continues to be lionized by liberal politicians, who remember his down-to-earth personality and contributions as a human rights lawyer and democratization ac

May 22, 2014By Ko Dong-hwan

Singer honors late Roh Moo-hyun in new video

Others

Police clamp down on anti-Park posters

By Ko Dong-hwanPolice in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, are pursuing unknown creators of street posters satirizing President Park Geun-hye, triggering a debate over freedom of expression.The poster shows a smiling Park dressed in traditional “hanbok’’ and seemingly attempting to ride on the back of a dog. Several dogs, their expressions somewhere between blankness and depression, stare at the president from behind.Other dogs run toward Park with mouths agape, like personal messengers, and the backdrop has a silhouette of a ship sinking below the blue horizon.The Sewol ferry sank off the waters of the southwestern island of Jindo April 16 with 476 people aboard. Only 172 of them were rescued with the remainder confirmed as dead or missing.Critics have accused the government of bungling its emergency response and failing to properly enforce regulations that would have stopped the ship's operators from putting profit before safety.The poster found in Gangneung appears to be an extension of this criticism with the dogs portraying Park’s aides or government-friendly

May 22, 2014By Ko Dong-hwan

World

All passengers rescued in yacht sinking

By Ko Dong-hwanThe $10 million yacht is secured at a port after passengers were expeditely rescued from its capsize on ocean near Anacortes, Washington.If you have to be on a sinking boat, it’s better off being on a multimillion dollar yacht in American waters than on an aging Korean ferry owned by corrupt, religious nut-jobs exploiting the lack of government oversight.According to ABC News, a new, $10 million yacht capsized when it was launched in Anacortes, Washington, dumping six people into the water. The crew, including mechanic Wade Benda, was attempting to deliver the yacht to its new owner. After the doomed maiden voyage, the owner might want a refund.Rescuers arrived at the scene within a minute and saved all passengers, including a person who was trapped insight and helped his cause by ripping through the structure using a huge cutter knife. 

May 22, 2014By Ko Dong-hwan

Others

Seong Si-kyung voted as dreamiest book reader

Seong Si-kyungLee Sun-kyunCho Seung-wooBy Ko Dong-hwan Crooner Seong Si-kyung was voted by Korean women as the man they most desire for reading a book to them.Seong, also popular as a television emcee and radio host, garnered 33 percent of the votes in a survey by the Korean Publishers Association participated by 630 women.Actor Lee Sun-kyun finished second with a 20 percent support, followed by actor Cho Seung-woo (18 percent), Kim Soo-hyun (16 percent) and Kim Woo-bin (13 percent).Unfortunately, Korean government data also shows that Koreans hardly read books. 

May 22, 2014By Ko Dong-hwan

Seong Si-kyung voted as dreamiest book reader

Others

'Kingmakers' are in demand ahead of local elections

Moon Jae-jinPark Ji-wonSohn Hak-kyuPark Young-sunBy Ko Dong-hwan Local election candidates are competing to be seen with so-called “kingmakers,’’ or popular politicians who can generate clout and exposure, as the June 4 ballot day nears.The busiest kingmaker is Moon Jae-jin, who lost the 2012 presidential vote to Park Geun-hye, but continues to be the spiritual anchor of the opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD).NPAD candidates are scrambling to lock Moon into showing up as their rallies. Moon had been a close ally to late President Roh Moo-hyun, the last president produced from the liberal front, and candidates believe that a sighting of Moon would move the hearts of younger voters who positively rate Roh’s legacy.Park Ji-won, the grizzled political veteran and former chief of staff for late President Kim Dae-jung, is also in popular demand from candidates.Candidates in the North and South Jeolla Province areas hope that the presence of Park, whose political identity is permanently tied with the Nobel Peace Prize winner, will help secure

May 22, 2014By Ko Dong-hwan

'Kingmakers' are in demand ahead of local elections

Others

`Celebrity life all about food, sex and sleep'

By Ko Dong-hwan Sex has become a dominant subject in Korean talk shows, but we also reached a point where every story has started to feel the same.Funnyman Shin Dong-yup, the host of E Channel’s ``Brave Reporters,’’ decided not to think too hard and to be blunt. In parts of the pre-recorded show released by the channel, Shin simply asked his guests, including singers Lady Jane and Kim Jung-min and comedian Kim Tae-hyun, what was most important for them between food, sex and sleep.Lady Jane and Kim Jung-min said they prioritized sleep, while Kim Tae-hyun picked food. Shim seemed a little disappointed that nobody answered ``sex’’ and began pressing his guests. Kim Tae-hyun finally said ``Okay, so it was sex for me until my early 30s, but right now food is definitely most important for me.’’The show will air on Wednesday at 11 p.m.

May 21, 2014By Ko Dong-hwan

`Celebrity life all about food, sex and sleep'

Others

Actor Won Bin shown with Saenuri candidate

By Ko Dong-hwan Despite his superstar status in movies and television dramas, Won Bin has never been an actor who looks comfortable in prolonged spotlight.He did make his first public appearance in a while on Wednesday but at the most unlikely of places; the campaign office of a municipal council candidate in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province.Won, 37, arrived at the office of Sohn In-am, a candidate from President Park Geun-hye’s Saenuri Party, in Gwangmyeong Wednesday morning, shook hands with Sohn and stayed there just long enough for someone to take his photo and broadcast it on social media.Sohn happens to be the husband of one of Won’s sisters and also the CEO of Dream East On, the entertainment agency which represented Won before the actor entered compulsory military duty in 2005. 

May 21, 2014By Ko Dong-hwan

Actor Won Bin shown with Saenuri candidate

Others

Internet idiot detained after 'corpse fetish' rant

By Ko Dong-hwanPolice in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, detained a man on charges of cyber bullying and spreading misinformation.In one of his bizarre rants, the man, a 34-year-old Oh, questioned why people were so interested in divers finding the bodies of the passengers who had boarded the sunken Sewol ferry and claimed Koreans were overcome by “corpse fetish.’’He also denounced the family members of the ferry victims and the public sympathizing with them as “uncivilized.’’At the police station, Oh explained to reporters that he believed the ferry should have been pulled out by now and wondered whether the ship was being kept under water because the public needed to quench its supposed thirst for seeing dead bodies.Despite letting an apology out of his mouth, he didn’t seem to think his comments were wrong at all.But is it right for law enforcement officials to comb the Internet to detect and punish idiots like Oh? Or should the Internet be allowed to police itself?The debate would have been more meaningful if the person who triggered it ha

May 21, 2014By Ko Dong-hwan

Internet idiot detained after 'corpse fetish' rant

Others

Actress Jeon needs security for her earrings

By Ko Dong-hwanJeon Do-yeon, the Korean actress participating in this year’s Cannes Film Festival as a member of the jury, appears to be putting in Herculean effort to look the part.Her diamond earrings, for example, are so valuable they require their own bodyguards.The earrings are a creation of Van Cleef & Arpels Isabella, whose workers needed 400 hours to complete them.Made of 16.37 carets of marquise-cut diamonds and 2.67 carets of baguette-cut diamonds, the items were initially made to be displayed at a museum.Nonetheless, they look stunning on Jeon, judging by the slew of red carpet photos wired around the world. 

May 21, 2014By Ko Dong-hwan

Ko Dong-hwan

Read more

Shamelessly corny Kim Bo-sung strikes gold

Singer honors late Roh Moo-hyun in new video

Police clamp down on anti-Park posters

All passengers rescued in yacht sinking

Seong Si-kyung voted as dreamiest book reader

'Kingmakers' are in demand ahead of local elections

`Celebrity life all about food, sex and sleep'

Actor Won Bin shown with Saenuri candidate

Internet idiot detained after 'corpse fetish' rant

Actress Jeon needs security for her earrings

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