The Korea Times

With 'X,' Amber Liu marks big life changes, transition from K-pop to solo artist

Performing Thursday in Newport Music Hall: Amber Liu /STEEL WOOL ENTERTAINMENT-Tribune News)By Margaret QuammeAt age 17, Amber Liu left her native Los Angeles and headed to South Korea to join the K-pop group f(x).Ten years later, she left the group to strike out on her own.Liu, who will perform Thursday at the Newport Music Hall, marked the occasion with a six-song EP called "X.""I chose 'X' as my album title because it commemorates the tenth anniversary of my career," she said, speaking by phone from her tour bus on the way to a performance in California. "I wanted to pay tribute to all the fans who have known me since day one or who have just gotten to know me."But the title has more than one meaning."It also represents the fact that I'm crossing out a lot of the bad stuff in my life. Some of the songs are older ― like 'Ready for the Ride,' which I wrote in 2015 ― though we revamped and re-recorded them," she said. "But they all represent milestones in my life when I learned a lesson or grew as a human being. So (I'm) crossing out all the bad habits, and then, quote-unquote, 'cros

Feb 20, 2020By Kim Ji-soo

With 'X,' Amber Liu marks big life changes, transition from K-pop to solo artist

Global Community

Where to learn about traditional Indian yoga

The yoga studio Swami Vivekananda Cultural Center in Seoul / Courtesy of Swami Vivekananda Culture CenterBy Kim Ji-sooYoga and pilates are becoming highly popular in Korea, in addition to the ubiquitous aerobic and gym classes that exist in every neighborhood. The Yoga “population” in Korea has grown to about 2 million in recent years and there are even hopeful predictions that the number of yoga buffs will increase to 5 million creating a large market valued at 4 trillion won.Yoga enthusiasts mostly tend to be woman, with a few men in the classes, who also like to sign up for both national and international yoga retreats. While international retreats are infrequent, word of mouth among yoga lovers is that Bali is the place to go for a non-stop yoga holiday, an idea that nation's leading tourist companies are seizing on.But having experienced yoga in Mumbai, in Korea and from American teachers, there was always this curiosity on this reporter's mind about the yoga class offered at the Indian cultural center in Hannam-dong, Seoul. The upside to this center may be that one

Feb 18, 2020By Kim Ji-soo

Where to learn about traditional Indian yoga

Global Community

Foreigncommunitybriefs

Museum explores 1950s Korean cinema The Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch (RASKB) offers a special guided tour of the exhibit “1950s Korean Film, Moving into a New Epoch” at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History tonight (Feb. 19).The exhibit looks at the mid to late 1950s in Korean film, a time of rapid growth during the reconstruction period following the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. It was in this period that Chungmuro became the center of Korean cinema, and filmmakers experimented with genres, making vivid films portraying the rapid societal changes happening in the country.Following the guided tour, Korea Times movie columnist Jason Bechervaise will give a special presentation on Korean filmmaking history.Participation is free but space is limited. Visit raskb.com for more information or to RSVP.AMCHAM lunch with Mark KnapperMark Knapper served as the charge d'affaires and deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, before becoming acting ambassador for that long period after Donald Trump's election until Ambassador Harry Harris was appointed. Knapper is

Feb 18, 2020By Kim Ji-soo

Opinion

Spirit of 2020 general election

By Kim Ji-sooPolitics can appear like a national sport in Korea, driven by the dynamic National Assembly, the weekend rallies and the growing number of political YouTube channels. It is an understandable comparison, as politics, rather than functioning as a way to solve problems, has morphed into a platform where people voice their anger and frustrations.With the April 15 general election approaching, one could say the “ground” for politics has opened. Heightening the excitement is the aggressive recruiting of outside “experts” by all parties including the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, the main opposition Liberty Korea Party and the Justice Party. The ruling party started by tapping 42-year-old Choi Hye-young, a quadriplegic former ballerina who has been working to improve awareness of the disabled, and Won Jong-geon, a manager of eBay, to run on its party ticket. Most recently the ruling party has selected figures including 42-year-old former judge who alerted the party to the fact that there was a judicial blacklist and a plan to dissolve a human rights

Jan 22, 2020By Kim Ji-soo

Politics

K-pop, hallyu continue global rise

Lee Geun, president of the Korea FoundationBy Kim Ji-sooThere is a cautious but strong move to bet on K-pop to lead the Korean economy in the years ahead, as interest in hallyu continues to grow.The Korea Foundation has released a booklet tallying the status of hallyu over the globe, which found that global fans of the Korean wave increased about 11 percent in 2019 or nearly 100 million over the previous year. The foundation, which is affiliated with the Foreign Ministry, made the assessment by studying hallyu communities in 98 nations. As of December 2019, there were 1,799 hallyu fan clubs with 99.32 million fans. The number of fans increased 11 percent over the figure of 89.19 million in 2018.The bulk of the fans were based in Asia and Oceania at around 72 million, followed by 15 million in Europe and 12 million in the Americas. The object of love for these fans was mainly K-pop, followed by K-dramas.The book ascribes the growth of hallyu to expanding distribution and consumption routes of Korean content through such platforms as YouTube, Netflix and SNS, and to the qualitative gro

Jan 15, 2020By Kim Ji-soo

Opinion

Heard of #BongHive

By Kim Ji-sooIn these gloomy days in 2019 South Korea, there are bits of bright news including the ongoing rally of South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's “Parasite” in the North American box office. Since it was released in United States on Oct. 11, it has raked in $100 million. Local media reported that as of Nov. 22, the film brought in slightly over $144 million in sales. Fans of the movie have dubbed themselves the #BongHive and others are busily creating memes from scenes in the movie. After it opened in South Korea in May this year, the film sold more than 10 million box office tickets, a barometer of blockbuster success in the 50 million-strong country. Just last week, “Parasite” dominated at the nation's top film awards the 40th Blue Dragon Awards.Hollywood magazines such as Variety and Deadline have mentioned it as not only a candidate for the Best International-Language Film award but also as contender for the top prize. Should Bong grab an Oscar next Feb. 9, it would surely be nice to see the reprisal of the boyish jubilance he demonstrated at the Ca

Nov 27, 2019By Kim Ji-soo

K-pop

Kang Daniel to release single

Singer Kang Daniel. Courtesy of KonnectBy Kim Ji-sooPopular K-pop artist Kang Daniel will release his first digital single “TOUCHIN” on Nov. 25.The rapper/singer and former member of now-disbanded boy band Wanna One released two photos of himself wearing a fedora and bow tie Wednesday, offering a slight glimpse of the stylistic direction he may take with the new single. Wanna One, a project band formed through a now controversial audition program, dropped chart-topping hits during its stint including “Energetic” (2017), and Kang and his fellow members landed commercial deals in the country. After the group disbanded in December 2018, Kang went solo including setting up his own agency, Konnect Entertainment, after a legal dispute with his former agency LM Entertainment.During the summer this year, the 22-year-old released his first solo album “color on me.” Since then Kang has focused on meeting overseas fans in Asia.

Nov 20, 2019By Kim Ji-soo

Opinion

Gearing up for 2020 general elections

Gearing up for 2020 general electionsBy Kim Ji-sooThe unprecedented clash between Justice Minister Cho Kuk and the prosecution, led by Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-youl, is underway. Both are avowed advocates of prosecution reform ― which essentially is about disseminating some of the powers the prosecution enjoys with other agencies and freeing it from political influence ― but the two remain very much on different pages these days.Yoon, who famously proclaimed that he has no loyalty to any person, has led his prosecution to search the justice minister's home and is expected to summon the minister's wife concerning whether there was fraud committed in getting their children admitted to college or graduate school.Justice Minister Cho, who experienced a challenging National Assembly confirmation hearing, during the 11th hour of which his wife was indicted, is determinedly going about his work, meeting with frontline prosecutors as he pursues reform.With much confusion over just where the clash will end, the public has been struggling to understand why President Moon Jae-in took the ri

Sep 25, 2019By Kim Ji-soo

Politics

Prof. Lee Geun named to lead KF

By Kim Ji-sooProf. Lee GeunThe government has named Professor Lee Geun of Seoul National University as the new president of the Korea Foundation, an affiliate institute under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He will serve a three-year term.Lee, professor of the Graduate School of International Studies at Seoul National University, also served as vice dean of the Graduate School of International Studies at Seoul National University and dean of the Office of International Affairs. He is an outside adviser to the ministry as well. The ministry noted Lee's 20 years of research into Korea's foreign affairs and international exchanges, as well as his advisory role.Lee, 56, graduated with a bachelor's degree in foreign affairs from Seoul National University, and obtained his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Sep 17, 2019By Kim Ji-soo

Politics

Countdown to ASEAN-ROK Summit

Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don, left of the promotional tower for the 2019 ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit, and other officials on Friday celebrated the 100-day countdown to the summit, to be held in the southern port city on Nov 25 and 26. Fifth from left is Suh Jeong-in, executive director of the Summit Preparation Office./ Yonhap

Aug 18, 2019By Kim Ji-soo

Kim Ji-soo

Read more

With 'X,' Amber Liu marks big life changes, transition from K-pop to solo artist

Where to learn about traditional Indian yoga

Foreigncommunitybriefs

Spirit of 2020 general election

K-pop, hallyu continue global rise

Heard of #BongHive

Kang Daniel to release single

Gearing up for 2020 general elections

Prof. Lee Geun named to lead KF

Countdown to ASEAN-ROK Summit

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