The Korea Times

UC Berkeley plans to hold K-pop conference

By Park Jin-hai An in-school club at UC Berkeley will hold a two-day convention on the colorful and diverse aspects of the K-pop community. Under the theme “[Be] CHROMATIC,” KPOPCON will be held on March 8 and 9, in and around the university campus in northern California.  “KPOPCON strives to gather fans from all backgrounds to celebrate the continuously evolving K-pop community in a social, creative, and academic setting,” said its organizer K-Popular. “While enjoying the hallyu content provided during the workshops, we hope fans will find their creativity and dreams.”  Since the student club launched the K-pop event in 2012, it has been providing a platform for studying the phenomenon academically as well as organizing dance competitions and fan meet-ups.    The event will be all about K-pop. Participants will participate in workshops interspersed with singing and dancing.  On Saturday, workshops on K-pop’s shifting representation of gender and sexuality, incubation systems, and the collision between

Mar 5, 2014By Park Jin-hai

UC Berkeley plans to hold K-pop conference

Shows & Dramas

Dramas, R&D fuel K-cosmetics

An image capture from the drama “My Love from the Stars” shows actress Jun Ji-hyun using cosmetic products, stocks of which have since run instores. /  Courtesy of AmorePacificBy Park Jin-haiFanding Zhou, 24, from Beijing, says the first items that her friends asked her to buy on her visit to Korea were cosmetic products, showing off small boxes of low and medium priced local brands “Missha” and “The Faceshop.”“There is this perception that the quality of Korea moisturizing products exceds that of others, since it has a long dry winter season,” she said. Zhou was among a band of tourists that walked out of Lotte Duty Free Shop’s ‘star zone,’ walled with pictures of local pop actors, in central Seoul, last week. Their hands were full of shopping bags. Thanks to the popularity of Korean dramas, fed virtually freely through various on-line websites and mobiles, fans throughout Asia pay almost instant attention to what the actresses use on the screen. Local cosmetic companies are enjoying the stardust effect. Type in

Mar 4, 2014By Park Jin-hai

Shows & Dramas

Key, Woohyun to peform as duo

Woohyun, left, and Key will perform as a subunit duo named “Toheart.”K-pop group SHINee’s Key and INFINITE’s Woohyun will launch a subunit named “To Heart” and release a mini-album.The album consisting of six tracks will be available on March 10, according to their agencies Tuesday. The album has drawn high expectations from the music circle before its official launch since composers for SHINee and INFINITE have collaborated on the album. “Delicious” is a collaboration work of Sweet Tune, who wrote INFINITE’s songs such as “Man In Love,” and Sean Alexander, who composed SHINee’s “Amigo.”

Mar 4, 2014By Park Jin-hai

Shows & Dramas

Jazz singer with 'thousand voices'

Nah Youn-sun, 44, has been gaining worldwide recognition as bold and daring jazz vocalist  /Courtesy of Na Seung-yullBy Park Jin-haiKoreans rejoiced as Sochi passed on the Olympic flag to PyeongChang, the host of the next Winter Games in 2018.The celebratory mood that night escalated when Korean artists performed their country’s beloved folk song “Arirang,” against the background of mountain ranges and a flock of cranes flying in the night sky.The first part of the song was sung by the fabulous soprano Jo Su-mi. What came next was jazz singer Nah Youn-sun’s performance of “Arirang,” in a way less mainstream but nevertheless heartwarming.In fact, Nah has a long history with the national folk song. Not only did she sing it for the inauguration ceremony of President Park Geun-hye last year, she also included various regional variations in her global-selling hit albums.“I always thought that the Korean language wasn’t made for jazz,” said Nah during the interview with The Korea Times.“But, when my French friends said their

Feb 28, 2014By Park Jin-hai

Shows & Dramas

New CQ class offers ways of learning Korea by experience

Choi Jung-wha, fourth from left in the first row, president of the Corea Image Communications Institute (CICI) poses with participants of the Korea CQ Forum’s 17th session, including Indonesian Ambassador to Korea John Prasetio, fifth from left in the first row, and his wife, sixth from left, at an opening event held at the Indonesian Embassy in Seoul. Standing behind Choi is James Bemowski, fourth from left in the second row, vice chairman of Doosan Corp.By Park Jin-haiThe Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI) launched the 17th session of its CQ forum, Tuesday, which will be devoted to learning more about Korea over the next three months. A launch ceremony was held at the Indonesian Embassy in Yeouido with some 70 participating. “CQ” represents culture, concentration, communication, creativity and cooperation. CICI, founded in 2003, has held CQ forums twice a year since 2006 and brings together leaders from all walks of life to share cultural experiences, and to brainstorm innovative ways to promote Korea’s image overseas. “This year, we introduced

Feb 26, 2014By Park Jin-hai

Shows & Dramas

Jang couple get newborn daughter

Jang Dong-gunBy Park Jin-haiIt’s a girl for the famous star couple Jang Dong-gun and Ko So-young.Their agency SM C&C announced Tuesday that actress Ko gave a birth at 10:30 a.m. at a hospital in southern Seoul the same day.“Jang stayed beside Ko while she was in labor and watched the moment of birth,” said a manager of the agency. “The newborn is a girl and both mother and baby are in good health.” The two were married in May 2010, and already have a 3-year-old son. Jang recently finished shooting for the upcoming film “Crying Man,” where he played a professional hit-man.

Feb 25, 2014By Park Jin-hai

Politics

NAHF publishes 'East Asia Territorial Issues and Dokdo'

By Park Jin-hai Researchers of the Northeast Asia History Foundation (NAHF) and experts of international law and diplomacy have published a recent book on East Asian territorial issues with a focus on the Senkaku or Diaoyu Islands dispute. “East Asia Territorial Issues and Dokdo” is a collaborative three-year research by seven experts dealing with the September 2010 incident where a Chinese fishing trawler collided with two Japanese patrol boats over the disputed waters near the Senkaku Islands, also called Diaoyu in China.   It analyzes the resulting fallout of the incident within the context of the diplomatic relations between Japan, China and Russia, as well as its implications on the Dokdo islets, the eastern most islets of Korea that is being claimed by Japan.  The book, according to the NAHF, discusses the past, present and future of East Asian territorial disputes. Ko Bong-jun, professor of the Chungnam National University’s Institute of Peace and Security Studies, analyzed the perspective of the United States. “T

Feb 23, 2014By Park Jin-hai

Shows & Dramas

Folk museum to offer free program

The National Folk Museum of Korea will offer a new program to teach foreigners traditional dances and martial arts.The “Traditional Yeon-hee (festival) Foreigners Class,” running from March until May, aims to give expatriates a chance to learn more about Korea. The 10-week program will offer free classes in three areas of “samulnori,” or a traditional percussion ensemble mask dance, and “taekgyeon,” a form of Korean martial arts, once a week. Upon the request of related organizations such as Korean language schools, lecturers will be dispatched to provide hands-on experiences.  The museum also runs a year-round program for foreigners, giving them a chance to learn traditional household crafts on Mondays and traditional dances every Wednesday. For more information visit the museum’s website at www.nfm.go.kr.

Feb 23, 2014By Park Jin-hai

Shows & Dramas

Max Changmin stars in drama 'Mimi'

This is a scene from Mnet’s ghost romance drama “Mimi,” starring K-pop idol Max Changmin. / Courtesy of Mnet26-year-old TVXQ star returns to small screen TVXQ’s U-know Yunho, left, and Max Changmin pose in this promotional photo./ Korea Times fileBy Park Jin-haiPopular K-pop duo TVXQ’s Max Changmin (Shim Chang-min) has always been a sweetheart for K-pop fans. With his charismatic performance on stage, the baby-faced star has shown enough charm to make his fans’ hearts race.Not only has the title song of TVXQ’s recent album “Something” topped many local on-line music charts, he also bagged the emcee role in KBS’s variety show, “Cool Kiz On The Block,” winning the Best Entertainer Award last year.Despite being in the showbiz industry for almost a decade, the 26-year-old idol says he still has more to show. This time, the multi-talented star returns to the small screen as webtoonist Han Min-woo in the “ghost” romance story, “Mimi.” The four-part mini- series drama sta

Feb 23, 2014By Park Jin-hai

Shows & Dramas

SM to hold global audition

By Park Jin-hai SM Entertainment will hold “2014 S.M. Global Audition” in 18 cities in seven countries ― Korea, China, Japan, U.S., Canada, Indonesia, and Thailand ― Feb. 21. The three-month journey starting in Indonesia will continue through May 25. “Already some 20,000 have people applied for the Jakarta audition alone, while more than 15,000 people applied for the one in China, to be held in late February,”  SM SM Entertainment, which has in its stable BoA, TVXQ, Girls’ Generation and Super Junior, has been organizing the event since 2006. Over the eight years, it has served as one of the most effective channels for idol-wannabes to debut and be elevated to stardom. Henry, a member of popular boy band Super Junior’s subunit Super Junior M, was recruited in 2006 through the global audition in Canada. The following year, girl group f(x)’s member Amber was discovered in the U. S. and boy band EXO’s Kris, a Canadian with Chinese origin, was from the Vancouver audition.  Contenders can apply for six cate

Feb 20, 2014By Park Jin-hai

Park Jin-hai

Read more

UC Berkeley plans to hold K-pop conference

Dramas, R&D fuel K-cosmetics

Key, Woohyun to peform as duo

Jazz singer with 'thousand voices'

New CQ class offers ways of learning Korea by experience

Jang couple get newborn daughter

NAHF publishes 'East Asia Territorial Issues and Dokdo'

Folk museum to offer free program

Max Changmin stars in drama 'Mimi'

SM to hold global audition

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