Singer looks back on his life in 'My 20s' Singer JUN.K of 2PM poses before the interview with the Korea Time for his new album at Gangnam, Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of JYP EntertainmentJun.K says he’s not ready to take a break yetBy Kim Jae-heunSinger-songwriter JUN.K of 2PM planned to join the army earlier this year, but he suffered a serious elbow injury during a concert and delayed his enlistment to next year.Receiving treatment was not a big deal for the singer, but he could not stand staying in bed all day and didn’t enjoy the unexpected break.Chief producer of JYP Entertainment, Park Jin-young, suggested he work on a new album before he joins the army. “I wrote the songs for the new album in March. I had no plan to release any of them but I fell off the stage while performing in May and my enlistment to army got delayed for a year,” said JUN.K during an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in Seoul, Monday.“I was busy with my solo activity in Japan and went on concert tours. Then I got the injury at concert and my schedule stopped there. I was afraid of doing nothing. I realized I am nNov 29, 2017
Bangtan Boys joins Billboard 200 again BTS poses in the press room at the American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, on Nov. 19. / AP-YonhapBTS tops Billboard’s social chartBy Kim Jae-heunPopular K-pop band Bangtan Boys (BTS) re-entered the main Billboard 200 chart.According to the U.S. weekly music list’s latest ranking revealed Tuesday local time, BTS’s “Love Yourself: Her” ranked 198 on Billboard 200.The boy band first joined Billboard 200 at seventh in September and stayed on the chart for six weeks ranking 25th, 35th, 15th, 86th and 144th over the following weeks. The song left the chart as of last month but entered the ranking again.BTS’s Nov. 19 performance at the 2017 American Music Awards, as the first K-pop group do so, is believed to have played an influential role in the song’s re-entry in the music chart ranking.BTS also topped Billboard’s “Social 50” chart. The band first joined in the list on Oct. 29 last year and secured the top position for 22 weeks.“Social 50” ranks most-talked-about musicians on social media siteNov 29, 2017
Did Taeyeon receive special treatment after car crash? Taeyeon’s grey Mercedes-Benz hit a silver K5 taxi from behind (as seen in the left and center photos) in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on Nov. 28. The impact caused the taxi to hit an Audi SUV.By Ko Dong-hwanTaeyeon at the "Girls' Generation TTS X Louis Quatorze" Media & VIP press conference at the Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, Apr. 23, 2015. / Korea Times fileA heated online debate has flared after K-pop singer Taeyeon crashed her Mercedes-Benz sedan into the rear of a taxi carrying two passengers about 7:40 p.m. Tuesday in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.The taxi, waiting for a traffic signal, was pushed into the back of an Audi SUV. The star, 28, lead vocalist of girl band Girls’ Generation, and people from the other cars, were not seriously injured. The accident wasn’t one of those headliners about celebrities driving under the influence of alcohol and ending up embarrassed. Instead, it inflamed a heated online debate on whether the star received controversial celebrity-first treatment from emergency crews over the other victims. While the accident’s details remaNov 29, 2017
INTERVIEW Korean-speaking German honorary ambassador for Seoul releases first album Sharing hope through music By Yun Suh-young His music was as soft and serene as his character, flowing gently and smoothly. Daniel Lindemann / Korea Times photo by Yun Suh-youngPopular Korean-speaking German TV personality Daniel Lindemann recently presented his fans with a pleasant surprise - an album of six songs he personally composed and played on piano. “Esperance,” it is called, to give hope to others. The album, released late last month, features an eponymous song which Lindemann said makes him feel good, and hopefully others too. Hence the old English word for “hope” settled as the title. It was the only proper expression that could actually convey the essence of the album, he said. “I never studied composing or went to university to study music or anything,” Lindemann said, speaking to The Korea Times during an interview in Seoul last week. “Composing is like building a sand castle on the beach. You build the castle and if you like it, you can keep it but if you don’t, you can destroy it. The process for Nov 28, 2017
Soyou to return with solo album next month SoyouSoyou, former member of the disbanded K-pop group Sistar, will release her first solo album next month, according to her agency Monday.Soyou, whose real name is Kang Ji-hyun, will put out "Re:Born" on Dec. 13, Starship Entertainment said. The record will be "Part. 1," or the first installment, of the songstress' solo debut album, the company explained."Re:Born" will feature collaborations with leading K-pop talents, including ballad stars Sung Si-kyung and Yoon Jong-shin, and hip-hop artist Primary. She pre-released "I Still," a duet number with Sung, on Nov. 16.In June, the four-member Sistar broke up on mutually good terms, wrapping up a successful seven-year run as a group. Hyolyn and Soyou began solo music careers, while Bora and Dasom have turned to acting.Soyou made a name for herself outside of Sistar with her 2014 hit single "Some," a project with singer Junggigo. She also gained popularity with songs for the hit TV dramas "Love in the Moonlight" and "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God." (Yonhap)Nov 27, 2017
Vienna Symphony visits Seoul after 21 years By Yun Suh-youngOne of the top orchestras in the world, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, will be visiting Seoul next month to perform at the Seoul Arts Center for the first time in 21 years. The Wiener Symphoniker's visit is the first since the orchestra visited the city in 1996 with the late conductor Rafael Frubeck de Burgos for the first time. The orchestra will be performing Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C Minor and Brahms' Symphony No. 1 in C Minor Op. 68, Dec. 5.Other concerts will be performed Dec. 6 in Daegu and Dec. 7 in Daejeon. The orchestra will be performing under the helm of chief conductor Philippe Jordan who has been leading the orchestra since 2014 with an extended contract until 2021. The Vienna Symphony is lesser known in Korea than the Vienna Philharmonic, which is slightly older and more widely known globally. Despite its long history and tradition since 1900, the Vienna Symphony had been in the shadow of Vienna Philharmonic, receiving less of the spotlight compared to its rival. The two orchestras are representative of Vienna and both legendary, yet they representNov 26, 2017
BTS sweeps 47 countries' iTunes charts BTS performs at the 2017 American Music Awards held in Los Angeles on Nov. 19 (local time). / YonhapSouth Korean boy band BTS topped the iTunes' Top Songs Chart of the United States on Saturday with "Mic Drop," making them the first Korean band to do so.The "Mic Drop" remix also hit No. 1 on iTunes' Top Songs Chart of 46 other countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Singapore and Thailand, one day after it was released.The group, also known as Bangtan Boys, collaborated with the famous American DJ Steve Aoki and rapper Desiigner for the remix. The original "Mic Drop" is one of the 11 tracks on BTS' album "Love Yourself: Her," which was released Sept. 18.The band is scheduled to hold concerts for home fans at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul from Dec. 8-10. (Yonhap)Nov 26, 2017
BTS added to Guinness for being most mentioned boy band on Twitter BTS arrives for the annual American Music Awards held at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, on November 19, 2017. / UPI-YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunPopular K-pop band Bangtan Boys, or BTS, has been added to the Guinness World Records for the being most mentioned musician.According to Big Hit Entertainment, BTS appeared on the “2018 Guinness World Records” book that was published in Sept. The reference book picked BTS for “Most Twitter engagements” sector for boy bands as Bangtan Boys’ name had been re-twitted 152,112 times. The function of re-twitting is to re-send the message to somebody that one has already sent a message to online. The BTS’s Guinness record was based on the book’s research up through May 11.The Guinness Book of World Records congratulated BTS on its official Twitter account for their appearance in the reference book as well as their performance on the “2017 American Music Awards” that took place at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, local time.It added that this is first time the Korean band has succeeded in eNov 23, 2017
SPO and Berlin Phil's harpist offer Scheherazade By Yun Suh-young The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra's lead harpist Marie-Pierre Langlamet will be performing today at the Seoul Arts Center.The "Fairy Tales -- Scheherazade" program includes three pieces: Ravel's Alborada del Gracioso, Ginastera's Harp Concerto, Op. 25, and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, Op. 35. Alborada del Gracioso is translated as "Morning Song of a Jester," where Gracioso has been the household jester in the classic Spanish comedies of Calderon and Lope de Vega. The Ginastera's Harp Concerto will be performed in collaboration with Langlamet. The composition best brings the harp to life with rhythm and intensity. Scheherazade is a more popular work based on the character in the Persian tale "One Thousand and One Nights." Figure skater Kim Yuna performed to the piece during her 2009 World Championship program. The performance will be conducted by Canadian conductor Kwame Ryan who is a regular guest conductor for the SPO. He has worked with many noted orchestras across the world such as Opera de la Bastille, Opera de Lyon, Orchestre Nov 21, 2017
World Orchestra Series opens in Daegu Moscow Philharmonic to perform next weekBy Yun Suh-young Russian conductor Yuri SimonovViolinist Sergey KrylovThe Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra will perform in Daegu on Nov. 26 as part of the World Orchestra Series, an orchestra festival that will last until next month. Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the world’s five major orchestras, will be performing with Russian conductor maestro Yuri Simonov and renowned Russian violinist Sergey Krylov at the Daegu Concert House's Grand Hall. The program will feature mainly Tchaikovsky's pieces such Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74 "Pathetique," Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 35, and “Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture.” The World Orchestra Series is an international orchestra festival unique to Asia held annually in Daegu. This time around, it lasts a month from Nov. 9 to Dec. 9. The World Orchestra Series' "special unit team" held several warm-up events from Nov. 9 to 16 to bring up the atmosphere. On Nov. 11, the team organized guerilla performances on KTX trains and stations across the nation to celebrate Daegu's incNov 17, 2017
