Media sink boot into BigBang star for bare foot on train window Seungri sleeps with his bare foot up against a window on a Chinese train heading to Shanghai. / Courtesy of WeiboBy Yeo Ye-rimK-pop boy band BigBang member Seungri has been accused of bad behavior on a Chinese high-speed train Monday.According to Chinese media outlet Sina Entertainment, Seungri was sleeping with a bare foot up against a window. He was travelling to Shanghai from Xuzhou to record a TV show.Sina released another picture of Seungri and train crew searching for the singer’s mobile phone that slipped between the seats.A train passenger took the photos, which quickly spread through Chinese media.Chinese netizens criticized Seungri for his bad manners. But some showed sympathy and understanding.BigBang will hold a concert on Aug 20 at Seoul World Cup Stadium to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their debut.Jul 13, 2016
Drama 'Uncontrollably Fond' off to strong start in China with 40 mln views KBS TV's new series "Uncontrollably Fond" is off to a great start in China, a PR company here said Tuesday.The romance drama, starring Bae Suzy and Kim Woo-bin, premiered last Wednesday and has been broadcast in Korea and China simultaneously.In China, it is exclusively aired on video streaming site Youku Tudou for paying users only, and its accumulated views for the first and second episodes have surpassed 40 million so far, the PR company 3HW said."On the first day of broadcast, there was an overflow of traffic and the server of Youku crashed," an official from the company said. "Also, real-time replies from viewers overflowed that they even interfered with the screen."On Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, the drama's search results shot up to 17.6 billion from 500 million after the first episode ended, demonstrating a great interest in the drama among Chinese fans.Production company Samhwa Networks said it was amazed by the explosive responses from China and expected the popularity to continue to rise as the story develops from the third and fourth episodes onwards. (Yonhap)&nbJul 12, 2016
YG presents new four-girl band BLACKPINK YG’s new girl group BLACKPINK / Courtesy of YG EntertainmentBy Kim Jae-heunBLACKPINK, a new girl group set to debut this month, is drawing much attention from K-pop fans.The group first came to the public’s attention when YG Entertainment announced on June 29 that it will launch a new girl group seven years after the debut of 2NE1.The news of YG Entertainment’s new girl group immediately topped real-time searches on Naver, Korea’s top portal website, and articles about BLACKPINK became the most-read stories online.The new group was rumored to consist of five members, but this turned out to be one extra. Some 50 trainees of the company were known to have auditioned for the idol group.“At first, producer Yang Hyun-suk planned to debut nine members in the group but he shrank it down to the final four and concentrated on developing their skills,” the agency said.YG Entertainment’s hit-song maker Teddy, who wrote songs for company’s most successful idol groups BigBang and 2NE1, is in charge of producing the group’s new album. The groupJul 11, 2016
Sechs Kies to hold first solo concert in 16 years K-pop boy band Sechs Kies / Korea Times file By Yeo Ye-rim, Park Si-sooK-pop boy band Sechs Kies will hold its first solo concerts in 16 years in September, management agency YG Entertainment said Monday.The six-member band, which disbanded in 2000, reunited last month. The return has caused a sensation, especially among women in their 30s who feel nostalgic about their younger years.The concerts will be at Seoul Olympic Park Gymnastics Arena on September 10-11. Jul 11, 2016
Lee Min-ho movie smash-hit in China “Bounty Hunters,” starring Lee Min-ho, has taken more than 34 trillion won in China. /Courtesy of MYM Entertainment By Lee Jin-aKorean actor Lee Min-ho’s recent movie “Bounty Hunters” has grossed 34 trillion won ($29 million) since its release in China on July.According to film data company Chinese Box Office (CBO), the action film took about 34 trillion won in ticket sales as of noon on Monday _ a record for Korean-and-Chinese-made films in China.Lee’s agency said the movie opened in 52,000 theaters nationwide, topping Chinese box office on the day of release.The movie is about five bounty hunters who travel to China, Hong Kong, Korea and Thailand to chase a hotel bomber. Lee plays the lead role of Yi San, a clever man with professional martial arts skills.“Bounty Hunters” is also scheduled to open in England, Australia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Jul 11, 2016
Park Yu-chun cleared of rape allegations, faces prostitution charge /Courtesy of TwitterBy Lee Han-soo Police have cleared K-pop star Park Yu-chun of all rape allegations. Instead they are considering charging Park with prostitution. “The investigation has concluded that as of right now it is hard to prove the sexual acts were coerced,” police said in a statement on Monday regarding four alleged rape cases against Park. "However, on a different note we are reviewing if the sexual intercourse with the women is legally considered as prostitution.” Police said that after summing up all the statements produced by those involved, there was no definite proof that there was any violence or threat to suggest that sexual intercourse was coerced.Police plan to conclude the case as early as Thursday after they decide whether or not to charge Park with prostitution.Park, who was summoned five times for investigation from June 30 to July 5, will no longer be summoned unless police need him while closing the case.The four women lodged complaints against Park from June 10, all claiming he had raped them.Park isJul 11, 2016
Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi releases photo of Song Joong-ki with her baby girl Korean actor Song Joong-ki carries Zhang Ziyi's daughter in this photo posted on Zhang Ziyi's Weibo account. Chinese top actress Zhang Ziyi has spoken very highly of South Korean actor Song Joong-ki on her social media account."Your 'husband' is really a warm and lovely person. Xingxing, are you pretending to be cool (in Song's embrace)?" she wrote on her Weibo account, the China's equivalent of Twitter, on Saturday.Xingxing is her daughter's nickname, and "husband" is commonly used among Chinese fans to refer to Song as many hope to marry him. She accompanied the message with a photo of Song holding her baby girl.The post went viral, attracting more than 13,000 replies as of Sunday.The "Descendants of the Sun" star Song signed a contract with Chinese cosmetic brand Proya in April, a company that Zhang has also endorsed. (Yonhap)Jul 11, 2016
K-pop band WINNER's TV show a smash hit in China WINNER's TV program is getting millions of hits in China./ Courtesy of YG EntertainmentBy Lee Jin-aK-pop boy band WINNER’s variety show “Half-Month Friend” received more than 100 million hits on the Chinese video platform MiaoPai.The band’s agency said accumulated views totaled 126,949,000 as of Sunday for the 11 episodes.The show, which features WINNER members spending 15 days at a children’s day care center has been screened on JTBC on Saturday night since April. Each episode recorded more than 8 million views on the Chinese video website, which gets more than 500 million views per day on average.The five-member group from YG Entertainment debuted in 2014, and is best known for songs “Empty (2014)” and “Don’t Flirt” (2014).Jul 10, 2016
Korean contest winner in Iran says TV dramas led her to learn language It would be difficult to tell that she's not Korean if someone were to chat with her on a mobile messenger.Hanieh Sadat Kazami, 18, is Iranian, but she can text in Korean slang and abbreviations on mobile messengers just like any other Korean. While most Iranian women use Germany-based Telegram to chat over smartphones, Kazami even uses Kakao Talk, South Korea's most popular mobile messenger application."I use Telegram for my Iranian friends and Kakao Talk for my Korean friends," Kazami said.On June 23, she won a Korean language speaking contest in Tehran. At the event organized by the South Korea-sponsored King Sejong Institute, contestants were divided into two groups -- elementary and intermediate -- based on their Korean speaking skills. Kazami topped the intermediate class, although she only has studied Korean about a year."Her speaking, writing and reading levels are very high," said Choi Yeon-suk, chief of the institute's Tehran branch. "If foreigners want to speak Korean like Kazami in just a year of learning, they should have very good linguistic sense and study very hard."KJul 8, 2016
Agency apologizes over BTS's misogynistic lyrics BTS finally responds to the controversy over misogynistic lyrics in their songs. /Courtesy of Big Hit EntertainmentBy Yeo Ye-rim K-pop boy band BTS, also known as Bangtan Boys, officially apologized on Thursday for their songs’ misogynistic lyrics and offensive tweets.“We sincerely apologize for all those who have been offended by some of BTS’s controversial song lyrics and social network posts,” Big Hit Entertainment, the band’s agency, said. “After conducting reviews on the lyrics since last year, we recognize the discomfort that fans might have felt over the misogynic claims.”“Joke,” a solo number by BTS leader Rap Monster, includes lyrics: “Yes, you’re the best girl, bossy/ so f**king good at being bossy/ Wait, now that I think, you were never the boss/ I’ll refer to you by gonorrhea instead of boss.”According to Hankook Ilbo, some netizens created a Twitter account in May to demand the band’s formal feedback on the controversy.With ongoing requests for an apology, the agency said: “We Jul 8, 2016
