Seoul city holds free K-pop concert in Bangkok The Seoul city government held a free K-pop concert in Bangkok this week in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the two cities' establishing sisterhood relations, officials said Friday.The Seoul Prime Concert in Bangkok 2016 was held on Thursday evening (local time) at the IMPACT Arena, Exhibition & Convention Center featuring South Korean girl group Sistar, boy band Monsta X and other artists.Some 12,000 people filled the auditorium, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.The tickets were distributed to Bangkok citizens free of charge in the city and they ran out within five minutes, a city official said.Famous Thai artists, Season Five and Kangsom Tanatat, were also included in the lineup.The concert was live streamed through Facebook and YouTube, according to the metropolitan government.Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon invited Bangkok citizens to visit Seoul if they want to "enjoy K-pop and K-drama," according to city officials.The number of Thai visiting South Korea has increased dramatically from 309,000 in 2011 to 466,000 in 2014, though the number has shrank to 371,000Jul 8, 2016
Top cheerleader hosts charity concert Park Ki-ryang performs as the audience looks on during a KBO match. / Courtesy of Naver blogBy Ko Dong-hwanPoster for “Park Ki-ryang Charity Cheer Concert”Korea’s hottest cheerleader, Park Ki-ryang, will host a charity concert this month.The pom-pom squad star ― who cheers for the Korean Baseball Organization’s Lotte Giants and other professional sports clubs ― will hold the “Park Ki-ryang Charity Cheer Concert” on July 15 at Bexco Auditorium in Busan.Cheerleader squads from KBO clubs Doosan Bears, LG Twins and SK Wyverns and K-pop bands Vetty L, Man3e and Twinkle also will appear.“Cheerleaders’ roles and social image will go up a notch through this concert,” Park said, according to media reports. “But most importantly, the concert will help our poor neighbors.”/ Korea TimesPark, 25, who became a cheerleader in 2007, debuted as a singer last month with four-track mini-album “Lucky Charm,” which includes "Hustle."In 2014, the star said on KBS talk show “Happy Together” that she is paid Jul 7, 2016
K-pop singer Kangin summarily indicted over drunk driving /Courtesy of SM EntertainmentKangin, a member of K-pop boy band Super Junior, has been summarily indicted on charges of causing a traffic accident while under the influence of alcohol, prosecutors said Thursday.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said the 31-year-old is suspected of running away after crashing into a street lamp in southern Seoul while driving intoxicated in late May.Prosecutors said they summarily indicted him, seeking 7 million won ($6,000) in fines.Kangin already has a record of drunk driving in 2009.The K-pop singer only recently started appearing on TV shows after avoiding the spotlight for years as a sign of exercising self-restraint in the wake of his previous drunk driving incident.Following Kangin's second accident in May, his agency S.M. Entertainment released a statement and said he will be suspended from all activities as a singer and entertainer. (Yonhap)Jul 7, 2016
China's top portal Baidu to offer information on Korean tourism Baidu, China's No. 1 search engine, will offer tourism information on South Korea in Chinese, as part of Seoul's efforts to attract more travelers from the region's largest tourism market, the state-run tourism agency here said Wednesday.The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) signed an agreement with The Map Korea, the Korean search agent for Baidu, to offer about 47,000 items of Korean tourism information in Chinese."We will continue to expand tourism information in foreign languages to deal with a rising number of individual tourists," Choi Jong-hak, a senior KTO official, said.Baidu is China's largest search engine with 620 million web users in 2015.The number of Chinese tourists visiting South Korea had sharply risen since 2010, but fell 2.3 percent on-year to 5.98 million in 2015, hurt by the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak.South Korea aims to attract 8 million Chinese tourists this year by offering various specialized tour packages and adopting eased visa regulations. (Yonhap)Jul 6, 2016
Lee Byung-hun collects Star Asia Award at New York film fest South Korean Lee Byung-hun received the Star Asia Award at the 15th New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF), his agency said Wednesday.Recognized for his contribution to Asian films and Hollywood productions, Lee was one of the award's three recipients along with Hong Kong's Miriam Yeung and John Lloyd Cruz of the Philippines.Lee picked up the award at the ceremony that preceded the New York premiere of his latest work, Korean political thriller "Inside Men," at the Lincoln Center. After the screening, the actor attended a question and answer session with the film's audience.He is best known for his lead roles in Korean films such as "A Bittersweet Life" (2005) and "The Good, The Bad And the Weird" (2008). He also appeared in several Hollywood action films, including "Red 2" (2013) and "Terminator Genisys" (2015).This year's NYAFF was held from June 22 to July 5. (Yonhap)Jul 6, 2016
Too much ramen a danger for women: study /Courtesy of TwitterBy Lee Han-sooEating ramen can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, especially for women, according to a Baylor University and Harvard study published in the Journal of Nutrition, according to the Washington Post.the study analyzed the eating habits and health of 11,000 Koreans aged 19 to 64.It showed that Korean women are highly exposed to the risks of metabolic syndrome because of the large amounts of ramen they eat.The syndrome can lead to increased blood sugar and high blood pressure, causing a greater risk of diabetes, stroke or heart disease.But the syndrome was not found in the male subjects, leading scientists to believe the reason is a biological difference between the genders.Tertiary-butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ), a petroleum industry byproduct used to preserve cheap processed foods such as ramen, was found to be the main cause of metabolic syndrome.“Although instant noodles are a convenient and delicious food, there could be an increased risk of metabolic syndrome given high sodium, unhealthy saturated fat and glycemic loads,” said HyJul 6, 2016
K-pop girl band GFriend returns with new album GFriend will make a comeback with the new album “LOL” on Monday. /Courtesy of Source MusicBy Lee Jin-aKorean girl band GFriend will make a comeback on Monday, according to its agency.Source Music said the band’s first regular album -- “LOL” -- based on retro-style music, will be released then.The agency posted a teaser of the group’s new song “Navillera” on its official social media accounts Wednesday.GFriend debuted in 2015 with the mini-album “Seasons of Glass.” The six-member group has gained popularity with songs “Me Gustas Tu” (2015) and “Rough” (2016).Jul 6, 2016
No joke, comedian Yu Jae-seok gets a waxing Grevin Museum will produce Korean comedian Yu Jae-seok’s wax figure this year. / Courtesy of Grevin MuseumBy Lee Jin-aKorean comedian Yu Jae-seok is turning into a wax figure.Paris-based Grevin Museum said it will create the wax figure of the nation’s most famous comedian to celebrate the one-year anniversary of its Seoul opening.“We select our models based on the figure’s popularity and influence over the mass audience,” the museum said. “Our staff unanimously voted for Yu to be the nation’s first comedian as a wax figure model.”Yu’s figure will cost at least 100 million won ($86,000) and take six months to produce.Yu, nicknamed the “MC of the nation,” hosts MBC variety show “Infinite Challenge” and SBS variety show “Running Man.”Jul 6, 2016
'Uncontrollably Fond' to follow success of 'Descendants of Sun' Kim Woo-bin, left, and Bae Suzy pose during a press conference at Grand Hyatt Seoul, Monday. / YonhapBy Park Jin-hai“Uncontrollably Fond,” another ambitious project spearheaded by KBS2, the national broadcaster that aired the mega-hit drama “Descendants of the Sun,” will premiere on Wednesday at 10 p.m.The highly anticipated 20-episode romantic drama stars heartthrob Kim Woo-bin and Bae Suzy from K-pop girl group Miss A.“Uncontrollably Fond” has been penned by Lee Kyung-hee ― who wrote the heart-aching romantic drama “I’m Sorry, I Love You (2004)” ― and produced by Park Hyun-seok, whose previous projects include “The Princess’ Man (2011).”Kim, who shot to fame starring in the “The Heirs,” returns to the small screen after three years in the role of superstar Shin Joon-young. Bae plays documentary producer Noh Eul. The series tells the love story of a couple who reunite years after being split up because of an unfortunate incident.Kim said from the moment he heard Lee was consideriJul 5, 2016
'We tried our best to cover up emptiness' Beast / Courtesy of Cube EntertainmentBeast returns with ‘Highlight’ without Hyun-seungBy Kim Jae-heunPopular K-pop band Beast, of Cube Entertainment, returned with their full-length third album “Highlight” on Monday without the band’s vocalist Jang Hyun-seung, who left the group in April.The group was asked many questions by the press about its former member as it was the first album released after Jang’s departure.“It was a difference in taste of music (why Jang left),” said Son Dong-woon during the press conference at Cube Entertainment building in Seongdong-gu, eastern Seoul. “Beast members prefer lyrical music while Hyunseung liked powerful dance songs. We have talked to the agency about this for a year and came to the conclusion that Beast will run as a five-member group.”The group returned after a year after a busy concert schedule in Japan and the group members said they did not have time to contact Jang.The new album consists of 11 songs, including the main track “Ribbon” produced by Good Jul 5, 2016
