Romance blooms for EXO's Kai, f(x)'s Krystal EXO's Kai, f(x)'s Krystal / Screen capture from TwitterBy Bahk Eun-ji EXO's Kai and f(x)'s Krystal, both managed by S.M. Entertainment, are in a relationship, the company said Friday.“They recently began dating,” SM said, confirming a recent media report on their romance.Earlier in the day, Dispatch, an Internet-based media site, released photos of the two K-pop band members at a lobster restaurant in northern Seoul. They met 10 years ago as singer-trainees of the company and had been close friends since, it said.Apr 1, 2016
Park Shin-hye, Kim Rae-won star in new drama “Doctors” Kim Rae-won, Park Shin-hye / Korea TimesBy Bahk Eun-ji Actors Kim Rae-won and Park Shin-hye will join the new SBS TV drama “Doctors,” Pan Entertainment said Friday.The two will have the lead roles in the Monday-Tuesday series.Kim will play Hong Ji-hong, a high school teacher and neurologist, who helps Yoo Hye-jung, the female protagonist played by Park, overcome childhood trauma to become a doctor. Yoo is full of remorse and shadowed by her past, and slowly changes thanks to her mentor.The series will air in June after “The Royal Gambler” finishes.Apr 1, 2016
Fan narrows 'Produce 101' girls to his top five By Ko Dong-hwanWhen Mnet’s TV audition show “Produce 101” first aired in late January, the show raised nationwide attentions ― mixed with interest and criticism ― as it urged viewers to vote for their favorite among 101 girls to select one of the final 11 winners who will debut as a K-pop girl band.Some curious fans kept track of the program to check who got eliminated and who survived while some said it was inappropriate and made aspiring singers desperate. However, the show has enjoyed high publicity and viewership, and established many fans.While it was nearly impossible to become familiar with all the contestants, an anonymous netizen tried to help out by posting his personal pick of five contestants he says must be on fans’ radar.Kim So-hee, left, and Ku Hye-sunThey include Kim So-hee from Busan, who introduced herself on the show as having a resemblance to actress and director Ku Hye-sun.Yoon Chae-kyungAnother candidate is Yoon Chae-kyung. She became popular after she told the program she had owed debts. She cried when the producer told her she had Mar 31, 2016
'Descendants of the Sun' brings back bad memories in Vietnam “Descendants of the Sun" / Courtesy of KBSBy Bahk Eun-jiPopular drama “Descendants of the Sun,” starring Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo, has been a sensation at home and abroad, especially in East Asia.It has also won the hearts of Vietnamese fans, but some Vietnamese refuse to watch the romantic drama due to their painful memories of Korean troops during the Vietnam War.Debate broke out after the drama’s Vietnamese fan page on Facebook attracted more than 350,000 users earlier this week.On Sunday, Tran Quang Thi, a reporter of Vietnamese media outlet Tuoi Tre, posted a text on his Facebook page that has been shared more than 87,000 times.“During the Vietnam War, Korean troops spread terror in a number of regions in the country, not among the army, but among innocent civilians,” he said. “Some villages were completely wiped out by Korean troops. I believe if the victims’ souls were still around and watched the Korean drama it would break their hearts.”“Descendants of the Sun" / Courtesy of KBS He also said “No oneMar 31, 2016
Park Hae-jin to meet Taiwanese fans Park Hae-jin / Korea TimesBy Bahk Eun-jiPark Hae-jin, 32, the star of the popular tvN drama “Cheese in the Trap,” will hold a fan meeting in Taiwan in June, publicity company HNS HQ said Thursday.The meeting will take place at the Taipei International Convention Center on June 9.The meeting was arranged at the request of Park's Taiwanese fans, the company said.Park rose to stardom in Chinese-speaking countries after starring in the big hit “My Love from the Star” in 2014.He recently played stoic college senior Yoo Jung in “Cheese in the Trap”on tvN. The show was an instant hit at home and abroad.Mar 31, 2016
Singer's suicide recalled six years on The late Choi Jin-sil, left, and the late Choi Jin-young / Korea TimesBy Ko Dong-hwanSix years ago Tuesday, singer and actor Choi Jin-young killed himself after a battle with depression.His death at 39 was recalled this week in many media reports.Choi’s death was especially shocking because his older sister, pop media sensation and actress Choi Jin-sil, also killed herself, in 2008, aged 39. Her death left behind two children and ex-husband Cho Sung-min.Choi Jin-young cries at the funeral for his sister / Korea TimesThe actress enjoyed steady popularity after her debut in 1988, sparking a nationwide following in the 1990s with her ads, TV dramas and movies. There were rumors that the late actor Ahn Jae-hwan, who killed himself two months before her, had borrowed a large sum of money from her.Cho, a youth national baseball player (1992-1995) and all-star while playing for the Yomiuri Giants of Japan (1996-2002), killed himself in 2013.Choi debuted with a supporting role in the movie “Well, Let's Look at the Sky Sometimes” (1990). His band, Sky, active from 1999 Mar 30, 2016
G-Dragon's 'Good Boy' get close to 100 million YouTube views G-Dragon and Taeyang of South Korean pop band BigBang are at the brink of creating the country's first 100 million hit trilogy with their latest song on YouTube Wednesday.As of 4:15 p.m., the official music video of "Good Boy" has drawn over 98 million views on the global video sharing platform, 16 months after the song's release in November 2014. Their star agency YG Entertainment expects to see the tally break the 100 million threshold sometime soon. If so, BigBang will be the first South Korean boy band to have three 100 million YouTube hits under its belt, along with "Fantastic Baby" and "Bang Bang Bang." At the same hour on YouTube, "Fantastic Baby," released on March 6, 2012, hit 215 million views. "Bang Bang Bang," the newest of the soon-to-be completed trilogy that was rolled out on June 1, 2015, raked in 126 million views.The music video of "Good Boy" was directed by American music video director Colin Tilley, a gifted 28-year-old who was nominated to the 2016 Grammy Awards. Thanks to its luxurious visual art and unique camera work, the music video was dubbed Billboard'Mar 30, 2016
'Descendants of the Sun' most searched keyword on Weibo South Korean TV series "Descendants of the Sun" has been the most popular search keyword on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.As of Wednesday, the tale of romance between a soldier (Song Joong-ki) and a doctor (Song Hye-kyo) in a fictional war-torn country in the Mediterranean was searched 74.5 billion times on the social networking website, beating all other keywords by a large margin.The KBS 2TV show premiered in both South Korea and China on Feb. 24. In China, the show is released every Wednesday and Thursday night on the local streaming website iQiyi. The "Descendants of the Sun" syndrome has also given rise to die-hard fans in China who call the South Korean actor "qianmin laogong," or the national husband figure, and themselves "xiaolaopo," his mistress, a Chinese entertainment official said, adding his other monikers include "liaomei nansun," or heartthrob.Some fans have set his picture as the background of their smartphone chat rooms and tried to communicate in short sentences to keep his face visible on the screen, the official said. (Yonhap)Mar 30, 2016
Song Joong-ki to appear on prime time news Song Joong-ki / Courtesy of Blossom EntertainmentBy Kim Da-heeActor Song Joong-ki, who plays lead character Yoo Si-jin in KBS 2 TV’s hugely popular drama "Descendants of the Sun," will appear on the channel’s 9 p.m. news, “News 9,” Wednesday.He is the first actor to be invited to the nationwide live prime-time news show.This reflects his tremendous popularity and that of the drama, which is set to be the next hallyu (Korean wave) success.According to KBS, the program’s main host will ask Song some questions the program has collected from its official website, Facebook and Twitter.The drama’s latest episode on March 24 recorded a 31.6 percent viewer rating, the first mini-series drama to exceed 30 percent in four years.The Wednesday/Thursday drama, which airs simultaneously in Korea and China, has garnered some 1.5 billion hits on iQiyi, a Chinese online video platform.Mar 30, 2016
Park Jin-young to return in April Park Jin-young / Courtesy of JYP EntertainmentBy Kim Da-hee Park Jin-young, head of JYP Entertainment, will return as a singer in April. Details have not been revealed but the singer, 44, is in the final stages of preparing his comeback album, according to music industry sources Wednesday. Park, while managing one of Korea's top-three entertainment agencies, has continued to make albums. His latest song, “Who’s Your Mama” from digital single album “24/34,” was released last year and swept domestic music charts, demonstrating his popularity. Park is a judge on SBS competition show "K-pop Star: Season 5."Mar 30, 2016
