1st KCON in Middle East draws thousands of K-pop fans Thousands gathered at the world's largest K-pop festival held for the first time in the Middle East last week, its host said Monday.More than 8,000 people came from all over the region, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, to attend KCON 2016 Abu Dhabi at the city's largest outdoor venue, du Arena, on Friday, CJ E&M said. The event featured Korean food, including "bibimbap," or rice mixed with vegetables and spicy red pepper sauce, prepared in halal style. Women could also try Korean makeup and learn K-pop dance routines in a women-only convention hall, away from public scrutiny.The Korean Cultural Center, which recently opened a branch in the United Arab Emirates capital, and the Korea Creative Content Agency also opened booths to promote Korean culture.At night, more than 5,500 people, many wearing hijab and singing along in Korean, watched South Korean boy band BTS, Taeyeon of Girls' Generation, Kyuhyun of Super Junior, Double S301, Ailee, Mosta X and Spica perform."It'd been unclear whether the event would succeed in the Middle East where significant cultural barrieMar 28, 2016
Pride at stake in 'war of flowers' Kang So-ra and Sung Yuri / Korea Times fileBy Park Si-sooA “war of flowers” will break out on TV screens when three drama series, each featuring the nation’s most glamorous actresses, go to air this month.Top actress Kang So-ra will star in KBS TV’s “My Lawyer, Mr. Jo,” with the first episode to go to air on Monday.Singer-turned-actress Sung Yuri, famous for her flawless in the skin, is poised to challenge Kang on MBC TV’s “Monster," which will debut the same day.And up and coming actress Im Ji-youn will try to match them through SBS TV’s historical drama “Daebak.”By coincidence or not, the three dramas are set to show at the same time and on the same day ― Monday/Tuesday at 10 p.m. So viewership of the early episodes will determine which of the three actresses wins the three-way “battle of pride.”“It remains to be seen which drama will be most popular,” said a cultural critic. “They are all said to be well produced and star-studded. So whichever wins, viewers will be exciMar 27, 2016
Park Hae-jin wins best actor at cable awards By Bahk Eun-ji Park Hae-jin, famous for tvN drama “Cheese in the Trap,” has won the cable TV association’s best actor award.Park, who played the stoic college senior Yoo Jung in the drama, was honored at the Korean Cable TV Awards ceremony at COEX in Seoul, Friday, the Korean Cable Television Association (KCTA) said.Another tvN drama, “Reply 1988,” the story of a girl and her friends in the 1980s, won best drama for “rewriting cable TV history.” The drama ended on Jan. 16 with a viewership record of 21.6 percent, unusually high for a cable channel.The Rising Star awards went to actor Ryu Jun-yeol and actress Ryoo Hye-yeong of “Reply 1988” and comedian Lee Jin-ho of tvN reality show “Actor School,” in which he receives acting lessons from veteran actor Park Shin-yang.K-pop groups TWICE and INFINITE and singer-rapper Jessi were voted best artists by cable music show producers. Mar 25, 2016
Mistaken identity: Actress denies prostitution rumor By Bahk Eun-ji Actress Lee Min-ji, 27, has denied rumors about a prostitution ring that was broken up recently.Nearly 10 actresses and musicians have been named in rumors on social media, including Lee Min-ji, which is same name as the actress, but a different person.“I knew my name is so common but it’s such a bad coincidence,” Lee said on her Twitter account Friday.“Why are brokers’ names and men who are related to the prostitution ring not unveiled, by the way?”Lee began her acting career in short films in 2011, and rose to stardom in popular drama “Reply 1988,” which ended in January. Mar 25, 2016
BigBang, CL join 'TIME 100' online poll South Korean boy band BigBang and CL of girl group 2NE1 are included in TIME magazine's online reader poll for this year's 100 most influential people, the U.S.-based magazine said on Thursday (Korea time). BigBang and CL turned out to be the only South Koreans in the pool of 127 candidates of the online poll, along with U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pope Francis, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Hollywood star actor Leonardo DiCaprio. World famous musicians, including Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Kanye West, Justin Bieber and Adele, are also listed on the top 100 list. The TIME 100 is the magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, spanning politics, entertainment, business, technology, science, religion and other fields. TIME editors choose their annual official list based on the online poll's results. CL made the candidate list for the TIME 100 for a second straight year, seven years since her debut as a member of female hip hop quartet 2NE1. "The singer has graduated from one-fourth of hit South Korean girl grMar 24, 2016
Stars donate goods for charity auction Hwang Shin-hye, left, from a TV variety show By Ko Dong-hwanAbout 20 hot celebrities have donated their personal articles for a charity auction this Friday.K-pop singer IU has donated her acoustic guitar with her signature plus her albums, and actress Hwang Shin-hye has offered her favorite sunglass.(From top) members of GFriend and IUActors Ahn Jae-hong, Park Bo-gum, Go Kyung-pyo and Ryu Jun-yeol from tvN’s hit drama "Reply 1988" (2015-2016) have donated a poster of their TV variety show “Youth over Flowers” with their signatures.Actor Park Hae-jin gave his photo calendar, K-pop girl band GFriend’s four members gave their shoes, and anchorwoman Kim Joo-ha donated her suit and jacket.The Korea Cable Television Association auction will be at COEX in downtown Seoul. The money will go to Child Fund Korea, which supports homeless children.Mar 24, 2016
'Descendants of the Sun' tops 30% national ratings “Descendants of the Sun” / Courtesy of KBSBy Bahk Eun-ji KBS drama “Descendants of the Sun” set another ratings record on Wednesday, breaking 30 percent with the blooming romance between Yoo Si-jin (Song Joong-ki) and Kang Mo-yeon (Song Hye-kyo) in the ninth episode.According to Nielsen Korea, the drama was watched by 30.4 percent of TV viewers across the country, marking the first time the nationwide figure has surpassed the milestone.The drama was most popular among viewers in Seoul at 33.9 percent. In and around the city, the figure was 31 percent.In the episode, Kang and Yoo kissed and confirmed their love.The drama tells a story of love between special Korean forces captain Yoo and doctor Kang, a volunteer at a medical nonprofit organization in the fictional war-torn country of Uruk.Mar 24, 2016
Song Joong-ki gets invitation to visit Thailand Thailand's tourism agency has asked its South Korean counterpart to help bring a South Korean star from the sensational hit drama "Descendants of the Sun" to the country, The Nation reported Thursday.Since it premiered on Feb. 24 in South Korea and China, the drama has been an instant hit in the two countries and other Asian nations.According to the report in the Thailand daily newspaper, Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), asked the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) to help arrange a meeting between Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and lead actor Song Joong-ki.The TAT governor is reported to have said the lead actor's visit to Thailand would encourage Thais to travel to South Korea, which saw the number of Thai visitors drop to 370,000 in 2015 from 400,000 a year earlier due to the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.Separately, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, during his visit to South Korea this week, called on both countries to work toward co-producing movies and TV dramas, saying it would enhance the tourism industriMar 24, 2016
Korean-language education program to hit Chinese TV network A television program for Korean language education will air throughout China in the second half of the year, the first of its kind in the Chinese-speaking world, a government agency said Thursday.China Education Television (CETV) will broadcast the program composed of 100 three-minute episodes from October to next March, the Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS) said in a release.The program will be co-produced by KOCIS, a government organization in charge of the overseas promotion of Korean culture, and the People's Daily Online.The People's Daily is the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, published worldwide with a circulation of 13 to 14 million. Its Internet edition boasts a daily average of 400 million to 700 million page views.The program is the first in a series of cooperation projects planned under an agreement the two sides forged on Thursday.South Korea's King Sejong Institute, a government-funded Korean language educational organization; Arirang TV; and Gangwon Province will take part in the program's production, according to KOCIS."It will be the fMar 24, 2016
Chinese show featuring K-pop stars tops local viewership South Korean boy band WINNER demonstrated its high potential to do well overseas by drawing the top viewership on a Chinese entertainment show, the K-pop group's management agency said Thursday. In the latest episode of the Chinese variety show "Happy Camp," also known by its local title "Kuaile Dabenying," the five-member act flaunted its skills, YG Entertainment said. Kang Seung-yoon, Song Min-ho, Kim Jin-woo, Lee Seung-hoon and Nam Tae-hyun amused the Chinese audience despite a language barrier, relying on comic gestures, beatboxing and Chinese buzzwords. The TV show broadcast on Hunan Television, China's second most-watched television channel, dwarfed its rivals in the same time slot. Following the show, WINNER was one of the real-time popular search words on Weibo, a leading Chinese social media platform, and the number of the idol band's Weibo followers shot up to 500,000 from 460,000.Since its launch on July 7, 1997, "Happy Camp" has increased its viewership to tens of millions. The almost two decades-old program is hosted by five emcees: He Jiong, Xie Na, Li Weijia, Wu XMar 24, 2016
