Singer Seolhyun new face of Korea Seolhyun, left, with the Minister of Culture, Sport and Tourism Kim Jong-deok at the center and Lee Min-ho / YonhapSK Telecom ad with SeolhyunSinger Seolhyun from idol girl band AOA has joined hallyu star Lee Min-ho in becoming an official model of Korea to welcome tourists.The star was assigned the new role at a ceremony held by the Visit Korea Committee, Friday, at Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul to celebrate 2016-2018 as the official years to visit Korea.Seolhyun is one of the hottest idol stars in the nation, appearing in movies, TV series and ads. Her ads for mobile carrier SK Telecom and TG&Co’s smartphone Luna notably drew the public’s attentions with her physique emphasized in the ads.Seolhyun from the ad for TG&Co’s smartphone LunaSeolhyun made headlines on Monday with magazine photos where she wore see-through clothes that revealed her underwear.Previous celebrities appointed in celebration of the official years to visit Korea include actor Bae Yong-joon, figure skater Kim Yu-na and girl band Girls’ Generation. Nov 9, 2015
Girl band singer quits So-min of April in the circleSinger So-min from girl band April has left.The band’s management company DSP Media said Monday the singer had finished, and that the other five members -- Chae-won, Hyun-joo, Na-eun, Ye-na and Jin-sol -- would continue.“So-min has been thinking a lot about her future and has been discussing it with the company lately,” the company said on its webpage. “We decided to respect her decision and rearrange the band. We will keep supporting her although she has left.”The band debuted in August with the mini album “Dreaming.” Its first title song was “Dream Candy.”Nov 9, 2015
Will 'Reply 1988' inherit success of its previous seasons? Director Shin Won-ho of tvN’s cable drama series “Reply 1988” talks during a press conference on Nov. 5 in Yeouido, Seoul. / Courtesy of CJ E&MDirector unconcerned about popularity of his third tvN seriesBy Kim Jae-heunThe third season of tvN’s hit television drama “Reply 1988” got off to a smooth start Nov. 6, garnering an 8.6 percent viewership, according to Nielson Korea.The coming-of-age drama series was successful in its first and second seasons that set the highest viewing rate for a Korean cable drama at the time. The entertainment network expects its third to do the same.However, director Shin Won-ho is skeptical of renewing his previous records this time.“No third season in film or television drama has ever been successful, so I am less burdened about achieving a high viewing rate,” said Shin during a press conference on Nov. 5 at the Bibigo Building in Yeouido, Seoul. “I think Reply 1988 will fail, so I am comfortable to tell the story that I want to,” Shin said.The first series, “Reply 1997,” Nov 9, 2015
Reality stars celebrate Han Gu-ru wedding Stars from MBC's "Real Men: Women's Army Special" celebrate Han Gu-ru at her wedding on Sunday. / Courtesy of InstagramActress Han Gu-ru’s wedding on Sunday drew extra public attention with her co-stars from military experience reality show “Real Men: Women’s Army Special” attending and sharing photo time.Singer Choi Yu-jin from girl band CLC, actress Shin So-yul and rapper Jesse, with whom Han worked on the program from August until October, took pictures and posted them online. Other photos were posted on Jesse’s Instagram webpage.Han, 23, married a man, 32, at a private ceremony at Grand Hyatt Seoul.On Oct. 4, when Han announced her wedding plan on her Instagram webpage, there were rumors her boyfriend might be a son of a chaebol family.Han denied the rumors.Nov 9, 2015
Joseon tiger-hunt movie to open next month Choi Min-sik from “The Tiger: An Old Hunter’s Tale”The highly anticipated Korean historical action movie “The Tiger: An Old Hunter’s Tale” will open on Dec. 16, a day earlier than planned.Official posters of the movie, starring veteran Choi Min-sik as a tiger hunter from the Joseon Dynasty in the Japanese colonial period, were released on Monday. In the movie, Chun Man-duk (Choi) tries to hunt down Joseon’s last tiger, which he believes to be a mountain god.During his 26-year career, Choi has appeared in many movies and TV series. Nov 9, 2015
MBLAQ's Seungho stars in musical movie /Courtesy of J.Tune CampA member of boy band MBLAQ, Seungho, is set to make his big-screen debut, J.Tune Camp said Monday.Seungho will appear in the musical film “Rock ‘n’ Roll Grandpa,” scheduled for release next year.The film is a story about a 20-year-old man, portrayed by Seungho, who is eager to achieve his dream, and an old-man who has lost his sight of his own. The two characters communicate with each other through music.Actors Oh Kwang-rok and Ha Eun-seol and veteran singer Yun Soo-il will also star in the film. Nov 9, 2015By Bahk Eun-ji
아이유 '제제' 논란 확산…"표현의 자유" VS "예술도 금기 존재" 가수 아이유 최신 앨범 커버/ 코리아타임스가수 아이유(본명 이지은·22)의 노래 '제제'의 선정성 논란을 둘러싸고 논객들의 설전이 이어지고 있다. 아이유가 '나의 라임오렌지나무'의 5살 주인공 '제제'를 모티브로 한 가사의 해석을 두고 '표현의 자유' 문제로 확산하는 모양새다. 이는 '나의 라임오렌지나무'의 한국어판을 펴낸 출판사 동녘이 다섯살 제제를 성적 대상으로 삼아 유감이라며 문제 제기한 데서 출발했다. 영화평론가 허지웅과 소설가 이외수는 SNS(사회관계망서비스)에서 이를 두고 설전을 벌였다. 허지웅은 SNS에 "출판사가 문학의 해석에 있어 엄정한 가이드를 제시하는 것은 옳지 않다. 모든 문학은 해석하는 자의 자유와 역량 위에서 시시각각 새롭게 발견되는 것이다"고 해석의 자유를 옹호했다. 그러나 이외수는 한 누리꾼이 이번 사안에 대한 의견을 묻자 "전시장에 가면 '작품에 손대지 마세요'라는 경고문을 보게 됩니다. 왜 손대지 말아야 할까요"라고 에둘러 다른 의견을 냈다. 그러자 허지웅은 다시 "이외수 작가님은 자기 작품이 박물관 유리벽 안에 아무도 손대지 못하게끔 박제되기를 바라는 모양"이라는 글을 올렸고 이외수는 이를 겨냥한 듯 "누군가 오스카 와일드에게 평론가를 어떻게 생각하느냐고 물었을 때 평론가는 전봇대만 보면 한쪽 다리를 들고 오줌을 누는 개와 흡사하다는 논지의 대답을 했지요. 저의가 어떻든 전봇대의 입장에서는 불쾌할 수밖에 없겠지요"라고 빗대 반박했다. 이번 논란은 '표현의 자유이다', '예술에도 금기가 존재한다' 등으로 찬반 논란이 뜨겁다. 싱어송라이터 윤종신은 SNS에 "나의 노래와 글을 읽고 나는 생각도 못한 감상과 느낌을 표현하는 분들을 봤을 때의 경이로움은 창작 후 또 다른 쾌감"이라며 "그건 오해, 오역도 아니고 그만의 상상 그리고 자유. 그의 머릿속을 지배할 순 없어. 그의 표현까지도. 그저 듣고 읽어 준 게 고마울 뿐. 이 수많은 창작물의 홍수 속에"라며 아이유에Nov 9, 2015
Psy readies for December comeback Singer Psy will make his comeback with a new studio album on Dec. 1, two years and eight months after his sixth album introduced the YouTube smash hit dance number “Gangnam Style.”YG Entertainment, the star’s management company, recently promoted the news with a poster that included Psy’s caricature.Psy (Park Jae-sang, 37) released his latest single, “Hangover,” in June last year and the music video featured American hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg.Fans feared that the popularity of “Gangnam Style” might have weighed heavily on Psy, forcing him to try to maintain his image as an “international singer.” Some said he should stop building global popularity and start concentrating on persuading Korean fans.In December, Psy appeared to have taken the fans’ advice, because he said at a concert he will “return to the mindset when he first debuted.”Korean fans are wondering whether he will stick with this promise with the new album.Nov 8, 2015
YG artists on song in Melon Music Awards BigBangYG Entertainment artists dominated the 2015 Melon Music Awards on Saturday, winning the most categories.The biggest winner at the annual event, held at the Olympic Park Gymnastics Stadium in eastern Seoul, was boy band BigBang. The band, which debuted in 2006, won Artist of the Year and was selected among the Top 10 Artists of the Year. “Bang Bang Bang” won Song of the Year and the Netizen Popularity Award.iKonYG boy band iKon, often referred to as the progeny of BigBang, won the Best New Artist Award along with girl band G-Friend.YG’s star composer, Teddy Park, won Best Songwriter.An online poll to select the Top 10 artists was held from Oct. 8 to 22 and another for awarding categories from Oct. 23 to Nov. 6.The Melon Music Awards are among the big four in Korea, with Mnet Asian Music Awards, Golden Disk Awards and Seoul Music Awards.Nov 8, 2015
Student captures hearts with "Hello" cover / Screen capture from YoutubeA YouTube clip of a Korean high school student’s cover of Adele's recently released song "Hello" is creating a stir online.The Seoul Music High School student garnered over 4 million views as of Sunday.The video was shared on U.S. social media Reddit when it was uploaded to YouTube, Thursday.Mashable picked up the video Friday, posting it with the title "High school student absolutely kills a simple cover of Adele's 'Hello.'" It received 32,300 “shares”.Nov 8, 2015By Kim Bo-eun
