Idol singers sizzle on small screen Sandara Park, left, and Kang Seung-yoon / Screen capture from YouTubeIdol singers Sandara Park and Kang Seung-yoon are making names for themselves as novice yet talented actors.Park, 30, from four-member girl band 2NE1, and Kang, 21, from five-member boy band WINNER, are garnering popularity with their roles in internet drama series “We Broke Up.” They play a couple who split up but begin to love each other again as they live together in a shared house. The 10-part series debuted on the nation’s biggest search engine site Naver’s TV Cast website on June 29. It has so far portrayed the couple’s romantic chemistry “well to the point of stimulating viewers’ romantic cells,” according to a media report on Thursday.Both are managed by YG Entertainment. Park started in the K-pop industry in 2009 with her band’s first album, “Fire;” Kang debuted with an original sound track album for the TV series “Midas” on SBS in 2011. Jul 2, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
Actress takes hard line over sex video rumor Lee Si-young / Korea Times fileActress Lee Si-young is taking legal action over a rumor that she was involved in a sex video.Lee, 33, and her management company, J,Wide-Company, filed an accusation suit to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday against the person who allegedly first spread the rumor online.A company insider was quoted as saying: “There will be no clemency and we will root out whoever’s responsible for the rumor.”The rumor was that the company had forced Lee to participate in a sex video. The company and Lee denied the rumor.Lee is continuing her work with TV series “My Beautiful Bride” on OCN, according to reports.Jul 2, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
'Infinite Challenge' goes to China “Infinite Challenge,” MBC’s popular reality show, announced that it will provide its program format to China Central Television (CCTV) to produce a Chinese version of the show. CCTV’s Infinite Challenge will be comprised of 12 episodes and premiere on Oct. 25. The cast of the comedy show has not been decided. CCTV revealed that this will be the first time it will air a show modeled after a Korean format and its decision to put it on in prime time is an indication of how much it likes the idea.An MBC official said that a number of Chinese broadcasters and productions have been damaging the Korean reality shows’ reputation by producing Chinese versions without approval. He said, “MBC is glad the show will be produced lawfully by CCTV and aired throughout the country.”Jul 1, 2015
Terminator stars visit Korea Arnold Schwarzenegger, left, and Emilia Clarke from “Terminator: Genisys” Actors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Emilia Clarke from “Terminator: Genisys” are visiting Korea on Wednesday.The stars from the highly-anticipated Hollywood blockbuster are scheduled to spend three days in Korea. They will participate in a press conference on Thursday morning and visit Lotte World Mall in Songpa-gu district, eastern Seoul, for a red carpet event in the afternoon.Lee Byung-hun from the movie didn’t accompany the stars’ trip to Korea because of his Hollywood schedule.Schwarzenegger previously visited Korea in 2013 to promote his action movie “The Last Stand” which was directed by Korea-born Park Chan-wook. It is the first visit to Korea for Clark, who attracted fans from across the world with her role Daenerys Targaryen in TV fantasy series “Game of Thrones.”Jul 1, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
Big Bang music video blasts to 2 million hits Scenes from "Sober" music video / Screen capture from YouTubeIdol boy band Big Bang’s video of new song “Sober” neared 2 million hits Wednesday afternoon.They were recorded just hours after the song was released from the band’s single album, “D,” Wednesday morning. The five-member band from YG Entertainment released another song from the album, “If You.” The two songs, according to media reports, have topped music charts in Korea and many other countries in Asia and Europe.The band has been releasing single albums on the first day of the month since May. They are on a world tour, visiting Thailand on July 11 and 12 and the U.S. and Canada later.Jul 1, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
Stars deny romance rumor Park Shin-hye, left, and Lee Jong-seok / Courtesy of InstagramActors Lee Jong-seok and Park Shin-hye have denied a fresh rumor that they are a couple.The pair worked together from November last year to January on TV series Pinocchio on SBS.Friends of the stars said: “They are really close friends but it is absolutely not true that they are dating.” Scenes from Pinocchio / Screen capture from YouTubeOne said it was a coincidence that the two had participated in events like photo shoots and fan meetings together and wore similar bracelets.Earlier Wednesday, a media report said Lee, 25, managed by Wellmade Yedang, and Park, 25, from S.A.L.T. Entertainment, had been dating for four months.Jul 1, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
Girls' Generation teases with comeback video / Screen capture from YouTubeIdol girl band Girls’ Generation has released a teaser video before its Korean comeback.The 32-second video, released Wednesday on YouTube, shows clips of music videos for the band’s new songs -- “Party,” “Lion Heart” and “You Think.” The eight band members are dressed in a variety of vibrant clothes, ranging from bikinis to bejeweled dresses, for the video.The band will release “Party” on Tuesday and the other songs later.The band is managed by SM Entertainment and its last album released in Korea was “Mr. Mr.,” in February 2014. Jul 1, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
Boxing actress denies sex video Lee Si-young / Korea Times fileActress Lee Si-young’s management company has denied a rumor that it threatened her to take part in filming a sex video.J,Wide-Company, which manages Lee, 33, said the rumor is untrue and they will take legal steps in punishing whoever started the rumor. The company said they were “dumbfounded” by the rumor and called her to confirm that she didn’t film such video, according to media reports on Tuesday./ Courtesy of Instagram“If there was a problem between us and Lee, how could she keep showing herself up on TV screens these days?” the company’s CEO, Jeong Deok-gyun was quoted by a report as saying.The rumor, which surfaced online Tuesday, said the company abused its authority to make the star, a member of Incheon City Office boxing team, film a sex video.Lee currently plays a role in TV series "My Beautiful Bride" on OCN.Jun 30, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
Singer admits boyfriend bust-up Seo In-young from “1 vs. 100” / Screen capture from YouTubeSinger Seo In-young has confessed on TV that she broke up with her boyfriend five months ago.On quiz show “1 vs. 100,” on KBS Tuesday, Seo, 32, said she attributed the split to concentrating emotionally on her latest song, “Lie,” from album “Re Birth,” released on June 10. / Courtesy of Instagram“I was informed by my ex-boyfriend that he wished to end the romance,” said Seo, who is managed by IY Company. “I usually open up my heart to my romantic partner after a long period of time. I don’t even know how to say to romantic partners that I want to break up.” When the show’s host, Cho Woo-jong, said relationships did not seem to last long these days, Seo joked, saying she could keep up with all trends except those involving romance. Jun 30, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
K-pop singer debuts in 'killer' Japanese flick Kang Ji-young in "Assassin Classroom" / Screen capture from YouTubeFormer idol girl band KARA member Kang Ji-young is debuting as an actress in the Japanese comedy-action movie “Assassin Classroom.”The movie is based on a cartoon series of the same title by Yusei Matsui and Kang, 21, plays sexy middle-school teacher Irina Jelavic.The movie is scheduled to open at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival on July 19 before its theater opening in Korea in August.The movie depicts an octopus-looking creature with supernatural powers volunteering to be a homeroom teacher for a middle-school classroom before destroying the earth. The students attempt to assassinate the creature, which has a 100 billion won bounty. The movie was a big success in Japan, taking No.1 at the box office when it opened in March.Jun 30, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
