UC Berkeley plans to hold K-pop conference By Park Jin-hai An in-school club at UC Berkeley will hold a two-day convention on the colorful and diverse aspects of the K-pop community. Under the theme “[Be] CHROMATIC,” KPOPCON will be held on March 8 and 9, in and around the university campus in northern California. “KPOPCON strives to gather fans from all backgrounds to celebrate the continuously evolving K-pop community in a social, creative, and academic setting,” said its organizer K-Popular. “While enjoying the hallyu content provided during the workshops, we hope fans will find their creativity and dreams.” Since the student club launched the K-pop event in 2012, it has been providing a platform for studying the phenomenon academically as well as organizing dance competitions and fan meet-ups. The event will be all about K-pop. Participants will participate in workshops interspersed with singing and dancing. On Saturday, workshops on K-pop’s shifting representation of gender and sexuality, incubation systems, and the collision between Mar 5, 2014By Park Jin-hai
Dramas, R&D fuel K-cosmetics An image capture from the drama “My Love from the Stars” shows actress Jun Ji-hyun using cosmetic products, stocks of which have since run instores. / Courtesy of AmorePacificBy Park Jin-haiFanding Zhou, 24, from Beijing, says the first items that her friends asked her to buy on her visit to Korea were cosmetic products, showing off small boxes of low and medium priced local brands “Missha” and “The Faceshop.”“There is this perception that the quality of Korea moisturizing products exceds that of others, since it has a long dry winter season,” she said. Zhou was among a band of tourists that walked out of Lotte Duty Free Shop’s ‘star zone,’ walled with pictures of local pop actors, in central Seoul, last week. Their hands were full of shopping bags. Thanks to the popularity of Korean dramas, fed virtually freely through various on-line websites and mobiles, fans throughout Asia pay almost instant attention to what the actresses use on the screen. Local cosmetic companies are enjoying the stardust effect. Type in Mar 4, 2014By Park Jin-hai
Key, Woohyun to peform as duo Woohyun, left, and Key will perform as a subunit duo named “Toheart.”K-pop group SHINee’s Key and INFINITE’s Woohyun will launch a subunit named “To Heart” and release a mini-album.The album consisting of six tracks will be available on March 10, according to their agencies Tuesday. The album has drawn high expectations from the music circle before its official launch since composers for SHINee and INFINITE have collaborated on the album. “Delicious” is a collaboration work of Sweet Tune, who wrote INFINITE’s songs such as “Man In Love,” and Sean Alexander, who composed SHINee’s “Amigo.”Mar 4, 2014By Park Jin-hai
History lessons for foreign students Participants of the Northeast Asia History Foundation’s first academic program on Northeast Asian history pose in this 2013 file photo./ Courtesy of Northeast Asia History Foundation By Park Si-sooA state-run history research center will run a second academic program to educate 33 foreign students from 11 countries about Northeast Asian history, through which the center hopes they will gain a deeper understanding of Korean history and its culture. The opening ceremony for the program will be held today at the Northeast Asian History Foundation’s (NAHF) auditorium in downtown Seoul. The program is comprised of 15 sessions and will continue through June 25, according to the foundation. Inaugurated in 2013, it is held twice a year. The students will learn about Korean history, culture and geo-political conflicts with surrounding countries using a textbook written by scholars at the foundation. They will also visit Ulleung Island, as well as the easternmost islets of Dokdo. The islets controlled by South Korea are the frequent targets of repeated territorial claims by JaMar 4, 2014
Joy of the road The cast of “Halbae (grandpas) Over Flowers” pose for a photo during their backpack trip to Spain. From left are Lee Seo-jin, Lee Sun-jae, Shin Gu, Baek Il-sup and Park Geun-hyung. / Courtesy of CJ E&MProducer Nah talks about new season of "Halbae (grandpas) Over Flowers"By Yun Suh-youngNah Yung-suk, Korea’s most influential television show creator, has been milking the same template for repeated success: Take a group of likable but bumbling personalities, throw them in random travel destinations and wait for humorous adventures to unfold. Producer Nah Yung-suk smiles during an interview with The Korea Times. / Korea Times photo by Yun Suh-youngKBS television’s “2 Days and 1 Night,” the show that triggered Nah’s breakthrough, made stars out of cast members such as Kang Ho-dong, Lee Seung-ki and Kim Su-geun, who took their unintentional slapstick to new locations in Korea every week.After leaving KBS for tvN, a cable network run by culture industry giant CJ E&M, Nah created a similar show in “Halbae (grandpas) OverMar 4, 2014
Sequel to 'My Love from Star' likely By Chung Ah-youngA poster of “My Love From the Star”Jang Tae-yoo, the producer of the SBS hit drama “My Love from the Star,” said Monday that he wants to make a sequel if the opportunity arises.“It is possible to make a sequel although I will have to talk with the scriptwriter,” Jang said on “Good Morning,” an SBS TV show. The drama that starred the two charismatic actors Jun Ji-hyun and Kim Soo-hyun, has gained huge popularity in Korea and China with ripple effects.Chinese state CCTV television recently carried a nine-minute special on the drama, while the China Daily, in its op-ed piece on Feb. 21 attributed the Korean drama’s success in China to “great innovations in South Korean TV productions in terms of themes and narrative patterns.” The drama has catapulted heartthrob Kim to a new level of stardom in China where he is slated to appear on Jiangsu Satellite TV’s “Super Brain” on March 8.Jang explained that the character Do Min-jun (played by Kim), travels back and forth between Earth and his plaMar 3, 2014
Busy K-pop stars K-pop stars are engaging with foreign fans through concerts. The above photo shows Girls’ Generation posing with Katy Perry Sunday as they appeared at the “U-Express Live 2014” music fest in Saitama Super Arena, Japan. The bottom photo shows the K-pop boy group Beast performing for some 20,000 Chinese fans Saturday at the “I Want Music Power Concert” in Shenzhen. / Courtesy of SM Entertainment, Cube EntertainmentMar 3, 2014
JYJ makes donation for the disabled K-pop band JYJPopular K-pop boy band JYJ made a hefty donation to help the disabled and senior citizens suffering from economic difficulties.The band’s management agency said on Monday JYJ had collected 50 million won ($46,000) hosting a charity bazaar in Seoul and Japan in June. Products up for sale during the event included 13 paintings drawn by JYJ members, according to the agency. “We are very pleased to help those in trouble,”JYJ was quoted as saying in a statement released by the agency. “The donation has left us with good memories, which we would like to share with our fans.”JYJ has hosted the annual charity bazaar since 2012.Mar 3, 2014
Comedian Son to debut as singer Comedian Son Hun-sooComedian Son Hun-soo, 35, will make his debut as a singer with the digital single “I Will be Back.” His management agency said on Monday that it will be released through major music websites on March 14. The song was written by prolific songwriter Lee Joo-ho, known as the creator of top comedian Park Myung-soo’s hit “Prince of the Sea,” according to the agency. “I Will be Back” is an electronic dance song with a disco beat, it said.Making his debut as a comedian in 2000, Son has appeared on a variety of comedy and entertainment TV programs, including “Comedy House” and “Gay-ya.”Mar 3, 2014
Tapping Middle East meteorological market Engineers from Jinyang Industrial inspect an Automatic Weather Station in Dukha, Qatar, in this July 2013 file photo. / Courtesy of Jinyang Industrial'Qatar to invest $200 million by 2022 to modernize weather forecasting system'Ahmed Abdulla Mohamed, director of Qatar MeteorologyDepartmentHan Young-ho, president of Jinyang IndustrialBy Park Si-sooOne of the crucial tasks for Qatar, host of the FIFA World Cup in 2022, is modernizing its weather forecasting system to assure the World Cup is a success.In its latest effort to improve the accuracy of weather forecasting, Qatar’s state weather agency has decided to purchase a set of high-end weather forecasting devices worth $6 million from a Korean company. This is the first deal of its kind signed between Korea and the Middle East nation.Under the deal, Jinyang Industrial, the supplier based in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, will install 53 devices and a communication network connecting them across Qatar by the end of the year. The country plans to share information gathered by the devices with its eight neighboring countries, inMar 3, 2014
