Midweek roundup: In case you missed it Choi Jong-hoon drunk-drove his way out of the sitcom “Blue Tower.” / Korea Times file HanBy Kim Tong-hyungHere’s your midweek update on stories in entertainment and the media you might have missed while preparing for a nuclear apocalypse, the next housing market blow-up, or because your life is probably a lot more fulfilling than others.Drunk-driving funnyman booted from soldier comedyJust weeks ago, comic Choi Jong-hoon was basking in the glow of his showbiz breakthrough. One drunk-driving incident later, the 34-year-old finds himself back on the jobless list.Choi was starring as the main character Sgt. Choi in the tvN sitcom "Blue Tower,’’ which revolves around a group of soldiers serving their 22-month compuApr 2, 2013
Diversity provides lifeblood for hallyu By Shim Jae-yunLim Hyun-chinA noted sociologist said hallyu (the Korean wave) could get a boost thanks to its “hybridity” in terms of time and space.“Hallyu has managed to spread worldwide beyond Asia due to its space-wise hybridity of combining the culture of western and eastern hemispheres, and time-wise hybridity comprising of pre-modern, modern and post-modern eras,” said Prof. Lim Hyun-chin of Seoul National University.Lim underlined the need to further expand such hybridity so that hallyu can contribute to the formation of a cultural community regardless of differences between each nation.“Hallyu can see further promotion bridging various cultures should it be able to generate a new sort of hydride version by mingling with respective local cultures,” he said.Lim outlined the theory in a recent thesis titled “Multidimensionality of the Consumption of Hallyu Culture,” co-authored with Prof. Jang Won-ho of the University of Seoul.“Hallyu could spread rapidly, boosted by the fast development of communications through the InterneApr 1, 2013By Lee Jong-eun
Visual effects rising as new cultural power “The Tower,” top, and “Haeundae” are big disaster films which heavily rely on visual effects.The visual effects industry, which was once regarded as backwater, is now emerging as the driving force in the ever-flourishing cinema industry. / Korea Times file and CJ EntertainmentDigital effects shines in heyday of film industry By Chung Ah-young“The Berlin File” starring Ha Jung-woo uses more than 850digitally-created shots. / Korea Times fileYou might be disappointed if you know that some of Ha Jung-woo's adrenaline-pumping action scenes in a spy thriller "The Berlin File" were actually computer-generated and the movie was shot in various locations, not just the German capital alone.The film has sold more than 7 million tickets in three months, making history in the action flicks genre. Behind the success of the spy thriller Apr 1, 2013
Psy's Seoul Plaza concert sets record Singer and rapper Psy gives a free performance at the Seoul Plaza on Oct. 4, 2012. / Korea TimesBy Park Jin-haiSinger and hallyu sensation Psy’s free concert at the Seoul Plaza last year has set yet another world record.The Korea Record Institute approved the concert in October 2012 as the largest “single mob dance” performed to the tune of “Gangnam Style.”An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people at the site joined Psy in his signature horse-riding dance.The institute viewed video clips and press releases prior to making the record official.“His concert let the world know of the passionate Korean culture as well as promoting national status,” said an institute official.TApr 1, 2013By Park Jin-hai
Chinese couples come for wedding preps Liu Shen, 25, a bride from China, strikes a pose for her wedding shoot at an indoor studio in Cheongdam, Seoul last week. She and her husband-to-be Zou Guang-shun, 30, spent nearly four hours in the studio as part of their four-day tour to Korea.Hallyu entices foreigners to have weddings like KoreansBy Kim Ji-sooWhen I say ‘sinrang,’ the groom should move and if I say ‘sinbu,’ I mean the bride,” Kim Mi-dae, a photographer was addressing a young Chinese couple before their wedding shoot at Lamant Studio in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul. Zou Guang-shun, 30, and Liu Shen, 25, were listening attentively via a translator, fully dressed in a tuxedo and a bell-shaped dress with tiara. The couple from Qingdao,Shandong Province chose Seoul as a destination for their wedding photo shoot. During their four-day stay in Seoul, the couple spent the day doing the wedding photo shoot. “The (photo) technology is better,” said the groom who runs a construction firm in Qingdao, speaking through an interpretor.“I thinkMar 31, 2013
It's theater, my dear Watson The musical “Arsene Lupin” is currently staged at Blue Square Samsung Card Hall in Seoul. / Courtesy of PMC ProductionAfter conquering TV and films, mystery genre fever moves on to plays By Kwon Mee-yooThe crime and mystery genre seems to be enjoying a full-blown renaissance, thanks to well-written films such as “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and smart, modern adaptations of Sherlock Holmes on television. The boom is nowhere more evident than in Korea, where television, film and now theater seem to be overrun by a slew of sleuths.Predictably, the main catalyst is Holmes, the iconic creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and arguably Korea’s favorite fictional character of all time from foreign literature.Koreans’ love for Holmes was boosted by the local airing of the BBC television series “Sherlock,” a widely-acclaimed adaptation of Doyle’s original stories that started in 2010, and the Robert Downey Jr. film, “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” the following year.The popularity of these works have inspired a wealMar 31, 2013
Korean food and restaurants going global By Park Si-sooThis is the first in a series of articles on Korean food companies and restaurants seeking overseas expansion ㅡ ED. This is Korea’s next export item: food. A growing number of local food companies are carving out business footprints overseas, seeking to conquer dining tables around the world. The trend is facilitated by homegrown restaurant chains that are increasingly flexing their muscle to conquer what gourmets call “hubs of international cuisine” such as New York, London and Paris. Several companies have already set up sales networks in more than 60 countries and are trying to cement their presence by establishing manufacturing bases there. While their overseas sales have so far generated income from China, Japan, America and Southeast Asian countries that have many Korean immigrants, they are now trying to diversify revenue sources by taking advantage of the boom in Korean pop culture that is sweeping Russia, Europe and Latin American countries.The Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp. (aT) said the country exported kimchi worth $3.87 million Mar 29, 2013
Midweek roundup: In case you missed it Kim Hye-soo speaks during a press event for her new television drama “God of Company Life” Monday. / YonhapBy Kim Tong-hyungHere’s your midweek update on stories in entertainment and the media you might have missed while reading about the sex-obsessed power elite, Kim Jong-un allegedly tampering with the Internet, or because your life is probably a lot more fulfilling than ours.Please ladies, write your own theses These have been embarrassing times for celebrities and public personalities who presented themselves as fountains of wisdom, as if they had great insight into people, politics and social issues. It was found that a number of these self-appointed experts had similar skeletons in their closets: they cut-and-pasted their way into attaining degrees at universities.First to be exposed was self-help autMar 26, 2013
'Psy has helped promote hallyu' Lee Kyu-chang, head of Kino33 Entertainment, speaks about bridging cultures in a recent interview at his Seoul office in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul. / Korea Times photo by Kim Ji-sooKino33 CEO has ‘tall order’ for Psy, hallyu leadersBy Kim Ji-sooLee Kyu-chang, head of entertainment agency Kino33 Entertainment, likened the past three years in Korea to graduate school. Tuition was free, in the form of the three years he put in. But the degree that the freelance producer received was a sudden jolt of recognition and responsibility after appearing on a talk show about his bridging role in Psy’s success in the United States.“All I did was appear on a talk show in January to talk about what I do and what I usually talk about, and soon afterwards, I was getting emails from young people in their teens and 20s telling me how they were encouraged by what I said and that I am their role model,” Lee said in a recent interview.“I was moved by their feedback. But I began to feel responsibility as weMar 26, 2013By Kim Ji-soo
Gangnam enhances care for foreign patients Healthcare coordinators pose after receiving a letter of appointment from the Gangnam District Office in southern Seoul on March 21. / Courtesy of Gangnam District OfficeBy Chung Ah-youngThe Gangnam District Office has appointed an additional 28 healthcare coordinators to help foreign patients who speak Russian, Spanish and Mongolian as part of its efforts to boost medical tourism. “We are expanding our coordinator pool system to help small hospitals which have difficulty due to a lack of coordinators who can speak diverse languages and are equipped with medical knowledge,” said Kang Hyun-seop, director of the health administration division of the Gangnam District Office.The major duties for coordinators is interpreting between medical service providers and foreign patients, and arranging schedules.First begun in 2009,Mar 26, 2013
