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Korean, Japanese Actors to Star in Joint Movie

By Han Sang-hee Staff Reporter Two top actors, Korean Ha Jung-woo and Japanese Satoshi Tsumabuki, will join forces to star in a joint Korean-Japanese movie ``Boat'' (working title). The Korean movie production company Kraze Pictures announced that the movie will start filming June 28 with Japanese production IMJ Entertainment in Niigata, Japan. ``The movie will be filmed completely in Japan but Ha will speak Korean (in the film). It is scheduled to be in theaters next year,'' Byun Bong-hyun, the film manager at Kraze Pictures told The Korea Times. ``Boat'' depicts the story of two young Korean and Japanese smugglers who try to kidnap a Korean woman. The Korean actress has not been confirmed yet. Korean director Kim Young-nam, who won the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Award and the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Award for ``Don't Look Back'' (2006) at the 59th Locarno International Film Festival, will produce the film, while Japanese writer Aya Watanabe will work on the script. Watanabe became popular among Japanese and Ko

Jun 3, 2008

Korean Air CEO Reelected to IATA Board of Governors

By Kim Rahn Staff Reporter Korean Air Chairman and CEO Cho Yang-ho has been reelected to the board of governors of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for the fifth time. Cho was elected for the position at IATA's 64th annual general meeting held in Istanbul Monday, the company said. As well as this year, he served terms in 1995, 2001, 2004 and 2006. The term for governors varies from one to four years. This will be his 10th year in total he has served on the board. There are only three other airline CEOs who have held positions on the board for more than 10 years, with Cho being the only Asian to do so. Founded in 1945, IATA has 240 member airlines. The board of governors, comprised of 30 member carriers' CEOs, sets up key policies for the world's airline industry and supervises affiliate organizations. Cho, with 30 years of experience in the industry, took part in making IATA policies at times of crisis, including the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and the SARS epidemic in 2003. He also helped establish Sky Team along with other carriers.

Jun 3, 2008

Governing Party Needs to Focus on Kitchen Table Issues

By Kang Hyun-kyung Staff Reporter It's not too bad for President Lee Myung-bak to suffer a poor job approval rating in his early presidency as the disappointing figure should force him to sharpen his leadership skills, said a first-term lawmaker. Rep. Kang Yong-seok, 40, of the Grand National Party (GNP) said that Lee would have learned a valuable lesson from his disappointing approval rating. ``The President will have learned that he should listen carefully to what the public wants. He will become a more responsive leader after the trials and errors of his early presidency,'' Rep. Kang said in an interview with The Korea Times last week. A recent poll conducted by an in-house think tank of the GNP said Lee's rating has slipped down to the low 20 percentage range in May, which gave a red light to Lee's presidency. The support for his predecessor President Roh Moo-hyun was in the 20 percent range when he was a lame duck. Lawyer-turned-lawmaker Kang won the April 9 election in the Mapo district, Seoul, at his second attempt. Kang claimed President Lee would n

Jun 1, 2008

Bae, Choi to Voice Winter Sonata Cartoon

By Lee Hyo-won Staff Reporter Actors Bae Yong-joon and Choi Ji-woo, who gave flight to hallyu or the Korean wave with the TV series ``Winter Sonata,'' will team up again to play the voices for the animation version of the love story. They will record the voiceovers in Korean, which will be translated into Japanese subtitles. December last year, Korea's Key East and Japan's Total Promotion signed an Memorandum of Understanding for a joint project to make an animated version of ``Winter Sonata.'' Bae had publicized plans to voice the part of his character Jun-sang at the Tokyo International Animation Fair in February, and Choi decided to join the team as well, Choi's management agency Olive9 announced Thursday. ``Choi Ji-woo decided to participate in the animation project as a token of appreciation for her fans, and hopes to rekindle the emotions of the original drama,'' said a representative of Olive9. After airing here on KBS2 in 2002, the drama ``Winter Sonata'' became explosively popular in Japan, where fans affectionately dubbed the lead actors ``Yonsama'' and ``Jiwoo

May 30, 2008

Korea, Germany Can Bridge Gap Between Europe and East Asia

By Kim Jong-chan Staff Reporter German Ambassador to Seoul Norbert Baas said Germany and Korea can play an important role in promoting understanding between Europe and East Asia. Saying ``we are living on one continent," Baas expressed his hope that the dream of a road and train connection between Seoul, Berlin and Paris would one day come true. In his opening speech at German World 2008, a science fair to display sophisticated products and services characteristic of Germany's cutting-edge technologies and lifestyle, he said, ``To achieve more, our governments, our research communities and our companies need to adjust and refine strategies." The exhibition, which opened Thursday, will continue until Sunday at the COEX in southern Seoul. ``We have to know more about what is going on in our countries. We can do a lot together. This is the strong reason being having the German World fair here in Seoul," he said. The ambassador said Korea will be a major partner country at Germany's Hannover Fair in April next year. The fair is one of the largest industry exhibitions in t

May 30, 2008

Gender No Longer Barrier to Women in Politics

By Kang Hyun-kyung Staff Reporter ``Korea is ready for a woman President," Rep. Chung Mi-kyung of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) said Friday. In an interview with The Korea Times, Chung, 43, said that if a growing number of women were in the legislature or key governmental posts, people would pay more attention to their qualifications than their gender when asked to vote. Chung was first elected to the National Assembly in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, in the April 9 elections. There are currently 41 female lawmakers making up 13.7 percent of the total 299 Assembly members. The new legislature's four-year term began Friday. Three lawmakers ― former GNP Chairwoman Park Geun-hye, Kim Young-sun of the GNP and Lee Mi-kyung of the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) ― became four-term lawmakers, and three others, including Choo Mi-ae of the UDP, became three-term legislators. Park garnered 88.6 percent of the vote, receiving the second highest support rate after Rep. Park Joo-sun of the UDP. Chung, a former prosecutor, said gender should not be a

May 30, 2008

Godmother for Poor Children Vows to Change Society

By Kang Hyun-kyung Staff Reporter The governing Grand National Party (GNP) is likely to be known as the good Samaritan party if lawmakers are successful in making a difference to the needy and children living in poverty, a party lawmaker said Thursday. Rep. Kang Myung-soon, 56, said she is optimistic about improving the living standards of those in need if she and her colleagues ``fight to the end'' in the legislative body to craft and pass bills on kitchen table issues. Kang, known as the ``godmother'' of poor children, was the GNP's No. 1 candidate under the proportional representation system in the April 9 elections. Twenty-two GNP candidates became lawmakers under the scheme. Party insiders said Kang, a pastor as well as a life-long activist for children from working class families, was considered a perfect fit for the GNP candidate screening as the party was striving to tackle negative connotations with the opposition calling them a party advocating unbridled capitalism with little or no compassion for the poor. Since entering Ewha Womans University in

May 29, 2008

Music Icon Seo Taiji Plans Comeback

By Han Sang-hee Staff Reporter Korean musician Seo Taiji will have another come back at the ``Eerie Taiji People Festival (ETPFEST)'' rock festival on Aug. 15, his first appearance as a singer in four years. Seotaiji Company, Seo's agency, said that the 36-year-old singer is currently working on his eighth album and is planning to appear at the annual festival. ``Fans will be able to see Seo at the ETPFEST, which will be held on Korea's Independence Day with top international rock and heavy metal bands participating,'' his agency said. Seo, who has become a fashion and musical icon among his fans, last appeared in 2004 at the third ETPFEST with his album ``Seo Taiji's 7th Issue.'' This will be the first time in four years for him to present new songs for his fans at a live concert. ``This year's ETPFEST will be upgraded as a grand scale rock festival. It won't just remain as a festival for Seo, but as an international rock event,'' the agency added. The festival is still in its production stage and participants have not been confirmed yet. The agency will anno

May 29, 2008

Jackie Chan, Choi Ji-woo to Promote Hallyuwood

By Han Sang-hee Staff Reporter Hong Kong star Jackie Chan and Korean actress Choi Ji-woo will be the honorary ambassadors of Hallyuwood, an`` Asian entertainment mecca'' in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. ``Jackie Chan was chosen because of his continuous interest toward Korea and also his friendship with top Korean hallyu (or the Korean wave) stars. We thought he would be perfect to introduce the Korean culture to the world,'' an organizer of Hallyuwood was quoted as saying by Yonhap News. Along with Chan, Korean actress Choi Ji-woo will also represent the Asian entertainment mecca. The 32-year-old actress has gained popularity not only in Korea, but also in Japan and China through dramas like ``Winter Sonata (2002)'' and ``Air City (2007).'' ``Choi was born in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, so she was more than eager to join Chan,'' another organizer said. The two stars will attend a ceremony proclaiming them as ambassadors and also the ``Hallyuwood Start Festival,'' which will be held near the construction of the venue today. Hallyuwood is a project developed by the Gyeon

May 28, 2008

Iraq Seeks Korean Partnership in Rebuilding Efforts

By Michael Ha Staff Reporter A senior Iraqi government official said his country's security issues are improving and that his government would welcome Korea's partnership in the nation's rebuilding efforts. ``This year, our government has decided that we should focus on reconstruction and services,'' Labeed M. Abbawi, an undersecretary in Iraq's Foreign Ministry, said in an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, Tuesday. ``In our budget for this year, our government allocated $18 billion for internal investments and construction processes. And we hope that with more than 60 donor countries, we will be able to start a comprehensive process of reconstruction. We welcome Korean companies with open arms,'' Abbawi said. He is visiting Seoul as part of an Iraqi delegation to the conference for the formation of the Korea-Arab Society. ``When we first heard about the initiative boosting economic and cultural exchanges between the Arab world and Korea, we strongly supported the idea,'' he said. ``We think this is important because Korea in the past few years has played a very p

May 27, 2008
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