Korean Drama

[bag.lover]

[About the Drama]
Gyeoul Yeonga (Winter Sonata; Winter Love Song; Winter Ballad; Endless Love 2)
Network: KBS2
Airing Dates: 1/14/2002-3/19/2002
Director: Yoon Seok-ho
Cast: Bae Yong-joon, Choi Ji-woo

(source: KBS-America E-STORE)


CAST: Bae Yong-Joon (Kang Jun-sang / Lee Min-hyung), Choi Ji-Woo (Jeong Yu-jin)


Kang Jun-sang:
Jun-sang transfers to a high school in Chuncheon, where he hopes to find his birth father and finally verify his identity and where destiny brings him and Yu-jin together.

Lee Min-hyung:
Min-hyung looks exactly as Jun-sang, whom Yu-jin met 10 years ago. This reserved and introverted character is an executive of the White Ski Resort run by Seun Group. He meets Yu-jin, who works at a construction company, at a business meeting on the ski resort's renovation.

Jeong Yu-jin:
After losing her high-school sweetheart, Jun-sang, in an accident 10 years ago, Yu-jin meets Min-hyung, who looks exactly like Jun-sang, and falls in love with him. She works as an interior designer, and has an outgoing and sprightly personality. But deep inside, she still mourns her first love.

DRAMA REVIEW


First love, just by the careful reminiscing over these words people become emotional. Everyone feels that their first love was pure and near to them but as time passes the memories become faded.

What if the first person that gave you these pure and innocent feelings had died? And what if this man that looked just like her first love appeared in front of her ten years later, right before she is about to get married? Can she fall in love with this man just because of the fact that he resembles hum? This drama tells the story of three people that are bounded together because of the destiny of their first love. Destiny has made these three meet, separate, and become entrapped by their 'Family' they had long forgotten about. The chained relationship intertwining among these people will slowly unfold in a mysterious way.


(from tour2korea)

[bag.lover]

[About the Drama]
Mianhada Saranghanda (Misa; Sorry, I Love You; I'm Sorry, I Love You)
Network: KBS2
Airing Dates: 11/9/2004-12/28/2004
Cast: So Ji-seop, Lim Su-jeong, Chung Kyeong-ho, Suh Ji-young
Directors: Kim Jong-sik, Lee Hyung-min
Writer: Lee Kyung-hee

(source: KBS-America E-STORE)


CAST: So Ji-seop (Cha Mu-hyeok), Lim Su-jeong (Song Eun-chae), Chung Kyeong-ho (Choi Yun), Suh Ji-young (Kang Min-ju)

Cha Mu-hyeok
Mu-hyeok is a man like a wild dog. He has a rough manner and is full of vigor, but deep down he is quite nice in his love that nobody could imagine.

Song Eun-chae
Eun-chae is a tender-hearted woman unbound to custom. She is destined to be in pathetic love between Cha Mu-hyeok and Choi Yun.

Choi Yun
Choi Yun is a top pop singer who loves both Kang Min-ju, a pop diva, and Song Eun-chae, his own program coordinator.

Kang Min-ju
When she was young, Min-ju saw her mother dumped by her father. Since then, she has trusted no man. Man is nothing else but a game to her. On the contrary, she falls in love with Cha Mu-hyeok, but is dumped after she is taken advantage of.

DRAMA REVIEW


"A Story about Extreme, Death-Defying Love"

- This is a really sad love story.
"Sorry, I Love You" is a story about Cha Mu-hyeok (So Ji-seop), who faces death everyday with two bullets stuck in the head, and Song Eun-chae (Lim Su-jeong), whose chance encounter with him develops into an extreme love affair.

- "Sorry, I Love You" begins with a man's fight for revenge
Cha Mu-hyeok is a show business manager who plans to take his revenge on his birth mother for having abandoned him. After being abandoned by his mother, he was adopted by an Australian family at the age of two. He, however, left his foster home when he was 10 because of his adopted parents' ill treatment. He is a man making a living as a henchman of a street gang, a pimp, or a drug pusher.

- "Sorry, I Love You" is a story about an extreme love affair of two men and a woman
Though he has been hit with bullets in the head, Cha Mu-hyeok insists on going to Korea to see his birth mother determined to die in his birth country. Contrary to his belief that she abandoned him for poverty, his birth mother turns out to be a top movie star and his twin brother also a top star. In a plot to revenge himself on his mother, Mu-hyeok volunteers to work for his twin brother, Choi Yun (Chung Kyeong-ho), as his manager in a bid to run him. In the process, Mu-hyeok falls in deep love with Yun's program coordinator, Song Eun-chae.



Finale of “Sorry, I Love You” to Leave Fans Shedding Flood of Tears
http://english.kbs.co.kr/entertainme...629_11858.html
“Sorry, I Love You” Wins Best Picture Award
http://english.kbs.co.kr/entertainme...789_11858.html

[bag.lover]

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(source: The Washington Post)
Japanese Women Catch the 'Korean Wave'
Male Celebrities Just Latest Twist in Asia-Wide Craze

By Anthony Faiola
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, August 31, 2006; Page A01

TOKYO -- Thin and gorgeous in a slinky black dress, Mikimoto pearls and a low-slung diamond Tiffany pendant, 26-year-old Kazumi Yoshimura already has looks, cash and accessories. There's only one more thing this single Japanese woman says she needs to find eternal bliss -- a Korean man.

She may just have to take a number and get in line. In recent years, the wild success of male celebrities from South Korea -- sensitive men but totally ripped -- has redefined what Asian women want, from Bangkok to Beijing, from Taipei to Tokyo. Gone are the martial arts movie heroes and the stereotypical macho men of mainstream Asian television. Today, South Korea's trend-setting screen stars and singers dictate everything from what hair gels people use in Vietnam to what jeans are bought in China.

Yet for thousands of smitten Japanese women like Yoshimura, collecting the odd poster or DVD is no longer enough. They've set their sights far higher -- settling for nothing less than a real Seoulmate.

The lovelorn Yoshimura signed up last year with Rakuen Korea, a Japanese-Korean matchmaking service, to find her own Korean bachelor. And she is hardly alone. More than 6,400 female clients have signed up with the company, which says its popularity has skyrocketed since 2004, when "Winter Sonata" became the first of many hot Korean television dramas to hit Japan. Even in Shinjuku ni-chome, Tokyo's biggest gay district, niche bars with names such as Seoul Man have sprouted like sprigs of ginseng in a Pusan autumn.

"South Koreans are so sweet and romantic -- not at all like Japanese guys, who never say 'I love you,' " Yoshimura said as she waited for her blind date, a single Korean man, in the 50th-floor bar of a chic Tokyo skyscraper. A telephone operator who lives with her parents in Hiroshima, she has spent thousands of dollars on her quest for a Korean husband, flying to Seoul 10 times in the past two years and bullet-training to Tokyo for seven blind dates with Korean men.

So far, though, she hasn't found the one she's looking for.

"Maybe I'm living in a fantasy world," she said, pouting her blood-red lips. "Maybe I'm looking for the TV stars I can't really have. But we are all allowed a dream, aren't we?"

In part, the new allure of Korean men can be traced to a larger phenomenon known as the "Korean Wave," a term coined a few years ago by Beijing journalists startled by the growing popularity of South Koreans and South Korean goods in China. Now, the craze for all things Korean has spread across Asia, driving regional sales of everything from cars to kimchi.

Meanwhile, the number of foreign tourists traveling to South Korea leapt from 2.8 million in 2003 to 3.7 million in 2004. The bulk of the growth, South Korean tourism officials say, stemmed from Korean Wave-loving Asian women. Partial statistics for 2005 indicate the feminine tide has not yet let up.

For the South Koreans -- who have long suffered discrimination in Japan and who have hardly been known as sex symbols -- it all comes as something of a shock.

Korean male celebrities are now among the highest-paid actors outside Hollywood. According to the South Korean media, "Winter Sonata" star Bae Yong Jun -- whose character stood by his first love through 10 years of car accidents and amnesia -- is now charging $5 million a film, the steepest price anywhere in Asia. In a few short years, Bae is said to have accumulated a merchandising and acting-fee empire worth an estimated $100 million. At least nine other Korean male stars earn more than $10 million a year, according to a list published in June by the Seoul-based Sports Hankook newspaper.

In Seoul, the neon-lit streets are mobbed these days by visiting Asian women, many sporting rhinestone-studded T-shirts emblazoned with images of their favorite Korean stars. Some fans have been known to stake out famous eateries for hours in the hopes of catching a glimpse of their celluloid beaus.

It's still a little hard to believe that it's gone this far," said tall, tanned Jang Dong Gun, now one of the highest-paid actors in Asia, during an interview in Seoul.

Jang said he was shocked when, during his first trip to Vietnam in 1998 to promote his new Korean TV drama, thousands of women mobbed his plane at the Hanoi airport and an armada of female fans on motor scooters chased his car all the way to his hotel.

In 2001, the Seoul-based manufacturer Daewoo Electronics hired him as its Vietnam spokesman. Over the past five years, the company said, its refrigerators' market share in Vietnam went from a blip to a robust 34 percent.

"If we can give them a little more joy in their life and show them another side of Korea, than I can only see that as a plus for us and them," he said.

In China, South Korean programs broadcast on government TV networks now account for more than all other foreign programs combined, including those from the United States and Japan, according to South Korean government statistics. Even in Mexico -- land of the telenovela -- a flock of local women stood outside South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun's hotel during a recent visit, holding placards with Korean stars' names. In the United States, the Seoul-based singer Rain played two sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden in 2005. Also last year, sinewy Daniel Dae Kim, the Korean-born actor from the hit show "Lost," was the only Asian to land a spot in People magazine's "Sexiest Men Alive" edition.

Entertainment industry leaders in Seoul credit the phenomenon to good marketing coupled with an uncanny response throughout Asia to the expressive nature of the South Koreans -- long dubbed the Italians of Asia. A hearty diet and two years of forced military duty, industry leaders and fans insist, have also made young South Korean men among the buffest in Asia. Most important, however, has been the South Korean entertainment industry's perfection of the strong, silent type on screen -- typically rich, kind men with coincidentally striking looks and a tendency to shower women with unconditional love.

"It's a type of character that doesn't exist much in Asian movies and television, and now it's what Asian women think Korean men are like," said Kim Ok Hyun, director of Star M, a major star management company in Seoul.

"But to tell you the truth," she said. "I still haven't met a real one who fits that description."

Though the Korean Wave hit Japan relatively late, washing ashore only within the past 24 to 36 months, the country has quickly become the largest market for Korean stars. Bae remains the biggest, but his supremacy is being challenged. Actor Kwon Sang Woo, for instance, is charging $200 for some seats at an upcoming "fan meeting" in Tokyo. Thousands of Japanese are scrambling for a chance to watch him play games with fans, chat and perform little song-and-dance numbers. Some tickets are going for as much as $500 on online auction sites.

Almost all the major Korean male stars have opened lucrative "official stores" in Tokyo. In the three-story boutique of Ryu Siwon, a baby-faced Korean actor-crooner who sings in phonetic Japanese for the local market, the top floor boasts a recreation of his living room, complete with a life-size, high-tech plastic model of Ryu lounging casually on a white leather sofa. It has become a meeting place of sorts for his Japanese fans, where a gaggle of women ages 17 to 61 sat and stared longingly at his statue on a recent afternoon.

Some call it a fad. But Yoshimura -- whose latest blind date turned out to be a slightly paunchy Korean computer programmer -- says she is nevertheless digging in her extraordinarily high heels for the long run.

"I intend to keep looking until I find the right one," she said.


Special correspondent Joohee Cho contributed to this report.
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[bag.lover]

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(source: CHOSUN 6/20/2007)
Lee Jun-ki Approached to Star in Chinese Movie


Courtesy of Mentor Entertainment


Lee Jun-ki, star of the movie "The King and the Clown," has caught the eye of acclaimed Chinese director Chen Kaige.

MG SHOW, the agency in charge of promoting the actor in China, announced on Tuesday that Lee had met with Chen at the Shanghai International Film Festival last Saturday, at which Chen was a juror.

Chen proposed that the two make a film together in China, which Lee thought was a great idea. "I'd love to make the movie if the script is good and the character is right," Lee said.

Chen's proposal is understood to be more than just lip-service. The Chinese director thinks highly of Korean actors, having worked with Jang Dong-gun in his movie "The Promise" in 2005. The project can also count on Lee's extraordinary popularity in China.

Lee, who became one of the leading stars of the Korean wave with his performances in "The King and the Clown" and the drama "My Girl," has become tremendously popular in China, with over 300,000 members signed up with his fan club.

During his recent visit to Shanghai, a mob of fans in a convoy of some 20 vehicles chased the actor along a highway, at times making some dangerous moves. Lee said the chase was like a scene from a movie, but added that he's grateful for his Chinese fans' avid support.

Lee attended the Shanghai International Film Festival after wrapping up shooting in Thailand on "Time Between Dog and Wolf", which is scheduled to be broadcast next month. He took home the Top Foreign Star Award along with Hollywood screen goddess Sharon Stone.

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[bag.lover]

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(source: BROasia 6/21/2007)
New KBS weekend drama to star Lee Soo Gyeong and Kim Ji Hoon



Actress Lee Soo Gyeong and actor Kim Ji Hoon will play a married couple in the upcoming KBS weekend drama series, 'Golden Era of Daughter in Law.'

The series will focus on the power conflict between daughter-in-laws in their twenties and thirties and their mother-in-laws with a comical twist.

The character Cho Mi Jin, played by actress Lee Soo Gyeon who has starred in the MBC sitcom 'Soulmate' and other drama series, is a new employee of an apparel company who becomes the daughter-in-law of a family running a pork hock restaurant with a 60 year tradition.

Lee Bok Soo, the eldest son of the family and planning director of the company Mi Jin works at, will be played by actor Kim Ji Hoon.

Yoon Yeo Jeong, Kim Eul Dong, Yeo Woon Gye, Park In Hwan, and other well known actors were cast of the series as well.

Director Jung Hae Ryong commented, "I have been interested in Lee Soo Gyeong and Kim Ji Hoon since their debut as I saw their potential and I hope to bring out the best of them through this series."

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[bag.lover]

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(source: CHOSUN 6/22/2007)
Park Jin-hee Earns Her Paycheck in "War of Money"



With its ratings above the 30-percent mark, the SBS drama "War of Money" has become one of the most popular shows on TV, thanks in great part to the performance of actor Park Shin-yang.

But even Park and his angel-to-devil transformations hasn't been able to overshadow actress Park Jin-hee, who's been drawing avid praise for her performance of a righteous woman facing a slew of financial hardships.

Park Jin-hee, who returned to the small screen after a four-year break with last year's 25-percent-ratings hit "Please Come Back, Soon-Ae", has become the queen of the tube with the runaway success of "War of Money."

The actress, who is a bit of a straight-shooter, said, "When I first got the script I was surprised to find how small my scenes were. But now I've changed my mind. Park Shin-yang acts so hard and so well, he's certainly the one who should be in the spotlight."

The actress first came to stardom with the 1998 movie "Whispering Corridors", but the path from there wasn't so smooth. She was praised for her emotional performance of a single mother in the KBS drama "Silk Flower" in 2001, but had found few other successes in films or TV. She decided to take some time for a little introspection. "I asked myself if I had honestly put in the passion to really light up my work. And the answer, shamefully, was no."

It was time for a break, she felt, so she stopped working for a year and a half. During the downtime, Park found herself growing in her everyday life. "I would sleep all day, daydream, drink as much as I wanted, watch movies for days... Those days passed away, and each one became the base of my acting. I wasn't worried about being forgotten."

The break paid off when she was cast to play the 40-something "ajumma", or shrewish spinster, trapped in the body of a sexy young 20-something in the comedy soap "Please Come Back, Soon-Ae." The performance came naturally because of the energy she'd been building during her hiatus.

In her latest hit "War of Money", nearly every scene is full of talk about money, so the question had to be asked -- has Park ever suffered true financial hardships? "Of course. My dad suddenly quit his job when I was a student, and I dreamed of a prince charming when we had no money."

Park got her start as an actress when she was selected to play a role in "Start," a drama for teens. "At the time, it was more of a curiosity rather than thinking of acting as a career." And what about now? Has she come to see acting as a real career? "My earning is way too high to not think that way. It'd be irresponsible to think otherwise, wouldn't it?"

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[bag.lover]

NOTE: Please keep in mind that there is no formal announcement yet (unconfirmed).

Details: The Giant
Episodes:
Genre:
Broadcast network:
Broadcast period: 2008
Air Time:
Cast: Song Seung Hun, Song Yoon Ah

SONG SEUNG HUN
Birthday: October 5th, 1976
Height: 179cm (5'11")
Weight: 70kg (154 lbs)
Education: Kyunggi University (Visual Media)
TV Series: Summer Scent (KBS, 2003), Law Firm (SBS, 2001), Autumn in My Heart (KBS, 2000), Happy Together (SBS, 1999), ...
Movies: Destiny (2007), He Was Cool (2004), Ice Rain (2004), Make It Big (2002), Calla (1999), ..

SONG YOON AH
Birthday: June 7th, 1973
Height: 169cm (5'7")
Weight: 48kg (105.6 lbs)
Education: Hanyang University (Humanities)
TV Series: My Sister (MBC, 2006), Hong Kong Express (SBS, 2005), Into the Storm (SBS, 2004), Present (MBC, 2002), Hotelier (MBC, 2001), ..
Movies: Face (2004), Jailbreakers (2002), A Masterpiece in My Life (2000), ...

[bag.lover]

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(source: The Korea Times 06-22-2007)
Singer Rain Cleared for US Concert

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

Korean pop star Rain can now use his stage name for his "Rain's Coming" world concert tour in the United States.

Yonhap News reported the Nevada state district court on Thursday dropped the lawsuit filed by music company Rain Corp. challenging the Korean singer's right to use his stage name in the U.S.

Rain Corp. filed the lawsuit last February, requesting the court to prevent Rain from using his stage name for his concert tour in the U.S. The company claimed it owned the copyright of the name, used by its Beatles tribute band.

However, the Nevada court did not agree with Rain Corp.'s assertions, and dismissed the case against Rain, his former management agency JYP Entertainment and concert organizer Star M Corporation. The name Rain is the English translation of the singer's Korean stage name Bi.

Rain, whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon, had postponed most of his concerts in the United States early this month due to the lawsuit.

With the dismissal of the case, Rain can now continue the American leg of his "Rain's Coming" world tour. He is scheduled to hold a concert at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on June 30.

After the concert, Rain will head to Berlin, Germany to shoot scenes for his Hollywood film debut "Speed Racer."

Concert organizers said they are now trying to reschedule the postponed concerts in Atlanta, New York and San Francisco, for later this year.

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[effinhaute]

why do korean movies always start with a fighting scene lol

[bag.lover]

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(source: JoongAng Daily)
[DVD Review]Restless to watch something better

June 25, 2007


The Restless (Korean title: Jungcheon)


“The Restless” is a costly reminder that it takes more than top-notch computer graphics and good-looking actors to make a quality fantasy film. All that remains after 102 minutes is the memory of how handsome the actors looked in perfectly staged action sequences generated by computer graphics. Forget the storyline ― it exists only to give the action sequences a chance to shine.

It’s not all that bad to see the dazzling smile of actress Kim Tae-hee as she flies with her feathered sword and shoots peach blossoms at her enemies. Viewers are still left with questions about how lead actor Jung Woo-sung could dispatch so many ogres when his face was covered by his stylish hair and he was wearing an extremely long robe.

There is no doubt that the two lead actors look fabulous. Yet, the visual glamour is the only aspect of this film that endures, along with the knowledge that it was a flop at the box office.

Director Cho Dong-ho made his debut with this film and he aimed to make “the best Korean-style fantasy film using only Korean computer graphics.” Fantasy is indeed a field that is relatively rare for Korean filmmakers and Cho’s approach attracted high expectations. He attracted a budget of 13 billion won ($14 million), which he mostly spent to glam up the film by using computers.

Cho first wanted the film to become a trilogy like the “Lord of the Rings” but had to give up under the pressure of budget constraints. It’s a good thing that the producers persuaded him to drop the trilogy idea. If only the director had then paid more attention to the structure of the storyline.

In the film, Yi Gwak (Jung) fights ghosts and ogres and one day he happens to fall into “mid-heaven,” a place where dead souls remain for 49 days after their death before they go to either heaven or hell. There he meets the deceased love of his life, Yon-hwa (Kim), who has turned into a heavenly figure after her untimely demise. In mid-heaven she has a different name, So-hwa, and no memories of Yi Gwak. She also has no human feelings.

Carrying a holy stone that can open the border between the world and the heaven, she is harassed by a group of dead warriors who want the holy stone to change the world. Yi Gwak tags along to protect her, until he happens to find out that the dead warriors were his comrades in life. In the meantime, despite the premise that So-hwa is now a heavenly creature without human feelings, she comes to love Yi Gwak.

There is no chain of logic offered so that viewers can understand why Yi Gwak fell into mid-heaven in the first place and why So-hwa develops feelings for him.

However, the director does not seem to care about logic or the need to develop a good story, as long as his characters have the opportunity to shine in action sequences.

The film has action and fantasy in abundance, but that does not mean the director can concoct any story he wants to without regard to logic. As a bonus, characters get the opportunity to murmur cliched lines like “Love can change this world” and “I will never forget you” at the moment when they die.

You may think that this reviewer is too cruel and should have some mercy on the film’s ambitions, but I am not alone as the film was not even a commercial success. Some 1.4 million viewers paid for tickets, and they must have been fans of the two leading actors.

To cover the budget, at least 4 million people had to buy tickets for the film.

In its DVD release, you may want to focus not on the film itself but on the special features which offer details about the computer graphics. That is if you are ever tempted to rent this DVD, which I would not recommend.

Title: The Restless (Korean title: Jungcheon)
Directed by: Cho Dong-ho
Starring: Jung Woo-sung, Kim Tae-hee
Running Time: 102 minutes
Subtitles: English
Genres: Fantasy, Action and Romance

By Chun Su jin

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[bag.lover]

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(source: BROasia 2007-06-22)
Ahn Jae Wook successfully starts 4-city Japan tour



Actor/singer Ahn Jae Wook made a peculiar request to his agency in regards to his Japan tour. He wanted to consider the cities other than those that most Hallyu Stars visit which was based on his will to perform in front of a greater variety of Japanese fans rather than call for a simple successful performance based on popularity.

The four cities then selected were Yokohama, Sapporo, Gokura, and Nagoya spanning from the far northern to southern regions of Japan.

"Ahn Jae Wook JAPAN TOUR 2007 -1st Traveling-" started off with a performance in Yokohama on the 6th with approximately 5,000 guests for two and a half hours.

Ahn Jae Wook will continue on for ten days, performing in Sapporo on the 24th, Gokura on the 26th, and Nagoya on the 28th.

He opened singing various hit songs from dramas he starred in from an album that was only released in Japan, "My Life is..."

After taking out a piece of paper and reading the Japanese, the fans enjoyed his not so perfect Japanese and applauded for him. Fans from the 30s to 50s from Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other countries throughout Asia welcomed Ahn Jae Wook.

Ahn Jae Wook said, "During the performance last time in Tokyo and Osaka, I said I would go anywhere if people called for me and the first answering to such calls is Yokohama."

The show ended with his hit song 'Friend' and came out again for an encore performance of 'Always by your side' and 'Forever.'

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AHN JAE WOOK
Birthday: September 12th, 1971
Height: 176cm (5ft 9.5in)
Weight: 65kg (143 lb)
Education: Seoul Arts University
TV Series: I Love You (MBC, 2007), Mr. Goodbye (KBS, 2006), Oh! Pil Seung and Bong Soon Young (KBS, 2004), Heaven's Match (MBC, 2004), Fairy & Swindler (SBS, 2003), Goodbye My Love (MBC, 1999), Sunflower (MBC, 1998), Star in my Heart (MBC, 1997), ....
Movies: Garden of Heaven (2003), Tie a Yellow Ribbon (1998), First Kiss (1998), Rub Love (1998)

Ahn Jae Wook and Seo Ji Hye (Over the Rainbow) will star in MBC drama "I Love You", the director is Lee Chang Han of 1997 drama "Star in My Heart" (aka "Wish Upon a Star") which turned Ahn Jae Wook into a superstar.



(pictures from mydaily, innolife)

[bag.lover]

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(source: KBS GLOBAL 2007-06-25)
Rain to Star in Special CNN Ad



Korean singer Rain will be the main model for a special advertisement on the world's biggest news channel CNN.

This special type of ad that restrains the sending of commercial messages has appealed more to customers and has actively been used by public US corporations in recent days.

The Korea Tourism Organization has been airing an ad utilizing its slogan 'Korea Sparkling!' with Rain as the model since April to 17 countries worldwide. The ad's visual is considered to promote Korea's energy and softness. A CNN official, after watching the ad, proposed that the tourism organization produce another ad in a different style, which is how the latest deal came about.

KNTO director Cha So-hee says the new ad has been made exclusively for CNN and is expected to significantly promote Korean tourism during the months of July and August.

Singer Rain has previously appeared on the CNN talk show 'Talk Asia' and also made it on the world's top 100 influential people list by Time magazine in 2006.

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[bag.lover]

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(source: CHOSUN 6-25-2007)
'Lost' Star Still Looking for Love

"We immigrated to the U.S. when I was 10, and my parents sold things from a trailer. We lived in it, too. These days stars ride and move in trailers. They rest, do their makeup and change their clothes in them. So when I got my first trailer, even though I was supposed to be happy, it reminded me of my past."

Kim Yun-jin, the star of the smash U.S. hit TV show "Lost", was in Korea in time for the release of her book, "The World is Your Drama", and to work on the upcoming movie "Seven Days." When the Chosun Ilbo met her for an interview at KOFIC Namyangju Studios in Gyeonggi Province, she kicked off the talk by asking, "What's it like to see me in person?"



Do you have any complexes about your appearance?
"I seem to have found a few after I arrived in Korea. The standards of beauty are a little different. My nose should be a little smaller and sharper, but it's round. Some people have suggested plastic surgery, but I'm already known as how I look and it'd be weird if I changed my appearance now. I may not be perfect but I have my own charms, too."

And what are your charms?
"I have no prejudices. Whoever I meet, whether he's old or young, whether he's of high status or low, I can communicate with him for a few hours. I'm open. I consider myself attractive on these points."

Some of the characters on "Lost" have been dying off and disappearing, haven't they?
"I'm still alive. But I'm not sure how long I'll survive. I go back to America in August to film season four. Because my character is so kind, suffering and feminine, American viewers have a lot of compassion for me."

In the first "Lost" advertising poster, the white actors were placed in the front and the actors of other races in the back row, right?
"I was so shocked, I couldn't speak. I worked in Korea for about six years without being aware of the color of my skin, but I was stunned when it suddenly happened. After that, I object to whatever I feel is discrimination. If I accept it, there will be no change. When I speak out, the other side might think, 'I never thought about it that way,' and be more careful."

When you film movies or TV in Korea, are you that outspoken with your directors?
"In Korea I want to say that I'm done for the day after shooting for 12 hours, but it's not easy. It's strange that I act more Korean when I'm in Korea. My actions and feelings seem to change according to the language I speak."

Which situation is more comfortable?
"In America it's less tiring and there are fewer problems, because they work within personal boundaries. In Korea you have to cross those boundaries and become friends to work together. When I show them my weak points, drink and show them I can look bad, they say I'm friendly. That's how relationships become deeper. In America there are boundaries for your job and my job, and they respect each other. They don't cross those lines."

What is attractive about acting?
"It's that it gets harder as time goes on. It's like a question you can never solve. It's very hard and yet appealing. It's because you have to express other people. I have to read a lot of books and experience a lot indirectly. I think good acting comes from a good head. I can act various roles and express various emotions only when I'm ready and willing to change."

Money and fame follow from Hollywood. Do you earn a lot now?
"I earn a lot. I get US$100,000 per episode, and we shoot 24 episodes a year. 'Lost' is televised to 210 countries around the world."

They say you can't make yourself fall in love. How many times have you been in love?
"When I fall in love, I love him for a long time. So I haven't met a lot of people. But of course I've been in love."

If you were to love an actor you worked with in Korea, who would you choose?
"Choi Min-sik is kind and very friendly. He drinks a lot, too. Seol Kyung-goo is manly and strong. And he is warm. Han Suk-kyu is warm and also reasonable. If there is a man who is a combination of those three, I might give him a try, but not one of them individually (laughs)."

- Copyrights ⓒ 2007 The Chosun Ilbo& Digital Chosun Ilbo
All rights reserved –

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[bag.lover]

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(source: BROasia 2007-06-25)
'Pretty Tomboy' Yoon Eun Hye's Coffee Romance



The poster of the upcoming MBC miniseries 'Coffee Prince Shop No. 1' was revealed on the 25th.

The poster features Yoon Eun Hye as a complete pretty tomboy, contrasting to her bright girl image from MBC's 'Princess Hours.'

The series starring Gong Yoo, Yoon Eun Hye, Lee Seong Gyun, Chae Jung Ahn and others will draw the dreams and love stories in the setting 'Coffee Prince Shop No. 1.' The series will be directed by Lee Yoon Jung who has become known for a realistic style.

The series will start airing on July 2nd.

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[bag.lover]

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(source: CHOSUN 6/26/2006)
Ko So-yong: Never Out of the Public Eye



As an entertainment reporter, I am often asked: “Who is the most beautiful in the flesh?” Even in the world of entertainment, where a fresh drop-dead gorgeous face is making her debut every five minutes, the actress Ko So-young is perhaps the most beautiful.

Making her comeback after a nine-year break, Ko stars as the angelically innocent Eun-soo, who suffers a breakup with her boyfriend due to opposition from their parents, in the SBS drama "Blue Fish.”

Ko has a unique image and atmosphere. She looks confident, beautiful, luxurious and trendy. However, she has turned down several offers of drama parts, including the lead in a soap titled “Bad Love”, in which she was to star opposite K-pop superstar Rain. Against this background of refusal, many were on tenterhooks right until the night of the first show wondering whether Ko would really be in it.

But she was, and her character was the polar opposite of the parts she used to play. But the result was a crushing defeat. The viewer ratings hovered around 6 percent and did not get better. Critics blamed the worldly Ko's casting as a monotonous innocent for the failure. Audiences no longer warm to innocents, so it seemed Ko made the wrong choice.

She was offered the lead in “200 Pound Beauty” and instead plumbed for “Go Go Sister.” Unfortunately, “Beauty” was the surprise smash hit of the year, attracting 6.8 million moviegoers, while “Sister” barely lasted two weeks in the theaters.

That wasn’t the end of her unlucky streak. There has also been unkind speculation following news that she owns an under-construction building valued at W10 billion (US$1=W938) in glitzy Cheongdam-dong in southern Seoul. Ko reportedly came under a tax probe at the end of March.

The land she owns costs W160 million or so per square meter. She now has a building constructed -- six stories above ground and two below -- on a 445.2 sq.m site. According to a real estate expert, the land may be worth at least W6 billion and the cost of construction may amount to more than W1.5 billion. Some experts predict it will fetch W10 billion once complete since there are few tall buildings around the site.

Ko bought the land on May 24, 2005. Real estate experts say she may have made a 30 percent profit because cost of land has much increased compared to two years ago. A real estate expert hinted, “Ko seems to aim at putting the building to lease.” The question people have been asking is how she earned such a huge amount of money without appearing in dramas or movies since 2002.

But those close to her say she has kept making lucrative commercials for brands like THEFACESHOP, Hillstate apartments and Giordano. Considering that stars with similar name value get more than W500 million for shooting a commercial, it is not surprising that she should own such an expensive building.

One person close to Ko says she suffered various rumors regarding her long-period break and ownership of the building, but actually the building and site did not cost nearly as much 10 billion. “The cost of land amounts to W5-6 billion. It seems that the value of building has been inflated because she is a celebrity.”

Ko brought defamation charges against 35 netizens with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, accusing them of spreading false rumors about her private life through Internet message boards, cafes and blogs. Her legal representative, DeRyook International Law Firm, said, "Some netizens have spread lies in cyberspace for several years saying that Ko is personally close to a particular person she has never met."

"As an unmarried woman and a public entertainer, I felt shock and shame, but I refrained from direct response and instead asked the portal sites to delete the comments, hoping that the rumors would naturally be revealed to be false," Ko says. "But every time I was the subject of discussion, these lies were deliberately repeated and spread off-line. I have no choice but to sue the writers.” Despite that, the public is bound to keep watching.

This story has been contributed by Yoo A-jeong from SportChosun.
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