Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Big Bang releases "Alive" album, "Bad Boy" MV

K-pop boy band Big Bang released their fifth mini-album "Alive" last night and also the music video for the song "Bad Boy." 



Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Forbes Korea's Top 'Power Celebrity 40' ranking


By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines – K-pop group Girls Generation topped Forbes Korea’s “Power Celebrity 40” ranking for the second straight year.
The list is based on the celebrities’ income, influence and reputation.
Photos courtesy of www.newsen.com

Monday, February 27, 2012

Seoul Metropolitan Government picks 100 movie and drama locations

The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Film Commission have selected 100 places that are highly popular as movie and drama shooting locations, and published a book titled The Places in Seoul Cinema Fell in Love With. The book singles out and introduces 100 attractions that showcase the many faces of Seoul and presents rich images associated with them from among the numerous sites that feature frequently in Korean movies and dramas. 
Cover of the book


Sunday, February 26, 2012

[Korea.net]: K-Pop's official debut

2011 was an exciting year for K-Pop fans and the Korean music industry. In August, Billboard opened a new chart for K-Pop music, Billboard K-Pop Chart. Following the J-pop Chart, this is the second release of a country based music chart from Asia. And only a few months later, Google operated webcast provider YouTube launched its K-Pop Channel online. 

The news created a buzz among fans and industry experts alike as it was the first time that YouTube had created an exclusive channel for any one country. The main reason for the decision was based on the fact that there are over 5 million K-Pop related webcasts on YouTube, but only 600,000 of these can be found using the search word ‘K-Pop’. A separate K-Pop channel was in demand to facilitate the search for Korean music for K-Pop fans worldwide. 


Saturday, February 25, 2012

Korea donates soccer balls to Azkals

The KOREA Council of Sports for All and the Korea Sports Promotion, together with the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines, donated 100 soccer balls and 100 shirts last February 21 in the hopes of promoting Korea's major sports to the Filipinos. The formal turnover of donations was held at the Korean Cultural Center in Taguig. 

Photo courtesy of the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines

Block B's new apology: 'We never meant to hurt anyone'

By JONATHAN  HICAP, Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines – Boy band Block B issued another apology to Thailand for their actions during a TV interview that people interpreted as being insensitive to the recent flooding in the Southeast Asian country.
Block B became a victim of cyber-bullying

Friday, February 24, 2012

Nichkhun's controversial Thai TV commercial

Korean boy band 2PM member Nichkhun is getting the heat from Korean citizens because of a controversial Thai TV commercial that depicts the Rising Sun Flag, the military flag of Japan used during World War II. 


Nichkhun (center) performing on stage while the Rising Sun Flag is depicted on the LED screen at the back

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

RECIPE: Chapssalddeok (Korean-style mochi)

Here's another tempting recipe from Maangchi.com: Chapssalddeok (Korean-style mochi) 


According to Maangchi.com, "Chapssalddeok used to be called “mochi” among Koreans, but these days everybody calls this particular kind of rice cake “chapssalddeok.” The word mochi is a Japanese word that simply means “rice cake.”



Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Jenny Hyun blog claims songwriter was admitted to hospital, is schizophrenic

After Korean-American songwriter Jenny Hyun ranted and posted anti-black tweets, a post was uploaded on her blog, claiming that she was admitted to the hospital and she is a paranoid schizophrenic. 
Here's the post: 


Band Block B Apologizes For Insensitive Attitude About Thai Floods


By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines – Rookie boy band Block B learned a painful lesson about sensitivity following a public outrage against their behavior in a TV interview where they were accused of making fun of flood victims in Thailand and showing immature behavior.
Block B issued an apology on their official website for their behavior during the interview, with leader Zico shaving his head to show remorse.
Block B (Photo courtesy of www.newsen.com)

US-based Korean-American songwriter scored for racist tweets


By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines - A New York City-based Korean-American songwriter, who co-wrote one of the songs for Girls’ Generation’s “The Boys” album, is getting so much flack for tweeting comments against African-Americans/blacks.
Jenny Hyun, who was born and raised in the US, got criticized for her posts on Twitter that targeted blacks.
Jenny Hyun (Photos courtesy of www.onlinejenny.com)

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Charice, Wonder Girls nominated in Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2012


By JONATHAN M. HICAP, Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines - International star Charice and Korean group Wonder Girls bagged nominations in the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards 2012, both of whom are nominated in the Favorite Asian Act category along with singers Agnes Monica of Indonesia and Yuna of Malaysia.

Jay Park enters Billboard chart

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines – Jay Park's new album has entered two Billboard charts on the day he made his comeback on Korean TV.
Jay Park on KBS Music Bank (Photo courtesy of www.newsen.com)

Filipino Fans Celebrate TVXQ/JYJ with 9G: The Red Room Exhibit


MANILA, Philippines – Filipino fans belonging to Cassiopeia Philippines will celebrate the career and music of boy bands TVXQ/JYJ with the holding of their ninth gathering dubbed as “9G: The Red Room Exhibit.”
The event will be held on Feb. 25, from 12 noon to 10PM, at the Top Shelf of Fully Booked at Bonifacio High Street in Taguig City.
Cassiopeia Philippines, which was named as the 2011 Fanclub of the Year at the 3rd Philippine K-pop Awards last Dec. 30, has been in existence since 2006 to support and promote TVXQ and JYJ.
The “9G: The Red Room Exhibit” will be held on Feb. 25.
(Photos courtesy of Cassiopeia Philippines’ Facebook page)

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Hallyu Stars Boost Sales of Korean Cosmetics

By JONATHAN M. HICAP, Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines – Korean stars have not only helped in boosting the popularity of Korean music and dramas but have driven up the sales of Korean cosmetics.


SHINee for Etude House, Kim Hyun Joong for The Face Shop and
Song Joong Ki for Tony Moly (Photos by Jonathan Hicap)

Visit the new Korea.net website to read various stories about Korea

http://event.redcomm.co.kr:8080/event/index.jsp

Monday, February 13, 2012

K-Pop Stars Mourn Houston's Death

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines - As the world mourns the death of legendary diva Whitney Houston, K-pop stars also offered their condolences.
Whitney Houston (Photo courtesy of www.whitneyhouston.com)

3 Filipino Fan Sites Officially Recognized, Accredited By Cube Entertainment


By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines - Last month, Cube Entertainment, the agency of K-pop artists BEAST, 4Minute and G.NA, announced that it would appoint official fan sites in various countries “in order for all Cube artists to build a strong global fan community, communication routes and faster local feedbacks.”

Sandara Park posts a mysterious photo taken in the Philippines


MANILA, Philippines – Was it a ghost?
Korean girl group 2NE1 spent five days in the Philippines last week for a vacation and photo shoot. Throughout their stay, Sandara Park kept 2NE1 fans updated by posting photos of their activities in Manila and Albay.
The two photos posted by Sandara Park on her me2day account

Musimix: Renowned Pinoy Band In South Korea


By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin 
SEOUL, South Korea – Every night, hundreds of visitors at the famous Lotte World theme park in Seoul gather at the Garden Stage to watch an all-Filipino band perform and sing Korean and English songs.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

[NEWS] Jay Park's 'New Breed' album cops No. 1 in charts


By JONATHAN M. HICAP, MANILA BULLETIN
MANILA, Philippines – K-pop artist Jay Park’s first studio album is a smash hit, zooming to the No. 1 position on iTunes charts in the US, Canada and Australia, and topping real-time charts in South Korea on the first day of its release.

[NEWS] 2 Korean dramas become finalists in 2012 New York Festivals Awards


By JONATHAN M. HICAP, MANILA BULLETIN
MANILA, Philippines – Korean dramas “Sungkyunkwan Scandal” and “The Greatest Love,” which aired in 2010 and 2011 respectively made it as finalists in the mini-series category of the 2012 New York Festivals International Television and Film Awards.

[NEWS] Sandara Park: 'Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat'


By JONATHAN M. HICAP, MANILA BULLETIN
MANILA, Philippines – Korean girl group 2NE1 left Manila for Seoul  on Feb. 5, bringing with them lots of fun memories from their vacation and photoshoot in Manila and Albay in the Bicol region.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Girls Generation makes debut on US TV (with vids)

By JONATHAN M. HICAP
MANILA, Philippines - Korean pop group Girls Generation made their successful debut TV performances on two popular talk shows in the US.
Girls Generation with Kelly Ripa (Photo courtesy of @livekelly on Twitter)

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