Korea Observer

Junsu of JYJ narrated the documentary “The Zoo Is Alive” on a show that aired Monday night. This is the first time that the singer has narrated an MBC documentary program.

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - Chinese star Hangeng, former member of K-pop boy band Super Junior, won the Favorite Asian Act award at Nickelodeon's 26th Kids' Choice Awards. Fans chose Hangeng over Korean rapper Psy, the Philippines' Sarah Geronimo and Malaysia's Shila Amzah for the award. Photo courtesy of Nickkids on Weibo

JYP Entertainment unveiled today 2PM's comeback trailer.

KOREA [2013 VOL.9 No.3] by Republic of Korea

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - When K-pop boy band 2PM arrived in Manila last March 1, they revealed that their new Korean album will be released soon. JYP Entertainment, 2PM's agency, has announced 2PM's comeback after two years since the release of the group's last Korean album "Hands Up" in 2011.

The Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines and the Korea Tourism Organization Manila Office will be awarding an all-expense paid trip to Korea for the winner of the upcoming 2013 Korean Speech Contest on April 27.

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - A TV host is under investigation by Korean authorities for illegal sports gambling. Kim Yong Man, 46, who emcees five TV programs, appeared before authorities this week to answer the charges. Photo by www.newsen.com

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - The movie "Miracle In Cell No. 7," which stars Ryoo Seung-ryong, Park Shin Hye and child actress Gal So-won, sold 12,320,000 tickets to become the third most viewed Korean film of all time. According to the Korean Film Council, "Miracle In Cell No. 7" achieved the feat last March 15 and surpassed the movie "Masquerade," which has 12,319,542 in admissions.

Watch this and be amazed

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - K-pop group 2NE1 will be included in the new album of The Black Eyed Peas' frontman Will.I.Am. Will.I.Am will be releasing his fourth studio album "#willpower" in the US on  April 23 and it includes some of the biggest names in music. 2NE1 with Will.I.AM (Photo by YG Entertainment)

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA,  Philippines - Korean star Park Shin Hye held her first fan meeting in Manila last March 16 and surprised everyone when she sang the Filipino song "Kailan" by MYMP. The popular actress sang, danced and played games with fans as she kicked off her six-country Kiss of Angel Asia Tour in the Philippines.

Computer networks of the nation's key broadcasters and banks were completely paralyzed Wednesday in what appeared to be a cyber attack, police said.   

Seoul has announced the winners of its Facebook contest  Seoul Campaign (Seoul, My ______). "The winners of the Seoul trip, LG Tapbooks, LifeGrams were selected by the sum of Shares and Likes. The winners of the Photobooks were selected at random," according to Seoul's Facebook page.  It added, " If you find your name on the list below, please send a message with your full name, phone number, and address to HiSeoul Facebook.  Winners can be cancelled if you don't send your personal information for prize delivery and shipping  by March 27th."

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - K-pop singer Se7en will be temporarily leaving the entertainment industry and his fans as he will be enlisting in the Korean military today, March 19. Photos by www.newsen.com

When foreign fans type in “Psy” on major search engines, the results rarely include the Korean singer’s official homepage. The reason lies in a technical problem with Korean websites. According to industry sources, many Korean websites, including Psy’s homepage, have taken steps that block tracking and indexing by foreign search engines and portals. In detail, such websites usually insert a code like “robots.txt” to keep outside parties from indexing the details of their pages.

The KBS drama, “School 2013,” received an appreciation plaque from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education for raising awareness on violence in classrooms and exposing the school system’s overemphasis on academic achievements. 

Last March 13, I received an email from the Seoul Metropolitan Government informing me that I have been chosen as one of the Exemplary Global Seoul Mates of 2012.

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines--Popular Korean actress Park Shin Hye looked beautiful, radiant and elegant as she entered the Ruby Room inside the Manila Diamond Hotel at the presscon for her Asia Tour "Kiss of Angel in Manila" fan meeting scheduled on March 16 at the Aliw Theater. Award-winning Korean actress Park Shin Hye answers questions at her presscon.  Kring Elizano emceed the event. (Photos by Jonathan Hicap)

Will.i.am & 2NE1's 'Take The World On' English Collab Revealed | Billboard Link to my original article on Manila Bulletin online:Email me at sangchusan(at)gmail.com

Young Pinoy fans throw a rousing welcome  in the K-pop boy band’s first Manila concert By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin When Korean agency JYP Entertainment announced last January that boy band 2PM would be holding its first-ever concert in Manila, Filipino fans were thrilled that their dream to finally see the boys in person would soon come true. My 2PM article in the Manila Bulletin, March 13, 2013

The cold winds and freezing temperatures of winter have passed and spring is drawing near. In Korea, spring temperatures range from 5? to 20?, and the return of warm weather brings wild flowers to bloom all over the country. As the weather improves, so do people's spirits, and springtime festivals are held throughout the country. There are plenty of opportunities to enjoy the good weather by participating in Korea's flower, food, and culture festivals. 

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - Can Psy produce another global hit like "Gangnam Style?" The Korean rapper will release his follow-up song to "Gangnam Style" on April 12, a day before he holds a concert in Seoul, South Korea. Psy performing at the Future Music Festival in Australia (Photos courtesy of Future Music Festival's Facebook page)

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - Korean boy band MBLAQ will visit the Philippines and hold a show this month. MBLAQ will headline the event "MBLAQ: First Contact: The Invasion Continues" that will be held on March 31 at the Aliw Theater. MBLAQ (Photo by www.newsen.com)

On March 11, 2011, a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 9 hit Japan that spawned a massive tsunami.  Almost 16,000 persons were killed in the earthquake and tsunami. 

There’s good news for people who struggle to spell Korean names correctly in English: The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Friday decided to standardize the Romanization of Korean names into “family name + given name” instead of the widely used “given name + family name” as written in Western countries. In an attempt to respect the Korean tradition of placing more value on family names, the government said the new guideline would affect all Korean names on government documents, websites and name cards of public officials. 

U-KISS has released the group's third full-length album "Collage" last March 7.  And may wish is that U-KISS will finally win a music TV chart award because the boys deserve it. 

BY JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - Top young Korean drama actor Yo Seung Ho, 20, secretly entered the Korean military on March 5, catching his fans by surprise. Yo Seung Ho enlisted at an army camp in Chuncheon in Gangwon province accompanied by his family and CEO of his agency. Fans only learned of his enlistment when he posted a message and video on his fan cafe. Photos by www.newsen.com

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - Boy band Super Junior and their company SM Entertainment dominated physical album sales in 2012. Rankings of album sales by company and artist were posted on Korean music chart site Instiz, which showed percentage sales top K-pop artists got last year. Clockwise from top left) Super Junior, Wooyoung and Big Bang (Photos by www.newsen.com)

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - Boy band Super Junior and their company SM Entertainment dominated physical album sales in 2012. Rankings of album sales by company and artist were posted on Korean music chart site Instiz, which showed percentage sales top K-pop artists got last year. Photos by www.newsen.com

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin Posted on Manila Bulletin Online on March 4, 2013 MANILA, Philippines - K-pop boy band 2PM lived up to their promise that they had something special prepared for Filipino fans at their concert last March 2 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin Posted on Manila Bulletin Online on March 2, 2013 MANILA, Philippines - It's been close to two years since boy band 2PM released their last Korean album in 2011 and they said they're currently working to finish a new album, telling fans to be prepared to be blown away.

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - Korean ballad group 2AM will be releasing their second studio Korean album today titled "One Spring Day." This will be the group's follow up album to "Saint o'Clock" released on October 2010. Photo by www.newsen.com

Korean ballad group 2AM released their new album today titled "One Spring Day." 

Boy Band 2PM On Career Plans, New Korean Album And 'Balut' | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online Email me at sangchusan(at)gmail.com

2PM's first concert in the Philippines was a blast. Here's the video of the finale: