Korea Observer

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin Korean rapper Psy and boy band EXO bagged the most-prized trophies at the 28th Golden Disk Awards held on Jan. 16 at the Kyunghee University’s Grand Peace Palace. Psy took home the Digital Daesang, or Song of the Year, for “Gentleman,” his follow-up track to his viral hit “Gangnam Style.” (Clockwise from top left) Psy with SHINee’s Minho, EXO, BEAST, SHINee and Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon and Tiffany. (Photos courtesy of www.newsen.com, isplus.joins.com and No Cut News)

Following in the footsteps of his fellow group mates -- Lee Ki-gwang and Yoon Doo-joon -- Yong Jun-hyung will also be taking on a acting role in an upcoming new drama.

EXPO 2012 Yeosu will feature the Korean Wave Concert on June 9 in Yeosu, South Korea.  Performers at the concert are BEAST, Jay Park, BTOB and A-Pink. 

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - Rolling Stone website has picked 10 K-pop groups including 2NE1, Big Bang and Girls Generation that have the potential to break into the US music scene. The website noted that while K-pop artists BoA and Se7en failed in their American debuts in the past, "K-pop has garnered a strong following without the help of any major American backing." (Clockwise from top left) SHINee, BEAST, 2NE1 and SISTAR. (Photos by www. newsen . com )

Watch the entire MBC K-pop Concert held in Mountainview, California. 

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin   MANILA, Philippines — Boy band BEAST and solo artist IU are the top winners in the Korea Kids’ Choice Awards 2012 organized by Nickelodeon Korea. BEAST, Kim Soo Hyun, IU and Yoo Jae Suk (Photos from www.newsen.com)

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

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. 

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.”

By JONATHAN M. HICAP Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines - K-pop music has been enjoying huge popularity in the Philippines in the past few years. Since 2009, popular idol groups have visited the country including SHINee, Super Junior, 4Minute and BEAST.

By JONATHAN M. HICAP Manila Bulletin  MANILA, Philippines - Drama and K-pop stars came together at the Mnet’s 20’s Choice Awards held July 7 at the pool area of the Sheraton Walkerhill Hotel in Seoul.

By JONATHAN M. HICAP Manila Bulletin MANILA, Philippines – JYJ’s Micky Yoochun has been chosen as the best idol actor while boy band TVXQ was picked as having the most impressive performance by fellow Korean singers in a survey held recently.

By JONATHAN M. HICAP K-pop boy band BEAST concluded the promotions of their first studio album “Fiction and Fact” on a high note, topping music charts and sweeping awards on Korean TV music shows. The album was released online on May 17 and on the same week, the group began performing the title track “Fiction” on TV shows Mnet “M! Countdown”, KBS “Music Bank”, MBC “Music Core” and SBS “Inkigayo”.

From Manila Bulletin newspaper: By JONATHAN M. HICAP MANILA, Philippines (Feb. 14, 2011) — If Koreans were given a choice to pick celebrities they want to be their dates on Valentine’s Day, they would spend the red-letter day with Girls Generation (aka SNSD), Big Bang, actor Hyun Bin and actress Kim Tae Hee. [caption id="attachment_136" align="alignnone" width="402" caption="(Clockwise from the top) Girls Generation, Kim Tae Hee, Hyun Bin and Big Bang. (Photos courtesy of SM Entertainment, SBS, MBC and YG Entertainment)"] [/caption]

You see it on Korean dramas and films. In the hit Korean drama series "Jewel in the Palace", the hanbok, Korea's traditional dress, gained prominence as it was a period drama. Hanbok is South Korea's traditional dress that is worn in many occasions especially when Koreans celebrate Chuesok, or harvest festival, and Seollal, or Lunar New Year.