800 Asian fans gather at Eric’s concert in Singapore for ‘Beautiful Spy'

• KBS’s new Monday and Tuesday drama “Beautiful Spy" (directed by Hwang In Hyuk, written by Kim Eun Young and Kim Jeong Ah), which will begin airing on July 11, disclosed stills taken on the overseas location in Singapore. 
  

KARA bags triple platinum, Big Bang scores gold in Japan

By JONATHAN M. HICAP

MANILA, Philippines - K-pop groups KARA, Big Bang and Girls Generation continued their rise in the Japanese music market.

The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) released its latest certifications for May on mobile phone and PC downloads showing KARA achieving two feats.   

SHINee's Jonghyun, Shin Se Kyung end relationship

By JONATHAN M. HICAP 
Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines - K-pop boy band SHINee’s lead vocalist Jonghyun and actress Shin Se Kyung have ended their eight-month relationship because of their demanding schedule.
Shin’s agency was quoted as saying that the Jonghyun and Se Kyung’s busy schedule prevented them from seeing each other regularly that led to their breakup although they decided to remain friends, according to Korean media.

Promo Video: SHINee JAPAN DEBUT PREMIUM RECEPTION in LONDON

MESSAGE FROM SHINee: 

We are SHINee :)

We will finally debut in Japan on June 22nd and will get to meet more fans in Japan!
What a good news! right?

Popularity of Actor Kong Yoo’s Japanese Magazine ‘Monster’ Rises

The magazine contains various episodes and information about Kong Yoo (or Gong Yoo) such as his movies, TV commercials, stories happening during his poster shoots, travels, favorite music, books, hobbies, and his friends. A person from the publishing company of “Monster” said, “As the magazine contains various well-written content, the number of readers has been increasing thanks to word-of-mouth among Japanese fans. As readers are very much satisfied with the magazine, it is expected to have increased sales in the future.”

BEAST ends album promotions with a clean sweep of awards

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”.

K-pop overtakes dramas as main purveyor of the Korean wave

JONATHAN M. HICAP
Manila Bulletin 

MANILA, Philippines -- A decade ago, Korean dramas were the main driver of hallyu, or the Korean wave, with such hits “Winter Sonata,” “Jewel in the Palace,” “My Name is Kim Sam Soon” and “Coffee Prince."

But with the explosion of the internet and social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter in the past few years, Korean pop music, or K-pop, has overtaken Korean dramas to become the  top purveyor of the Korean wave worldwide.

'Korea’s Got Talent' contestant becomes toast of media, YouTube sensation

JONATHAN M. HICAP
Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines – The 22-year-old male contestant on reality TV show “Korea’s Got Talent,” who was laughed at by the audience for being a manual laborer, has been hailed by world media as the next Susan Boyle with his audition video on YouTube getting 6.2 million views.

Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines offers Culture Classes

Good news for Filipinos who want to learn Korean culture. The Korean Cultural Center (KCC) in the Philippines is offering KCC Culture Classes. Registration will be until July 5 and classes will start on July 9. 

MCA Music makes June 25 “GG REVOLUTION” Day in the Philippines

Known for having such massive following from the K-Pop community, boasting-off back-to-back hit singles and top-selling albums, MCA Music’s Girls Generation will unleash two of its highly sought-after albums: “Hoot” mini album and “Mr. Taxi-Run Devil Run” single album during the much-awaited grand launch event titled “GG Revolution!”