Top 10 highest-grossing films in Korea in 2013

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin

The numbers are in and local films dominated the box office in South Korea in 2013.

Korean films captured nine of the top 10 highest-grossing films of the year, based on figures from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).

Park Shin Hye, Ryu Seung-ryong and Kal So-won in the top top-grossing film ‘Miracle in Cell No. 7′ (Photos by the film’s official Facebook page)

"Boys Before Friends" - 30 Mins Behind the Scenes

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SNSD's Sooyoung and actor Jung Kyung Ho dating

Winners at the 2013 SBS Drama Awards

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin

Actress Lee Bo Young bagged the Daesang, or Grand Prize, at the 2013 SBS Drama Awards for her role in the hit drama “I Hear Your Voice.”

The awards recognized stars who appeared on SBS projects for the year.

Besides winning the Daesang, Lee Bo Young also took home the Producers’ Award and Top 10 Stars Award.

2013 SBS Drama Awards winners (from top left) Lee Bo Young, Jo In-sung, Lee Min Ho, Park Shin Hye, Lee Jong Suk and Kang Min-hyuk (Photos by www.newsen.com and SBS)

2NE1 to hold world tour in Manila in May

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin

K-pop girl group 2NE1, composed of CL, Park Bom, Sandara Park and Minzy, will be launching their second world tour next year and the Philippines is one of the stops.

YG Entertainment, 2NE1′s agency, announced that the girls will start their 2014 World Tour in March.

Google’s most searched K-pop groups, Korean personalities in the Philippines

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin

Boy band EXO and SHINee’s Choi Minho became the most searched K-pop group and Korean personality in the Philippines in 2013, respectively.

Google Philippines released its annual year-end Zeitgeist, a collection of the top search queries by Filipinos on google.com.ph.

(Clockwise from top left) SHINee's Minho, EXO, Jang Geun Suk, Girls' Generation, Yoo In Na and SHINee. (Photos courtesy of www.newsen.com and EXO's Facebook page)

Billboard names top 10 K-pop songs of 2013

Billboard magazine announced its 2013 Year-End Charts list, which includes the year’s top artists and songs.

For the K-pop Hot 100 chart, Billboard chose SISTAR19′s “Gone Not Around Any Longer” as the No. 1 K-pop song of 2013.

Gwiyomi craze, Psy top YouTube videos in the Philippines in 2013

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin

The Gwiyomi song, “Harlem Shake,” breaking news including the explosions at Boston Marathon, natural disasters including typhoon “Yolanda” and silly memes defined the viewing experience on YouTube in the Philippines for 2013.

The viewing experience on YouTube for 2013 in the Philippines was defined by (clockwise from top left) Gwiyomi craze, ‘Harlem Shake,’ Psy’s ‘Gentleman,’ Lee Grane on ‘The Voice of the Philippines,’ Ylvis’ ‘The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?)’ and typhoon ‘Yolanda’ (Screen capture by Bulletin Entertainment)

Sandara Park, brother Thunder raising money for ‘Yolanda’ victims

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin

2NE1′s Sandara Park and her brother, MBLAQ’s Thunder (also known as Cheondung), have launched an online campaign to raise money for people affected by Typhoon “Yolanda” in the Philippines.

Sandara Park and brother Thunder (Photo courtesy of Sandara’s Twitter account)

G-Dragon-Missy Elliott song picked as one of 2013′s best

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin

The G-Dragon-Missy Elliott collaboration song has been chosen as one of the 50 Best Songs of 2013.

Complex magazine has released its list and it includes songs by Jay-Z, Ariana Grande, Lil Wayne and Eminem.