Korea Observer

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin K-pop Girl group T-ara will make its first-ever visit to the Philippines for a concert, as they announced via their official Facebook page. The visit, which is tentatively scheduled around “June-July,” is part of their 2014 tour dubbed the “Kingdom Under Fire 2 Joint Concert.”

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin Korean actor Lee Byung Hun, 43, has been cast in the Hollywood film “Terminator: Genesis,” the fifth in the “Terminator” franchise. Lee Byung Hun (Photo by www.newsen.com)

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin 2PM’s Nichkhun, 25, and Girls’ Generation’s Tiffany, 24, are now officially a couple, with their respective management, JYP Entertainment and SM Entertainment, confirming the matter in a statement and asking fans for understanding and support. (Top) Nichkhun and Tiffany during the secret date in Gangnam last month; both were emcees at the Korean Wave Music in Bangkok in 2011 (Sports Seoul and MBC)

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin Korean boy band JYJ and other artists under C-JeS Entertainment have partnered with humanitarian organization World Vision to extend a helping hand to less affluent students of Leyte and Batangas in the Philippines.

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin Sarah Theresa Stewart, who is representing the City of Muntinlupa in the 2014 Miss Philippines Earth beauty pageant, is focusing on eco-tourism as advocacy. The 20-year-old lass appealed that tourism should not be merely about promoting beautiful sites, food and shopping.

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin Film director Joss Whedon took to YouTube to address Seoul residents with the principal shooting of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” kicking off on March 30. “We are going to mess it up a bit and inconvenience people for a few days and I apologize for that,” he said in a video post. “I know what’s that like. I live in Los Angeles and it happens to me all the time and it’s not fun. I hope that it will be worth it.” Robert Downey Jr. will play Iron Man in “Avengers 2,” part of which was filmed at Mapo Bridge in Seoul on March 30 (www.newsen.com)

Link to my original article on Manila Bulletin online:To contact the author, send email to sangchusan(at)gmail.com

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin K-pop quintet 4Minute notched their first TV music chart triumph since making their comeback with their new mini-album “4Minute World,” which contains five tracks including the lead single “Whatcha Doin’ Today.” The girl group performed the title track on SBS “Inkigayo” on March 30, competing with other artists including CNBLUE, Girls’ Generation, 2NE1, Orange Caramel, Boys Republic and JJCC. 4Minute showing their first comeback trophy (Twitter)

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin Asian pop star Rain, Big Bang’s G-Dragon and former Super Junior member Hangeng are among winners at the recently concluded QQ Music Awards, organized by China’s biggest music streaming site, QQ Music. The awards ceremony, held at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center in Shenzhen, China, drew popular artists from across Asia including Jay Chou, JJ Lin and Jolin Tsai. (Clockwise from top left) Rain, G-Dragon, Hangeng and Lyn (QQ Music and YG Entertainment)

A scandal is brewing at SM Entertainment but this time it's not one of its artists that is involved. The center of the controversy is none other than Lee Soo Man, the founder of SM Entertainment, the biggest entertainment company in South Korea. Lee Soo Man (www.newsen.com)