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March 30, 2009
Police to summon journalists over suicide of actress
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, March 30 (Yonhap) -- Police investigating the suicide of late actress Jang Ja-yeon said Monday they will summon journalists to question them over a letter left behind by the actress that suggest she was forced to provide sexual favors by her former agent.
Jang, 30, hanged herself at her house in Bundang south of Seoul on March 7. The case took an unexpected turn a few days later when the contents of the lengthy letter Jang is believed to have written was made public by local broadcaster KBS. In the letter, Jang said her former agent had forced her to provide sexual favors to several high-powered entertainment figures and journalists, bringing to surface widespread rumors of abuse of young and emerging actresses.
Police launched an investigation several days after the contents of the letter was broadcast. KBS has refused to disclose how it got hold of the letter. The five journalists facing questioning said they may reject the summons, accusing the investigators of trying to "take advantage" of the press.
" Police launched the probe only after our report was aired. They tried so hard to turn it into a simple suicide case," a KBS reporter said, requesting anonymity. "Now they want to question us, when they should really be focusing on those who are accused of pressuring Jang to provide sexual favors."
Two KBS journalists have been sued for defamation by Jang's family, who were reluctant to reveal the actress' story. Police said they will also summon Jang's former manager Yoo Jang-ho and several people listed in Jang's letter this week for questioning. They are currently looking into Jang's e-mails and phone call records for more evidence.
It is not the first time suspicions over the abuse of female actresses have been raised in South Korea's local entertainment industry. In January, cloning of top actress Jeon Ji-hyeon's mobile phone by her agent triggered renewed debate on the boundaries between an entertainer's right to privacy and commercial interests.
Credits: [email protected]
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/ ... 0330002100315F.HTML |
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March 30, 2009
Will Pandora抯 Box Be Opened?
Summons Imminent for Figures Linked to Actress Jang's Suicide
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Seen is one of nine upscale bars in southern Seoul where the late actress Jang Ja-yeon
was allegedly forced to entertain or provide sex services to showbiz VIPs in exchange
for raising her media exposure/ Korea Times Photo by Hong In-gi
Police will start summoning journalists, corporate executives and other key figures suspected of involvement in allegations of sexual abuse surrounding actress Jang Ja-yeon's suicide this week.
The Bundang Police Office said Monday they have confirmed the identities of the figures allegedly "entertained" by the late actress, and have traced her former agency head's credit card spending to verify where and when they were entertained. The former agency boss, identified as Kim, 40, is now hiding in Japan.
"We identified nine upscale membership bars in southern Seoul after questioning dozens of witnesses and colleagues of the late Jang, including some actresses,'' said Lee Myung-kyun, chief investigator at Gyeonggi Provincial Policy Agency. "Those who were in the same (bars) with the late actress and Kim will be questioned."
Police have also secured computer files containing Kim's dinner and golf outing schedules between January 2006 and September 2008. According to sources, among the figures to be called in for questioning are Kim, a media firm CEO, an IT firm president, and the chairman of a large financial institute, all allegedly listed in a seven-page suicide note Jang left behind, suggesting she was forced to provide sexual services by her agency boss.
A newspaper chief, two drama producers, and two other entertainment agency heads are also to be questioned, the sources said. To pressure Kim to return to Seoul, police will ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to invalidate his passport, and cooperate with Japanese police to apprehend him.
In the meantime, a journalist was summoned to be questioned over the leak of the suicide note, which Jang's former manager, Yoo Jang-ho, claimed he completely burned in front of her family right after her funeral service. Some of its contents were leaked to the media days after the service. Two KBS reporters who exclusively reported on the affair are to be questioned. The bereaved family has sued the reporters and others for defamation. KBS has refused to disclose how it acquired the letter.
Police are also looking into Jang's e-mail and phone call records for more evidence.
Jang, 30, hanged herself at her home in Bundang on March 7. The case took an unexpected turn a few days later when the content of the lengthy letter Jang is believed to have written was made public by KBS.
Credits: pss@koreatimes.co.kr |
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March 30, 2009
Jang suicide probe extended to bars
The investigation into the death of actress Jang Ja-yeon will be gaining momentum this week as the police pursue traces of the drinking parties where she claimed to have been forced to attend.
The Bundang Police Station yesterday went through the credit card records of Kim Sung-hun, former agency representative of Jang who committed suicide in her house on March 7, said police officials.
Through the hand-written notes that were revealed by her former manager Yoo Jang-ho and the media, Jang confessed that her agency forced her to meet with influential figures at drinking parties and have sex with some of them. "The telecommunication data analysis showed that some among those listed in her notes have actually met with Kim in the past," said a police official during a briefing.
The police acquired the sales records of seven bars in Gangnam which were pointed out to be the location of secret drinking parties allegedly attended by Jang and the suspected sexual abusers. They also seized and searched through the accounting firm representing Kim in order to look into the past uses of his company credit card, said officials. "After we confirm that Kim's credit card records match those of the contended bars, we will also check whether the people mentioned in Jang's letters were present in the places at the time of the parties," said a police official.
The people that Jang accused in her notes, most of them known to be major figures in the media and the entertainment business, will then be summoned for questioning, he said. The police yesterday requested the Foreign Ministry to invalidate Kim's visa to prevent him from fleeing overseas, said police officials.
Kim, though he said earlier in a media interview that he had no reason to hide from false accusations, has so far failed to show up for police questioning. The police yesterday also summoned and questioned a newspaper reporter who was shown Jang's letters by Yoo the day after her death.
They will also bring in, during the week, four other witnesses to whom Yoo allegedly showed the documents before resummoning him for further questioning.
By Bae Hyun-jung ([email protected])
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEW ... 31/200903310033.asp |
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March 21, 2009
Lee Jae Jin
Lee Jae-jin, a member of the now-disbanded 90s K-pop idol group Sechskies has reportedly gone missing since leaving his military base two weeks ago. According to an official at the army base where Lee was serving, the former singer抯 whereabouts have yet to be confirmed, and officials at the base are extremely concerned about his safety. The official said military personnel are doing to their best to track down the location of the 30 year-old former idol star.
Lee left the base on March 2nd for treatment for an unspecified illness. Lee was supposed to report back to the base on March 6th, but has made no reported contact with anyone since his departure. Lee抯 younger sister Eun-joo , an aspiring K-pop artist, along with his friends and family are frantically trying to locate him.
Lee went through a personal tragedy when his mother passed away from liver cirrhosis in May, 2008, just three months before he entered the military. Two years before his mother抯 death, Lee lost his father to pancreatic cancer. His younger sister is the only immediate family he has left.
According to witnesses, Lee suffered severe depression following his entry to the army and was receiving psychiatric treatment during his service.
Lee Jae-jin was born July 18, 1979, and made his debut in 1997 as the rapper and choreographer of Sechskies, a six-member boy group which became one of the most idolized K-pop groups of the 90s along with H.O.T. Along with member Kim Jae-duc, he created the dances for all of the group抯 music videos. After the group disbanded, Lee Jae-jin went solo, releasing a total of three solo albums to date.
Source: KBS World |
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March 30, 2009
Park Jin-young Announces Divorce After 10 Years of Marriage
Park Jin-young
Park Jin-young, 37, Korea's top singer and producer, said Friday that he is ending his marriage to his wife of 10 years. Park announced the decision on his JYP Entertainment website, saying "I have spent the most precious and beautiful time of my life with my first love whom I first met 16 years ago. But we have grown distant in recent years."
"When we were 20 years old, we had much in common. But we have grown in different directions over time and now realize that we have little in common. After several years of agony, we have decided to divorce," he said.
Marrying in 1999, Park made many people envious at the time by saying, "I'm so happy to marry my first love."
However, after the marriage, there were incessant rumors of their impending separation, which grew recently into rumors of divorce. Since 2002, in particular, Park has spent most of his time in the U.S. trying to produce young talented singers in the U.S. market, which is viewed as a factor in the couple becoming further estranged.
Credits: englishnews@chosun.com |
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NEWS INDEX page 98
March 30, 2009: Weekly Box Office 2009.03.27 ~ 2009.03.29
March 30: Lee Byung Hun Draws Crowds of Fans in Japan
March 31: Award-winning Korean director draws attention with vampire film
March 31: 4,000 Lee Jun-ki Tickets Sold Out in 2 Minutes
March 31: Park Chan-wook Explores Self, Dream in 'Thirst'
March 31: TV drama ends amid lingering popularity, controversy / BOF
March 31: Singers Cross Into Acting
April 1: Actress Lee Hye-young Adds Another String to Her Professional Bow
April 1: Witty, unique yet knotty, 'My House' aims at a new film genre
March 30: TVXQ Concert to Be Aired in Japan
March 31: Yun-ha抯 Japanese Film to Be Released
April 1: Japanese Impressed by Bae Yong-joon Advert
April 1: Court Rules TVXQ Album Not Harmful to Youth
[ Last edited by katt at 1-4-2009 19:47 ] |
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 Weekly Box Office 2009.03.27 ~ 2009.03.29 3-day Gross/Total Gross (won)
1. Slumdog Millionaire (U.S.) 1,203,412,000 / 3,655,287,500
2. Push (U.S.) 874,492,500 / 3,627,897,000
3. The Reader (U.K.) 706,961,500 / 935,643,000
4. Missing (South Korea) 689,398,000 / 3,031,130,500
5. Confessions of a Shopaholic (U.S.) 665,995,000 / 845,103,500
6. Chaos (U.S.) 525,745,500 / 632,313,500
7. Echelon Conspiracy (U.S.) 451,057,500 / 548,999,500
8. A Sad Story Than Sadness (South Korea) 360,797,500 / 4,335,059,500
9. Old Partner (South Korea) 147,833,000 / 18,614,611,900
10. Gran Torino (U.S.) 116,931,000 / 680,506,500
Source: KOFIC |
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March 30, 2009
Lee Byung Hun Draws Crowds of Fans in Japan
Image from sakigake.jp
Actor Lee Byung-hun has been visited by more than 2,000 Japanese fans nearly every day during his stay in Akita Prefecture, Japan to shoot his new drama "IRIS," his agency BH Entertainment said.
揥e kept the shooting locations secret, so only some key staff knew about them. It was surprising how the Japanese fans found out where the shooting was taking place, and as many as approximately 2,500 fans came to a shooting site to see Lee every day, |
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March 31, 2009
Award-winning Korean director draws attention with vampire film
By Lee Youkyung
SEOUL, March 31 (Yonhap) -- When South Korean award-winning movie director Park Chan-wook confided his idea of creating a vampire film in 1999 to actor Song Kang-ho, it was over breakfast after the two finished shooting scenes in a field of reed for 揓oint Security Area. |
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March 31, 2009
4,000 Lee Jun-ki Tickets Sold Out in 2 Minutes
Actor Lee Jun-ki has seen the first portion of tickets for his fan meeting--scheduled to be held at the Olympic Park in Seoul on April 18--sold out in only two minutes after sales opened, according to his agency Mentor Entertainment on Friday.
揥e first put some 4,000 of a total of 8,000 tickets up for sale on his fan cafes and official foreign-language site exclusively for members of his fan clubs and overseas fans, and they were sold out in just two minutes, |
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March 31, 2009
Park Chan-wook Explores Self, Dream in 'Thirst'
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
From left, actors Song Kang-ho, Kim Ok-vin and director Park Chan-wook
appear at a promotional event in Seoul, Tuesday, for the vampire movie 揟hirst. |
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March 31, 2009
Yonhap Feature
TV drama ends amid lingering popularity, controversy
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, March 31 (Yonhap) -- Some loved it, some despised it. But no one will deny KBS TV drama "Boys over Flowers" became an unprecedented phenomenon in South Korea's television industry.
Since its first episode aired on Jan. 5, the series found itself at the center of a storm of rumors and controversy: one of its actresses committed suicide, all four main actors were injured in car accidents while rushing through a tight schedule and the show received several warnings from the media watchdog for excessive product placement and vulgar depiction of teenagers. To top it off, the series was repeatedly and harshly criticized for its "unrealistic and silly" plot.
But fans stuck with the 25-part series, which recorded an average 30 percent viewer rating at home and was sold to 11 Asian countries including Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. "We could do better if we were to make the drama all over again," said Bae Jong-byung, the drama's planning director, in a recent interview. "But we are quite satisfied with what we achieved the first time. We managed to create a brand new type of drama."
"Boys |
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March 31, 2009
Singers Cross Into Acting
By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter
Wonder Girls |
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April 1, 2009
Actress Lee Hye-young Adds Another String to Her Professional Bow
Lee Hye-young /Courtesy of Sallim Publishing Company
Lee Hye-young, whose versatile talent spans acting, television hosting, and running her own fashion brand, published "Lee Hye-young's Beauty Bible" on Mar. 23. She is a fashion icon in Korea, becoming a successful fashion brand CEO and the longest-running host of the "Style Magazine" show on cable channel OnStyle.
Lee worked hard on her first book. She was involved from the very first phase of planning it, and spent more than a year on research and writing. She writes about her fashion principles as well as secrets of her beauty, advising on how to enjoy a bold challenge instead of being afraid of it and how to balance being cute and sexy. "If you make yourself a bit busier, you can upgrade the look of your body, face and hair without spending too much money on it," said Lee.
"This book contains the know-how I have gained through countless mistakes and trials. I chose the word 'Bible' because this book includes everything about beauty. I like myself now more than when I was in my twenties, and I feel more confident about myself than ever. I hope this book can be a good companion to women who dream of being beautiful," she added.
Credits: englishnews@chosun.com |
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April 1, 2009
Movie Review
Witty, unique yet knotty, 'My House' aims at a new film genre
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, April 1 (Yonhap) -- Despite its passive nuance, loving in vain isn't always about waiting, crying and begging. Some people choose to be much more aggressive -- enough to abandon their own home, invade someone else's and lock its owner inside.
It would be fair to say "What Brings You to My House?" (Urijibe wae watni) is a strange movie: both in terms of its subject matter and its structure.
The film opens on a comical note with two complete strangers -- a homeless girl and a man whose suicide attempts are a chronic failure -- sharing a room together. But it slowly delves into the very meaning of love and wrenches tears from its audience by the time the credits roll.
Su-gang (Kang Hye-jeong) is a homeless 20-something who abandons her house in the countryside and comes to Seoul in search of her first love, who is desperate to forget her. Hoping to get a better window-view of her love's room, Su-gang barges into the house of Byeong-hee (Park Hee-soon), saving him just in time as he is about to hang himself, and detains him.
With his own heart battered by the death of his wife and growing suspicions that she was unfaithful, Byeong-hee feels bizarrely comforted by Su-gang's presence -- despite her unbearable body odor -- and warms to the idea of being her prisoner. As the camera follows the unlikely couple's subtle movements and expressions, the queerness of the situation becomes less stark and it becomes easier to relate to these characters' painful emotions.
While sharing their stories, Su-gang and Byeong-hee form a tight bond as "failures in love." But "匨y House" demurs the typical romantic movie format as the two go their separate ways. "Old Boy" heroine Kang Hye-jeong said she chose this knotty film as her 10th feature, hoping to "expand the realms" of her character.
The 27-year-old is considered one of Korea's best actresses not only for her superb talent but also for her ambition to pursue different characters with each new undertaking. "I wrote the script with Kang in mind from the very beginning," director Hwang Soo-ah said at a preview Tuesday. "This is a complex film with a lot to think about, but most of all, I wanted it to be a present to audiences -- containing Kang."
The New York University-educated director debuted with her short film "Decalcomania" in 2001, which was applauded by the jury of the Seoul Independent Film Festival that year for its subtle depiction of emotions and refined cinematography. One thing is for sure: the director knows heartache.
Tired of her longstanding unrequited love, Su-gang is ready to hurt her first love -- literally. Persuading her to change her mind, Byeong-hee talks about "hope," what appears to be this abstruse film's motif. "Yes, we failed. I will probably never love anyone again and you will never be loved by anyone. But look at him. He's still so young. He has hope," he tells the aching girl.
"...My House," with a running time of 105 minutes, will hit local theaters April 9. Its distributors have yet to finalize the English title of the movie.
Credits: [email protected] via yonhapnews.co.kr |
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March 30, 2009
TVXQ Concert to Be Aired in Japan
A solo concert of TVXQ held in Seoul抯 Olympic Park last February will be aired for the first time on TBS of Japan in May.
In an announcement posted on the TBS homepage, the Japanese TV channel said that it has decided to broadcast the third Asia Tour Concert Mirotic in Seoul. TBS has already aired on March 28th TVXQ抯 live concert in 2006 and plans to broadcast their 2007 concert on April 25th. The February concert was a three-day event that drew more than 36 thousand fans. Japanese fans of TVXQ are reportedly looking forward to watching the five-member idol group singing in Korean.
TVXQ has released last Wednesday the group抯 fourth regular album in Japan titled 揟he Secret Code. |
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March 31, 2009
Yun-ha抯 Japanese Film to Be Released
A Japanese film titled 揙n This Sunday |
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Thanks to deka_if at soompi.com
April 1, 2009
Japanese Impressed by Bae Yong-joon Advert
A Korea Tourism Organization's advertisement featuring Korean Wave star Bae Yong-joon has been singled out for quality by the Yomiuri Shimbun, the actor's agency said Tuesday.
Major Japanese newspapers including the Yomiuri and Asahi Shimbun carried the full-page advert titled "Korean Palaces" by the KTO on Feb. 12. The actor's agency claimed 70 percent of Yomiuri readers paid attention to it. "Since it enhanced people's interest in the advertised subject and made a favorable impression, it has been selected as a good advertisement," it said.
It claimed Bae's fans, who know the actor as Yonsama, flocked to collect the advert, causing the day's copies of the paper to sell out.
Credits: englishnews@chosun.com, image from asian economy |
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April 1, 2009
Court Rules TVXQ Album Not Harmful to Youth
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
TVXQ, a top idol group
TVXQ, a top idol group, will be able to sell its fourth album, "Mirotic," to minors, following a court ruling that ordered the government to scrap its decision to designate the album as "harmful material for youth."
The Seoul Administrative Court, Wednesday, ruled in favor of SM Entertainment, TVXQ抯 agency, which filed the suit against the health, welfare and family affairs minister to annul the harmful album designation.
"We acknowledge that the lyrics concerned, including `You want me, you give yourself up to me, you抮e mad at me |
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April 1, 2009
Rain-JYP Mired in Another Lawsuit
Korea抯 superstar Rain and his former management company, JYP Entertainment, just seem to get deeper and deeper into legal troubles. In the wake of the stunning verdict in Hawaii, Rain and JYP are sued this time by Star M, a Korean concert production company, for 4.57 billion won or nearly 3.4 million dollars in damage compensation.
Star M claims that Rain and JYP failed to uphold their end of the bargain in 2006, when the singer cancelled 16 out of 35 concerts planned. At the time Rain and Star M had agreed to hold concerts in China, the U.S., Vietnam, Australia, Japan, and Korea over the period of one year from October, 2006. However, the American patent office had denied the registration of Rain抯 concert trademark 揜ANY |
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Author
