London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

LKL celeb of the month #2: BoA

I had been planning on giving Lee Dong-wook the honour of being LKL’s second celeb of the month. But Chinese netizens had other ideas. A massive spike in interest in BoA during the month resulted in certain posts about her getting ten times as many visits as any other page on this blog. So, BoA it is.

BoA

Full name: Kwon BoA (권보아), born 5 November 1986.

BoA is an artist that has LKL’s quiet respect. While popstrels such as Lee Hyolee never seem to be out of the gossip blogs, BoA seems to be more focused on work than PR. That’s not to say that she hasn’t an eye to a bit of brand-building. She’s just launched a range of jewelry. And her huge success in Japan shows that you don’t have to show off to the Korean media in order to rake in the cash.

In fact, she seems to be more popular across the East Sea than she is back in Korea, and her more recent album releases have been geared at the Japanese market, where she regularly tops the charts. And, with her 2006 Japanese album “Outgrow” she got to #2 in the worldwide charts, beaten to the #1 spot by British bleater James Blunt.

Her first album launch, from SM Entertainment, was in 2000, when BoA was just thirteen years old. She had huge success in Korea and Japan as a teenager, and now she is coming of age. More recently she was seen promoting Hite beer.

Her most recent album launch in Japan, The Face, hit the number one spot in early March. There are plans of a US debut later in the Spring.

If you speak Japanese, check out her blog. Shenuepop occasionally translates a page or two of it here.

So now, the pictures.

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