In the second of four retrospective articles, we recall some of the entertainment stories that caught our eye in 2014. Good year for: Popular TV drama My Love from the Star had an impact beyond its 21 episode span. The lead female character, played by Jeon Ji-hyun, managed to boost sales of trenchcoats in Korea, […]
People: Rain
Saharial’s Entertainment Weekly: another car crash of a week in the world of Korean celebrity
Rain is still on a no-show as a witness in the lawsuit against him by a fashion company investor citing that he is a soldier. But as he has had time to meet his girlfriend Kim Tae-hee, this excuse is not going down too well. This case is related to the debacle back in 2010 […]
Saharial’s Entertainment Weekly: Rain, Tablo, Psy and Propofol
In 2008 Choi Jin Shil, a popular actress, committed suicide after threats and pressure from netizens and from her personal life. Two years later in March 2010 her brother committed suicide, and now on 6th January 2013 her ex husband Jo Sung Min also took his own life in the same manner. A former basketball […]
Saharial’s Entertainment Weekly: Block B’s lawsuit and Rain’s National Service Lite
Its only the first week of January and the Korean media is already buzzing with a heap of scandal. First off the bat is Rain who enlisted in the army in March 2012, and joined the Defence Media Agency (DEMA) like many other stars before him. Whilst not having used up his three official holiday […]
Maybe one reason why Psy is the most-watched YouTube video ever
Me: So, he’s the most watched video ever! Korean friend: Yes. I click on it 50 times a day. Hmm. So is that how he did it? Well, maybe not (the video certainly deserves to beat Justin Bieber), but it’s an interesting thought. And on a related subject, the Joongang Ilbo reports on a story […]
Rain is Time’s most influential person again
Korean pop star Rain wins TIME 100 Poll — Again – TIME NewsFeed http://ti.me/gTao9a #. He also won in 2006 and 2007, and came second in 2008.
Rain tops Time poll again
Rain currently tops the 2011 TIME 100 Poll Results. Again. http://ti.me/e5LpEl #. This has surely got to be the last year that he features on the list.
Rain Rain, Come Again
Bella Frey gets star-struck. And who can blame her? Rain in London in January, nothing unusual there. However Rain, as in Jung Ji-hoon, South Korea’s delightfully handsome mega pop star and actor, in London is definitely a once in a blue moon event. As soon as the news hit Facebook that he would be here […]
Rain in promotional appearance at MCM Knightsbridge store
Rain is coming to London on Tuesday 25th. Not the weather. 비. Jung Ji-hoon. At least, according to this: http://on.fb.me/glBESt #. Knightsbridge, Tuesday at 2pm. But to meet him you have to buy a backpack. #. Forgot to say – the backpack in question could set you back £475. Well, this IS Knightsbridge (and it […]
Rain in Ninja Assassin
Just watched Ninja Assassin. Entertaining, and Rain does an OK job. But the 2 minute Lego version is all you need: http://bit.ly/fzMGhq #
The Rain and Jeon Ji-hyun rumours
Yes, I know they deny it, but wouldn't it be a good story if Rain and Jeon Ji-hyun really were an item? http://bit.ly/a8UEko #
Rain MV banned for breach of traffic regulations
Rain’s latest music video, Love Song, has been banned for flagrant jaywalking. via @allkpop http://bit.ly/9zYlpS #. According to AllKpop, Yoo Seung Chan, PSY and Kim Jang Hoon have also had MVs withdrawn or edited as they too violated traffic regulations.
Ninja Assassin: Could Stephen Colbert do this?
Yes, it’s the UK release of Ninja Assassin, starring Colbert’s nemesis, Rain. Hollywood.com gave it 1 out of 10. “It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a decent ninja flick,” starts the review, before explaining why it is that we’re still waiting. But the review is reasonably complementary about Rain, reserving its main criticism […]
A belated look back at 2009
For the past 3 years LKL has concocted a quiz of the year as a way of gathering together some of the news stories which have most caught our eye. This year, as I came to draw up the list in mid December I found it hard to think of anything amusing or diverting: most […]
According to Gallup, my favourite singer should be Jang Yoon Jeong
At least, that’s if I’m a Korean conforming to the profile of the sample selected by Gallup Korea for their 2008 K-pop poll. OK, I’m reasonably happy listening to her first album, but there are other albums I’d much prefer to have in my CD player. Jang Yoon Jeong (장윤정 – right) is the younger […]
LKL 2008 Quiz of the year – the answers
The answers to the teasers posed just before the New Year. 1 Stressful times What does the current credit crunch and the most recent DPRK nuclear test have in common? a) the media blame them on an incompetent government who should have seen it coming and somehow prevented it b) they would both cause a […]
Post-olympics celebrity and trivia round-up
It’s been so long since I did a round-up of celebrity news, and nowadays my knowledge of what’s hot in the celebrity world is derived from looking at my site’s statistics where I can identify the google search terms which have landing people on my blog.1 So here is a collection of random stories from […]
Easter celebrity round-up
It’s been a while since I rounded up some of the celebrity news as an excuse for posting some pictures, so here’s some recent items: First – Brits with Korean connections: Korea Beat has a translation of an interview with David Beckham, recently in Korea with LA Galaxy Kate Moss gets an advertising contract with […]
Rain 8 – Colbert 4: an unscientific survey of hallyu in Asia
Devoted followers of Korean popular culture will remember the Rain v Colbert battle in Time magazine last year. The much smaller population of devoted LKL readers will remember that I did a straw poll of my US co-workers last year: how many out of an unrepresentative sample of US bank regulatory specialists had heard of […]
The top 30 LKL pictures of 2007: the top 10
Here’s the top ten. And probably not all that work-safe. #10: The second appearance of LKL’s favourite ex-playboy model, Lee Sabi (806 views): #9: The Chejudo Love Land theme park (884): #8: Sassy girl and last vampire Jeon Ji-hyun displaying her smooth thighs as a rock chick (969): #7: Pop diva, CF queen and all-round […]
Deadly Elves and other recent tabloid stories
It’s a while since I did a round-up of celebrity news, which means that I’ve almost forgotten all the things I was going to mention, and lost most of the links that I was going to use. So before things get completely out of hand, here’s one of my not-so-regular posts shamelessly plundering the celebrity […]
The beauty of particular body parts
Browsing through the celebrity rags the other day I came across a report of a survey which struck me as rather distasteful: the actress with the most beautiful chest. I’m not sure why it struck me as distasteful, seeing as in the UK we have a light-hearted annual survey as to which female celebrity has […]
How many Koreans have never heard of Rain?
I don’t know the answer to that question. Maybe a reader can help. But seeing as I’m over in the States visiting my US co-workers right now, I thought I’d do a bit of market research. We had a team-building dinner yesterday. And on an impulse, I asked the person sitting next to me: so […]
Stateside celeb update
Avid blogwatchers will find this particular post surplus to requirements. This post is for my own benefit, just in case I lose the various links which are hot at the moment but which may soon cool off. Rain’s ongoing efforts to achieve the unprecedented feat of winning LKL Man of the Year two years running […]
Park’s gong
So what exactly is the Alfred Bauer prize? We know that Park Chan-wook was awarded it at the recent Berlin Film Festival for I’m a Cyborg, because there’s this picture on the BBC website to prove it. Yet you read the various blogs and news websites and you get the impression that the prize is […]
Celebrity news round-up: January 07
Rain, LKL’s man of the year 2006 has started 2007 on a low-note with a speeding ticket in Hong Kong at the start of his gruelling tour. He also underwhelmed one reporter at a Singapore press conference who found him just a little dull. This wasn’t a reflection on his performance on-stage (and I’ve yet […]
A date with Rain? I’d rather have my hair done
“Sorry, I’m washing my hair that night” is the familiar put-down you get when the girl of your dreams doesn’t fancy a date with you. But it’s also true of LKL visitors. They’re much more interested in finding the best Korean hairdressers in London, or reading about the techniques involved in a “Magic Straight” perm, […]
The London Korean Links Awards 2006
In the year-end spirit of reviewing the highlights and lowlights of 2006, here are the winners of the first LKL Awards – a personal and unscientific selection. The awards are in the following categories: Man of the Year Woman of the Year Best cultural promotion: Briton in Korea Best cultural promotion: Korean in Britain Best […]
Chosun Ilbo’s top K-pop of the year
Here’s their list: Best Album Best Song 1 Vibe: Re-feel Vibe: He & She (equal with Lee Sung-chul) 2 Lee Seung-chul: Reflections of Sound Lee Seung-chul: Shout it out (equal with Vibe) 3 SG Wannabe: 3rd Masterpiece Baek Ji-young: I won’t fall in love again 4 Nell: Healing Process Eru: Black Glasses 5 Sung Si-kyung: […]
Top singer-actors, a Chungmuro A-list wedding, a record deal and the Last Vampire
I haven’t posted about any celebs recently, so here’s the latest clips I’ve come across: 1 Singers turned actors With an eye on the success of canto-pop stars on the big screen, K-pop stars and their managers have been looking to maximise brand value and revenue streams. Uhm Jung-hwa, I only recently noticed, has been […]
Rain #1: Bad Guy
Rain’s first album displays his vocal qualities (it’s a good voice), and the range of stuff he’s prepared to sing. There’s a problem though. The music isn’t really distinctive. The ballads he sings are the sort of ballads which lots of K-pop stars are singing. The same key-shifts, the same use of that infuriating tingly […]
Celeb watch
A couple of items from today’s Chosun Ilbo which I didn’t want to lose: (1) Lee Young-ae’s Japanese fans tell her she looks as if she’s 61 years old (2) Rain confirmed in Time 100 as one of the world’s most influential entertainers. The KBS site has a rather more fetching photo of the star […]
Bi / Rain to make it into Time top 100?
This one’s a story worth following, for the power of the Hallyu. According to the Chosun Ilbo, Rain is only just slightly behind Ang Lee and ahead of JK Rowling and George Clooney as the most influential artist / entertainer of 2006 in Time Magazine’s top 100. You, along with thousands of K-Pop fans, can […]