K-Pop star Rain joins the military

As with most men in South Korea, a year before they turn 30, they are expected to join the military for their mandatory two years.

And the next pop star who has to serve their compulsory military service is Rain.

With tears in his eyes, Rain told his fans, “Thank you for coming. I’m sorry to make such a fuss while leaving. I’ll be back from my duties soon. Thank you for the 10 years of love.”

Rain is known for his music but also starring in the Korean film “I’m a Cyborg, But that’s OK” and in America, he starred in “Speed Racer” and “Ninja Assassin”.

 

 

Big Bang’s G-Dragon busted for marijuana

News from South Korea is shocking many fans of the immensely popular boy band, Big Bang.

Band leader G-Dragon was indicted on smoking of maijuana.

Japan media has been using the Korean media as a source in which it has been reported that G-Dragon said he smoked marijuana at a Japanese club when he visited the country for a concert.  According to the story, G-Dragon was offered a cigarette at the club and that the smell was different from a regular cigarette and was suspicious that it was marijuana.

More updates on this story coming soon.

 

JYJ to perform in Spain and Germany

K-Pop trio (and former members of DBSK/TVXQ) will be holding concerts in Spain and Germany on October 29th.

The trio’s agency C-JeS Entertainment said JYJ will be performing at Palau Sant Jordi Stadium in Barcelona on Oct. 29th and on Nov. 6, the band will perform in Germany at a location that has not yet been confirmed.

 

“Dragon Wars” director Shim Hyung-Rae’s production company is closed

The Chosunilbo is reporting that director Shim Hyung-rae is broke. The comedian-turned-actor known for directing the 2007 sci-fi movie “D-War” (Dragon Wars) lost his production company which closed down after eight years of starting it. His company’s building was seized by the court after 43 employees petitioned the Ministry of Employment and Labor demanding their unpaid wages.

The bad news comes after Shim’s last film “The Last Godfather” earned under its production budget.

The Chosunilbo also mentions that he is being sued by a saving bank for failure to repay a W2 billion loan he took to produce “D-War”.

 

SM Town Live World Tour feat. Girls Generation, Super Junior and SHINee to perform at Madison Square Garden

The Internet was ablazing with excitement among K-Pop fans with today’s announcement that on October 23rd, Girls’ Generation, Super Junior and SHINee are performing in Madison Square Garden for a six-hour concert as part of the SM Town Live World Tour.

SM Entertainment said in a statement, “The concert will show the global power of K-pop again. We expect this New York concert will be a big hit following the success we were met with in Los Angeles, Tokyo, Shanghai and Paris.”

 

BoA to make her Hollywood film debut in “COBA 3D”

 

K-Pop/J-Pop music artist BoA will be making her Hollywood debut in “COBA 3D”.  According to IMDb, the film is about “a pair of star-crossed dancers in New York find themselves at the center of a bitter rivalry between their brothers’ underground dance clubs”.

The film will star “Dancing with the Stars” dancer Derek Hough, “What I Like About You” actor Wesley Jonathan”, Izabella Miko, Will Yun Lee and Miki Ishikawa.

 

TVXQ to continue with only two members: U-Know and Max

With the whole debacle between TVXQ continuing and no plans for Junsu, Jejung, Yuchun (who have since formed the group JYJ) to return, SM Entertainment has released a statement of what will happen to the two remaining artists of TVXQ: U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. “After the 3 TVXQ members left, for over a long year, both U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin have refrained from musical activities. The two members as well as the company wanted to keep TVXQ alive, thinking about the never changing hearts of our loyal fans who have waited a long time. As indicated by the ruling, all of TVXQ’s activities need to be done through SM, unfortunately, the three members that left have regretfully not responded to any of our offers for activities as TVXQ. After long and careful consideration, we made this decision. For U-know Yunho and Max Changmin, who never left and kept their dreams as TVXQ, we have decided together with the two members to keep TVXQ alive. No matter what happens, we believe that TVXQ should continue for the love and trust of the fans who created TVXQ together with us. We are not ruling out any possibilities in the future. Continuing TVXQ is the best way to repay the fans who love and waited for TVXQ.”

In August 2009, Junsu, Jejung and Yuchun sued their management claiming that their contract signed between TVXQ and SM Entertainment was unfair.  A lower court sided with the three and ruled that certain parts of the contract should be invalidated and thus it allowed the three to pursue an individual music and advertisement career. The trio have since created their own group called JYJ and have recently collaborated with Kanye West and are being promoted on the Billboard (USA) Website.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that a group has claimed their management/label was unfair to them. In the ’90s, Korean pop group H.O.T. were the hottest boy band similar to TVXQ and similar circumstances, the three members left the group and thus ending H.O.T. According to Time Magazine, ex-H.O.T. singer Tony An said, “We would complain that we never had enough money” and Lee Su Man of H.O.T. would say: ‘I even pay for your gas, what are you complaining about?’”.  According to the publication, while their albums would sell over a million copies, each member were paid only $10,000.

Unfortunately, with no resolution, it will appear as if the former bandmates may ended up going against each other in the music industry.

 

Korean Actor Jang Dong-gun and Director Sngmoo Lee Will Appear Exclusively at Pacific Media Expo for The Warrior’s Way

PASADENA, CA – Pacific Media Expo (PMX) welcomes acclaimed movie actor Jang Dong-gun as its first Korean Guest of Honor. Jang Dong-gun, along with director Sngmoo Lee, will be appearing at PMX on Sunday, November 14, 2010 for a panel and autograph session. This will be Jang and Lee’s only convention appearance before The Warrior’s Way opens in theaters nationwide on December 3, 2010.

“We at Pacific Media Expo are extremely honored to have an actor of Mr. Jang Dong-gun’s caliber as our guest. We are happy to be the first convention to host his debut into American cinema. We welcome him with open arms,” says Mike Tatsugawa, PMX’s Founder and CEO.

Attendees are encouraged to register for Pacific Media Expo early for Mr.Jang Dong-gun’s panel. Autographs will be given only to those who come to Jang and Lee’s panel. Go to http://PacificMediaExpo.com/info/reg.html to register.

About Pacific Media Expo:

As America’s first major media trade show dedicated primarily to Asian-Pacific popular culture and entertainment, Pacific Media Expo (PMX) is an industry event sponsored by the Pacific Media Association. Pacific Media Expo will be held November 12-14, 2010 at the Pasadena Hilton. The convention will feature honored guests, live performances, panel discussions, autograph sessions, Asian cinema, animation, and Korean drama video rooms, and art exhibitions at one of the country’s only exhibit halls dedicated solely to Asian media and pop culture.

 

Kanye West collaborates with S. Korean pop group JYJ

We are seeing a few American artists collaborating with the hot S. Korean pop groups as of late and the latest is Kanye West who has teamed up with pop trio JYJ (Kim JaeJoong, Park YuChun and Kim JunSu).

The trio are also known for being part of one of the hottest and most successful pop groups in S. Korea and Japan known as DBSK/TVXQ (in Japan as Tohoshinki) and even for us at J!-ENT, fans from all over the world showed their love for the group with our 500-page book on the band (which has received over 3 million downloads since its release).

The trio is taking a break from their group as the dispute between members and their S. Korean label SM Entertainment is still unresolved.

JYJ has just released their album “The Beginning” and for the track “Ayy Girl”, the group collaborates with Kanye West and M. Yusuf. According to Billboard.com, “Show Shop Entertainment released the album Oct. 14 through Warner Music Korea. In the United States, Warner Music is releasing the album digitally through iTunes and Amazon with a CD release planned for late 2010 or early 2011.”

And the tracks are pretty slick, catchy and so damn cool! And as the fans would say, JYJ FIGHTING!

JYJ, “The Beginning” by billboard

 

Estrella Lin reveals the dark side of the Korean entertainment industry

Taiwan singer Estrella Lin recently wrote a book exposing her experience working in the Korean entertainment industry.

According to the publication Chosun:

In the book, Lin details how she was asked to provide sexual services and subjected to inhumane treatment. She was also asked to change her year of birth from 1980 to 1985 as she was considered too old.

Lin wrote that any popular singers in Korea, regardless of gender, are pimped for sexual services but claimed that despite being frequently asked to sleep with investors, she stubbornly refused.

Korean actress Jang Ja-yeon who took her life in 2009, wrote in a seven-page suicide letter of the dark side of the Korean entertainment industry.  Jang Ja-yeon wrote that her agent had regularly beaten her and forced her to have sex with a string of VIPs, including directors, media executives and CEOs and with many entertainers in Korea having taken their lives, more and more news of the dark side of the Korean entertainment industry is being exposed.

 

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