• 1 Chrissa sent us a video greeting!!
    Remember to support Hello Pop!
  • 2 Secret's new Japanese song!
    So much for goodbye!
  • 3 MBLAQ won on M! Countdown!
    1st It's War victory!!
  • 4 Exclusive interview with BAP!
    Warrior MV release!

[Video] IU's acoustic medley!( including IRIS ost Don't forget and marshmallow)



I'm sure by now, all of you have heard and seen many of IU's covers of other singers songs. Recently, she did an acoustic medley of songs including IRIS Ost- Don't forget which was sung by Baek Ji Young and her own song, Marshmallow, etc. Honestly, her vocals are really unique. Its somewhat gentle, soft but at the same time powerful~ I really melted
when she sang Don't forget. I can't say she did better than Baek Ji Young because Baek Ji Young is more experienced than her but she really sang it so well i almost want to say she did better than Baek Ji young!

The video also shows her fan meeting with her fans! This time round, her fan meeting has fangirls too! I am really becoming her fan and i hope she will shine in the year 2010!



Credit: UrAsianSource @ youtube

[GUESS] Who is this student?

Found another precious photo to share with you guys!

The person in the photo really looks like the top student in a school and i think nobody would think that he will become a star today,i can see his potential to be a leader in the future from this photo.

Hints have been given,so please make a smart guess!

[Video] T-ara won for the very first time on Music Bank!

Congratulations to T-ara for winning the first ever awards on Music shows!

The competitors for the first K-Chart of 2010 were 2PM with Heartbeat, T-ara with Bo Peep Bo Peep and Younha with We Broke Up Today!

However,the 6-member group emerged to be the winner of the night!A good start for the girls in 2010 and the members' tears can't stop flowing.

Good job girls,please watch the videos below,they performed the New Year version of Bo Peep Bo Peep today!



Credits to jasoncoolmb!

[News] SS501 Kim HyunJoong is #1 for “Male Idol Star who shines in Hanbok”!


A poll followed by 300 voter is recently conducted by hanbokrent.kr, hanbok.us, hanvok.com and embrain.com.

The poll was held in the month of December 2009 under the category “Male Idol Star who shines in Hanbok”!

SS501 Kim HyunJoong wins the poll with 46.8% followed by Big Bang Daesung (21.1%) and 2PM Nichkhun (17.7%).

Meanwhile, Kim HyunJoong is also #1 for another poll of “Male Idol Star who fits well in Hanbok” with 42.2%, whilst 2nd and 3rd place went to the same person Big Bang Daesung and 2Pm Nichkhun.

Winner List as follow :

“Male Idol Star who fits well in Hanbok

  1. SS501 Kim Hyunjoong 42.20%
  2. DaeSung Big Bang 26.4%
  3. 2PM Nichkhun 17.9%
  4. 2PM Taec 16.9%
  5. G.O.D Kim TaeWoo 14.2%
  6. TVXQ Yunho 13.8%
  7. 2PM Jaebum 11.4%
  8. G.O.D Son HoYoung 11%
  9. 2AM JoKwon 11%
  10. SHINHWA Andy 11%

“Male Idol Star who shines in Hanbok

  1. 1st SS501 Kim Hyunjoong 46.8%
  2. DaeSung Big Bang 21.1%
  3. 2PM Nichkhun 17.7%
  4. TVXQ Yunho 17.4%
  5. 2PM Taec 14.7%
  6. G.O.D Kim TaeWoo 12.4%
  7. TVXQ Xiah 11.7%
  8. TVXQ Hero 11%
  9. TVXQ Max 10.4%
  10. TVXQ Micky Yoochun, 10%
  • s: nate
  • trans: marinastory
Credits:Kbites

[Video] Tae Yeon molesting Nicole?



SNSD's Tae Yeon molested Nicole?

Tae Yeon was given new nickname recently as she was seen playing a toy that required people to poke the figure's butt so that it can make some "Ouch" noise.

However,the victim this time is no longer a toy,a real human being indeed.The victim is Nicole of KARA.

She approached Nicole with her innocent smile and touched her butts repeatedly.Sunny was there too,it seems that they are admiring Nicole's butts and both of them were enjoying the moment.

Nicole seems to be enjoying the moment very much too!!

[Video]2PM is “Tired Of Waiting” on Music Bank!



2PM has started to promote another song of their 1.59 PM album!

The title of the song is “Tired Of Waiting”,it is obvious that they are tired waiting for Jae Beom to come back.

The had a very great performance today and their outfits are quite impressive too,but I have not get bored to “Heartbeat” yet,hope that they will perform the charts winning song again in the near future!

Watch their performance here!

[Video] f(x) & SNSD "Kissing You" on Music Bank!


f(x) performed SNSD's Kissing You on Music Bank!

Their performance with SNSD is so cute and i really can't stop looking at Sulli,she fits the song so well.She doesn't need to train much for her cute expressions!

Besides,it is a bit weird for Amber to perform this song,but it is a good start for fans who wanna see her feminine side!

Watch the cute performance here!

[Video] IU & Yo Seob show cuteness on Music Bank!

The duo made a good couple performing Marshamallow on Music Bank!

I think Dong Ho of U-Kiss is jealous now as her ideal girl IU is performing with Yo Seob of BEAST.

Merely IU alone for Marshmallow already too cute for me and Yo Seob doubled the cuteness with his cute appearance during the performance.

The duo had already performed the cutest performance of the year,please enjoy!

100101 Music Bank Performers List & Highlights!





January 1st 2009 Line Up: Jewelry, T-ara, Rainbow, 2PM, Afterschool, Eun Ji Won, Park Jin Young, SNSD, Maya, U-Kiss, Brian, Sunny Side MJ, f(x), IU, Beast, H-Eugene, Younha, Yoon Seo Jin, Lee Na Young

Credits to Music Bank Thread @ Soompi for the performers List!



T-ara #1


2PM - Tired Of Waiting


IU & Yo Seob - Marshamallow


SNSD - Tell Me Your Wish Remix


Jewelry & Rainbow - One More Time


After School - Because Of You


JYP - No Love No More


IU - My Man


Rainbow - Gossip Girl


U-Kiss - Man Man Hani


T-ara - Bo Peep Bo Peep



BEAST - Mystery





f(x) - Chu

[Video] Jewelry & Rainbow did "One More Time"!

Jewelry's In Young and Jung Ah are going to leave the team soon after promoting "Love Story"!

Girls from Rainbow are paying tribute to the senior female group Jewelry by performing "One More Time" with them.

The E.T is such an influential dance and it really makes me wanna dance with dance but unfortunately i don't have the talent at all.

I think it is better for you to watch the girls dancing to the E.T Dance!

[NEWS] Hyun Ah to "Change" for her solo debut!

It has been reported that Hyun Ah of 4Minute will be the first 4Minute's member to debut as a solo singer.

According to Allkpop,it has a big possibility that Hyun Ah's debut single will go with the title "Change".BEAST's member Joonhyung will feature in the song as well!

I am really expecting for a remarkable stage from the dancing machine of 4Minute this January!

[Pictures] 2PM and JYP's butts stories....

Today is really a slow day,i can't really find much news to post today.

So i decided to share some interesting photos of JYP and 2PM with you guys.

All the photos here are related to butts!

The first one,whose butts is JYP staring at,he looks so hungry watching the butts!

Nichkhun is flying high!But many of you might not notice that his butts is the main supporting point!

Woo Young shows sexy butts while performing Mister,he seems to be very confident with his butts!!

But Nichkhun does not care about it!
Many thanks to jeney @ Soompi for sharing the photos!

[News] Japan press “TVXQ/DBSK/THSK will be disbanded this summer.”… 3 Members “We don’t even know.”


Japan media reported that due to the dispute by some members, popular group TVXQ’s local activities has been stopped and the members will have a summer good bye concert this year.

According to the media, SM Entertainment and AVEX Japan had been in negotiation with the members to resolve the situation, however, it was confirmed that the disbandment was an unavoidable decision, therefore in the coming June at Ryogoku, Tokyo will be held a ‘Sayonara Concert’ which is a good bye concert that will be held both in Korea and Japan and the schedule will be arranged in near future.

The 3 TVXQ members side who are currently in legal dispute against SM Entertainment responded to this report, “We even just knew about this good bye concert (from the news).” and, “There’s nothing like that being decided right now and here both side have decided to continue the negotiation.” he said.


source: herald news
trans: sharingyoochun.net


Always Keep The Faith !!!!!


They are still in negotiations with SM, the 3 of them to resolve all of the stuff.About them disbanding is just a rumor -.-.Even SM said their disbanding is groundless rumors.


[DKP Special] KARA's Park Gyuri slipped when performing "Same Heart"!


Finally some free time for me to watch some videos that i missed for these few days.I have been busy updating the Gayo Daejoons videos these few days and rarely have time to enjoy all the wonderful performances.

One of my favourite female groups,KARA performed "Same Heart" for the very first time on SBS Gayo Daejoon.I really like this song very much so i was pretty excited when i knew that they performed it LIVE for the very first time.

The girls were dressed in doll-like outfits and i think that they already look like dolls eventhough they don't wear the outfits.

Back to our main topic,i managed to spot something interesting again this time.I think many of you didn't notice something when watching the show,leader Gyuri actually slipped during the performance,luckily Seung Yeon was standing besides her and she managed to hold Seung Yeon when she slipped suddenly.As overall that was a energetic performance.

Seung Yeon was shocked too during Gyuri's slipping,her expressions is cute,haha!

[Guess] Who is this boy/girl?

Happy New Year everyone!

For today's guess post,it is going to be a little bit special.Firstly,you have to guess the gender of the person in the photo,a boy or a girl??Too pretty to be a boy and too muscular to be a girl!

Can you please make a smart guess on who the person in the photo is,i think this one is going to be easy,try your best!

[News] DBSK/THSK/TVXQ is Officially Disbanded? .. SM official stand, “It’s groundless.”


According to many Japanese medias’ reportage, TVXQ was said to be already in official disbanding, caused many fans to shock.

On the 1st, Sports Nippon Japan reported in highlights, “South Korea’s TVXQ breaks up at its peak of popularity.” According to the report, the lawsuit that is filed by part of the members against their label brings cracks among the members that is impossible to be resolved. Thus, the members traveled between Korea and Japan in split group and those evidences became adjustments that leads to an official disbanding.

TVXQ has enjoyed a great popularity in Japan, as the main title of news registered by Yahoo Japan. TVXQ has appeared at The 60th NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen on December 31st.

Sports Nippon reported that eventhough TVXQ stood together performing on NHK Kouhaku stage, however, the three members who filed the lawsuit seemed to show different passion than the rest two members in the performance. Also that while TVXQ had the same dressing room at backstage, still they went in separated plane when returned to South Korea.

The news conveyed as well that the single released on the 27th will be their last single, as well as the best album that will be released on the 17th in the following month.

Related to this issue, SM Entertainment official said, “Those articles are groundless.” and “There is no offical disbanding in decision.” However another official also answered, “There’s no information about future schedule determined, indeed.”

credit: yahoo korea
trans: sharingyoochun.net
shared by: DBSKnights
-----
TVXQ's disbandment, false~


Charm's note: Just to follow up the rumors about disbanding. And this news is actually good news that's why i posted an AKP article. So please do not panic and
always always keep the faith

Only moments ago we reported on male sensation TVXQ, and their plans for disbanding in the new year. The source was from a Japanese article and SM Entertainment has yet to release a full legitimate statement, but things didn't look so good when Japan reported some unfortunate news.

A reporter said that tension within the group has become so high and bad that it's reached its limit, saying that Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu showed more passion to perform than the other two as they seem to have lost the will to go on. Even worse, the reporter stated that, "Currently the three have begun their activities with a new agency and the remaining SM members are forbidden from contacting the other three."

Plans for TVXQ was to apparently begin promotions for their last single BREAK OUT! on the 27th of January, and to release their last album on February 17th with one final goodbye concert in June.

However, SM Entertainment did not give a long detailed official statement but quickly replied to the situation by saying, "The reporter's statements are false. There are no plans of disbanding." But another source stated that, "Nothing has yet been officially decided."

There's much confusion going around and no doubt it's got fans very anxious. But could this be another foreign misinterpretation? Not too long ago, Chinese reporters said many false things about the the Hankyung lawsuit and this could be merely just another false rumor from a foreign country that didn't know any better.
Credits: Allkpop
Shared by: DBSKnights

Always Keep The Faith !!!!!

[Pictures] KARA's Nicole is a friendly girl!



I have found some photos showing idols who were borned in 1991 playing around during MBC Gayo Daejoon.

KARA's Nicole is really freindly,it seems like she can fool around with anyone she meets without concerning gender and age.

In the first photo,she is dancing with SHINee's Key,look at her smile,she must be enjoying the moment very much.Then the 2nd photo showing her hugging Seo Hyun,those who are not k pop fans might think that they are from the same group!

Many thanks to kpoprants for the photos!

[Pictures] 6 boys ,5 groups!



Do you still remember the article where 2AM's Jin Woon,BEAST's Dong Woon,SHINee's Key and MBLAQ's Mir confessed that SNSD's Seo Hyun is their ideal girl?

I have found some photos when the boys attended Super Junior's Sukira Kiss The Radio.

All the boys mentioned were borned in 1991,same as Seo Hyun,maybe that's the reason why they like her so much.Besides,Super Junior's Lee Teuk and Eun Hyuk are in the photos too.

Just 6 of them in a photo but they are already representing 5 groups!

[News] The Truth About G-Dragon's Tears




While performing his song 'Heartbreaker' at SBS GayoDaejun on the 29th, G-Dragon startled many by showing tears running down his face. Fans speculated that this was because of the controversies related to his album including plagiarism issues, and his solo concert "Shine A Light".


However, according to a YGE stylist it was because of the 'smog' used as a special effect at the beginning of the performance. G-Dragon started off the stage by coming out of a box with a huge 'G' on it, which was filled with so much smoke that he couldn't even open his eyes. Though he chose not to wipe the tears off his face, it seemed so natural that even the organisers of the event thought of it as part of his concept.





Credits: Genie @ VIPZ
Shared by: sjay.x@bigbangvip

[News] Kim Hyun Joong's Tiger Year Wish




Singer and actor Kim Hyun Joong (Born in 1986)

Will welcome the 1st new year sun rise of 2010 in China
Because the schedule planning, I am in China
It is tiger year already.
I have the hunch that there will be more good things than last year
Hope everybody will have a wonderful plan for this year and fulfill your wishes one by one
I will also show my even better side to you
Hope everybody will continue to support SS501 members, would you?
Happy New Year!
(Only translate Hyun Joong's wish)
Credit: sports.khan.co.kr + (Chinese translation)xinhm@hyunjoongchina.com + (English translation) SS501UFO.blogspot.com
Please repost with full credit. 

[News] Kim Hyun Joong - Male Star who most suitable to wear hanbok




In a survey on 'Male Star who should promote hanbok', SS501's Kim Hyun Joong is ranked No. 1.

During December, few Korean website (ommit details) conduct a survey with 300 person on 'Male Star who should promote hanbok'. Having a charming look, talented and cheerful character, other than Korea, having international popularity in Japan, china, South East Asia and other Asia countries' 
Kim Hyun Joong won No. 1 (46.8%), BigBang Daesung (21.1%) and 2PM Nichkhun (17.7%) winning No. 2 & 3 respectively.

In the survey on 
'Male Star who most suitable to wear Hanbok', Kim Hyun Joong is also ranked No. 1. (42.2%)



Credit: news.hankooki.com + (Chinese translation) xinhm@hyunjoongchina.com + (English translation) SS501UFO.blogspot.com
Please repost with full credit.











Credit: As tagged

[News] Hwanhee takes a break




Hwanhee, a former member of Korean R&B duo Fly to the Sky, has taken an abrupt break from work on his debut album due to health problems.The singer made his solo debut in October with the release of the songs “Because I Missed Your Heart” and “Bring it Back.”

H Entercom, Hwanhee’s managing agency, reported on Tuesday that “Hwanhee has been having problems with his vocal cords and has been receiving treatment for the past three weeks. Doctors recommended that he take a break.”



source: joongangdaily
Credits: omona

[News] New Year Messages from 2NE1




MINJI

To: All the Blackjacks~♡
Is everyone well? This is everyone's cutie pie "Minggi"!!
The new year 2010 has arrived~ Now Minggi is 17↗*
I'll become even prettier~ You'll watch over me right↗
Please play together with 2NE1 in 2010 as well~ ^^
Because Minggi trusts in all the Blackjacks~ keke
Please be healthy and have a Happy New Years~!!

Director Yang
Please give me
some New Year's money ㅠㅠ
Want you!!

2NE1
Minzy

* - in Korea the ages are all 1 more than in America



DARA

To BlackJack !!! ♡
Hellooo~! ^.^ This is SsanToki!*(Bom is beside me harassing…)ㅠ.ㅠ Aah~!
It's 2010! Kya~! A really memorable 2009 has passed… and a new year has arrived!!!
Be healthy in the New Year too! And I hope that you'll have a happy one with your family~ and friends! Also…
You'll continue to love 2NE1 more~ more than last year by a lot! too~right?!↗ I'm trusting in you guys! ^.^
Happy New Year Black Jack! Muah~!

(On the bomb)Fortune
<--Pocket of Fortune**

2010/21 - Please be a huge hit!

From Blackjack's cute SsanToki...
^.^ Bbyong!


* - "Ssandara"'s nickname is "Ssantoki" which means mountain rabbit
** - the bomb part I don't really get. I think she's making fun of how in Korean, new years is characterized by wishing people good fortune "bok" while bomb in korean is spelled "pok-tan" v-v yea idrk.



CL

BlackJack!
Thank you so much for 2009!
Please take care of us in 2010 too~
〞Happy new years〟

From CLoo.



PARK BOM

To Black Jack~ ♡
Hii~♡ I'm Bom~ Bomtaro* kekeke (beside me Ssantoki keeps telling me to stop being so cunning >< This Ssan!!To!!Ki!! You're gonna get a scolding!!)
Now it's already a new year ♡
Spending 2009 with you guys made me really happy…♡
I'll never forget it in my life~ =) In 2010 I'll upgrade myself even more~♡
Happy new year~♡
Please have a happy new year~ ♡
Bom

From Bom~♡


* - Bom's nickname is Bomtaro because she likes Hamtaro. OTL

Images credit to 2NE1 Network
Translated by GEE @ ygladies.com

[News] Top 10 News of 2009

Two former presidents and a king passed away. One wrong remark during an entertainment show took the entire country by storm. Such unbelievably enormous incidents were played out in unbelievable directions during 2009. Thus, the top ten news of 2009 selected by <10 Asia> may seem like the ten most incredulous news of the year. But one could say that what these ten news stories have in common is that they carry the flow of Korea’s pop culture. Can you really believe that all these things happened within a span of one year?



News 1. Actress Jang Ja-yeon commits suicide 
On March 7, one little known actress wrote in her suicide note, “I am a weak, powerless actress. I want to be free from this pain” and killed herself. It was actress Jang Ja-yeon, who was appearing in KBS TV series “Boys Over Flowers” at the time. The suicide note, which was 12 pages long on A4-sized paper, explained that she had been physically abused by her agency, forced to drink and provide sexual services. It also listed names of high-ranking executives in the industry, including a head of media company, television drama director and owners of business companies. People started calling the note “The Jang Ja-yeon List”. The incident brought to surface how badly aspiring actresses and female celebrities in general have been violated and the ugly power of the media. But due to slow, passive investigation by the Korean authorities, the truth never came to light. Of all people who were under investigation, only two people involved in the incident -- former head of Jang’s agency and former manager who exposed Jang’s suicide notes -- were indicted and the suspects whose names were listed in the documents were all cleared of charges and let go. Was the death of Jang Ja-yeon a suicide or a homicide?



News 2. Korean media laws revised 
In March, the two political parties of Korea’s National Assembly agreed that they would put the issue of media law revision to vote in June. And the consequent, crazy uproar that took place at the National Assembly in July was almost half-expected. Amidst all the physical fighting between the two opposing party members, the material bribery and proxy votes, the Grand National Party officials passed the bill allowing for media law revision. With the new media law, businesses and daily newspaper publications can own up to 10 percent of the shares of a public network and companies can jump into the new media businesses. Of course, nobody knows for sure what kind of consequences such a decision will bring. What we do know, however, is that there is nothing reasonable about what had happened during the revision process; a large number of proxy votes got the new bill passed, a government official who had protested against the new bill led a labor strike among media employees, the ruling of Korea’s Constitutional Court which said the passing of the new bill stood viable even if it admitted people’s voting rights had been violated during the process.



News 3. Michael Jackson dies
2009 could be called “the year of loss” since we lost so many people who have influenced our lives. And the death of Michael Jackson was a big loss to everyone around the world. He was the one and only “King of Pop” who had conquered the world, but he died a lonely death amidst all the rumors. Now all we can do is show Michael Jackson’s performances to our children because we might never see such an entertainer ever again. The King may be dead but pop music lasts forever. 



News 4. Jae-beom leaves idol group 2PM 
One cannot say that Park Jae-beom was right in writing “I hate Korea” on his blog during his teen years. One may not approve of what he did and may even criticize him for it. But was it so wrong that he had to leave Korea amidst requests for suicide petitions? In just four days after the news of what he had written broke out, Jae-beom quit his group 2PM. Everything that had happened was a violent storm cooked up by a minimal number of extreme netizens and the media which was busy upping the number of visitors. There are people in this country who want to deport a boy over what he had written as a teenager. Really, how could they mess with someone’s life so carelessly?



News 5. Korean stars make Hollywood debut 
A long time ago, Sonokong and his monks headed west in search of India for more advanced Buddhism. And in the age of globalization, Korean stars also headed west to Hollywood, which is the world capital of the entertainment business. 2009 was a year when the long journey to Hollywood produced some tangible achievements. Rain -- who was under pressure to become a global star after making TIME Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” list in 2006 -- proved himself by playing the title role in action movie “Ninja Assassin”. And Lee Byung-hun, who seemed somewhat stuck in the Hallyu star label, also made himself known around the world by playing Storm Shadow, the most impressive villain in “G. I. Joe”. People criticized the Wonder Girls’ of neglecting the Korean music market when they made their U.S. debut, but they made quite an achievement -- they entered the Billboard Hot100 chart within a year of their debut.



News 6. G-Dragon accused of plagiarism 
The plagiarism controversy surrounding G-Dragon’s solo album “Heartbreaker” was one of the hottest issues in the Korean music industry this year. Netizens kept debating whether or not the song was plagiarized and such discussion led to bigger issues in the music business as a whole, such as plagiarism controversies of other Korean musicians, the criteria of plagiarism and musical copyrights. However, it was unexpected that such controversy would produce the (tentatively titled) “Plagiarism Committee”, an official government organization under the authority of Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. We might soon get to see ten or so officials making their plagiarism-related rulings over numerous Korean pop songs. 




News 7. Kim Jae-dong, Son Seok-hee resign from TV shows 
I had “doubts” when emcee Kim Jae-dong hosted the official funeral ceremonies for former Korean president Roh Moo-hyun. I also had “doubts” when I heard the rumor that Son Seok-hee would be resigning as host of MBC program “100 Minute Discussion”. But “doubt” turned into reality in Korea in 2009; whatever incident one had imagined could happen and even more came true this year. Kim and Son both stepped down from their posts as the main emcee of KBS “Star Golden Bell” and host of “100 Minute Discussion”, respectively. On the outside, the reason for their resignation was their “high salary”. In a government audit report released on October 11, politician Lee Jeong-hyun, a member of the Grand National Party, went as far as exposing the names of Korean celebrities -- including Yoo Jae-seok and Park Myung-soo -- who receive high salaries from broadcaster MBC. With Lee promoting the maximum-efficiency strategy [meaning that less pay is more efficient], his Party member Hong Joon-pyo made a seemingly sarcastic comment -- “Why don’t you give [MBC] a discount?” -- during a telephone interview with Son’s MBC radio show. In such times when one can get easily fired by expressing one’s beliefs or showing resistance against certain political parties, how will the broadcasting industry fare in the future? They even restrict people who appear on television -- what a dirty world this is!




News 8. TVXQ’s legal troubles with SM Entertainment 
Fans were probably more worried than excited when TVXQ members Xiah Junsu, Hero Jaejoong and Micky Yoochun made an appearance at the recent Mnet music awards. In the beginning -- back when the members were granted partial nullification of their contract with agency SM Entertainment -- nobody had expected that legal troubles between the group’s three members and SM would go on for as long as it has. The reason that this case is so frustrating is not because both parties simply have different perspectives but because they are fighting from completely different standpoints. The three TVXQ members had a problem with the inequality of contract clauses while SM claims that the real problem laid in their participation in a cosmetics business. Thus, they are not debating their cases to make the other party understand but are endlessly fighting and exposing secrets to reveal the truth. Nobody knows when this battle will end but the ending that everyone -- including the fans, the members and SM -- probably wants is for TVXQ to remain as a group and resume their activities in Korea. 



News 9. The “Loser” remark 
It was midnight, November 19th, 2009 when the infamous “Loser” drama began. It was only a matter of time that such incident would occur and the public would vent their anger toward the remark -- “All men shorter than 180 centimeters are losers” -- made by one college student appearing on KBS entertainment show “Chitchat of Beautiful Ladies”. In other words, it was not a random incident that was birthed by a flippant remark from a female college student but a bomb that had been ready to explode. After all, Korean society was obsessed with external beauty, public broadcasting stations had long lost their function of self-purification and the Internet had become a place for verbal violence rather than healthy discussions. It was later revealed by the show’s writers that the “loser” expression had been written in the script but by then it was too late to undo the damages. This is why this uproar, which died down as quickly as it had flared up, should not be buried in our memories as something that was merely unpleasant. What have we learned from this variety show disaster which was created by the social ills of the 21st century? 



News 10. Outbreak of H1N1 influenza virus 
Korea is a country that is very quick in picking up new trends and Korea did just that when the latest trend called the new H1N1 influenza virus came around. Thanks to their overloaded work schedules and exposure to unspecified public, celebrities practically had to be classified into a special group extra-sensitive to the virus. Many Korean stars including Lee Seung-gi, Wheesung, Kim Joon and Shinji were diagnosed with the flu virus and had to take a break from work. In case of young idol groups who live together, many of the members got infected and laid sick in bed. Many pop idols -- including Kim Hyun-joong (SS501), Taemin, Onew and Jonghyun (SHINee), Sulli and Krystal (f(x)), Jo Kwon and Jinwoon (2AM), Lee Joon and Cheon Dung (MBLAQ) -- got sick and fortunately recovered from the virus. [Actors who played] Bidam and Alcheon from MBC TV series “Queen Seon-deok” got infected one after the other and even tough guy actor Choi Min-soo suffered from the disease. This virus is truly fair in its destructiveness -- attacking the male and females, and the young and old alike. 

Senior Reporter : Kang Myoung-Seok two@10asia.co.kr
Reporter : Choi Ji-Eun five@10asia.co.kr, Wee Geun-woo eight@10asia.co.kr, Yoon Hee-Seong nine@10asia.co.kr
Editor : Lynn Kim lynn2878@asiae.co.kr, Jang Kyung-Jin three@10asia.co.kr
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