Overseas Kim Hyung Joon fans and everyone else looking forward to Playful Kiss is in for a real treat: live virtual VIP access to the drama’s press conference on August 26th. Just bookmark this link and be there at 2:00pm Korean Standard Time (that’s 1:00am in New York, for example) to catch the event live!

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho enjoyed modest ratings in its first week, not surprising considering that it’s up against the big hit Baker King Kim Tak Gu. The first two episodes of Gumiho gathered about 10% of viewers, and over 40% stuck with the King.

Does the gumiho have Hallyu potential? The horror drama Gumiho: Tale of the Fox’s Child has overcome initially poor ratings to emerge as a bit of a cult phenomenon. So much so, in fact, that KBS2 is shopping the drama’s broadcast rights around to other countries, including the States. It’s smart counter-programming that could pay off: the show’s roots in distinctively Korean folktales easily distinguish it from the crowd of translation-friendly action dramas.

Lots of stars in attendance at the recent SBS 20th anniversary gala: check out the famous faces right here, including Lee Bum Soo, Lee Da Hae, SNSD, KARA and others.

What’s the first name that comes to your mind when you think of Korea? For survey respondents that included Japanese and Korean adults, the name foremost in most people’s minds was Winter Sonata‘s Bae Yong Jun, who dwarfed even former president Kim Dae Jung. To see the entire list, click here.

Yoon Eun Hye and Kim Hyun Joong are looking cute, clean, and ready for school in the new fall fashion line from Joinus. Check out the preppy couple here.

Kim Ji Hoon announced that he’ll be entering the military after filming the science fiction-historical drama Joseon X-Files sometime before the end of the year.

Finally, seeing which stars naked made former wrestler and comedian Kang Ho Dong feel bad about his own body? The steamy answer is right here.

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Korean idols SS501 have topped several music charts in Taiwan with their latest album, according to agency DSP Media.

In Taiwan, SS501′s new record “DESTINATION”, which was released in the country on June 26, was handed the Platinum award, handed to albums selling over 30,000 copies, while remaining at No. 1 and 2 on the music charts of record retailers G-Music, Five-Music and Kuangnan.

Warner Music Taiwan, which released the new album in two versions, A and B, on major online shopping mall (http://www.books.com.tw), revealed that the latter version took first place every week on the website’s weekly music chart. On the monthly chart, version A was ranked third and fourth while B held onto the No.1 spot.

Read more about SS501′s Success in Taiwan on HanCinema.

Korean singer Kim Hyung-joon of boy band SS501 broke down while hosting a live radio show over the recent death of actor Park Yong-ha, who committed suicide early Wednesday morning.
Early Thursday morning, Kim broke…

Read more Kim Hyung-joon breaks down on radio over Park Yong-ha death on Hancinema.

As we mentioned yesterday, the untimely death of Park Yong Ha has all of Hallyuwood distraught. Many famous faces attended his funeral services today to pay their last respects to the popular singer, actor, and friend, to many.

Those in attendance included the likes of: So Ji Sub, Song Seung Hun, Lee Byung Hun, Kim Haneul, Choi Ji Woo, Jang Hyuk, Bae Yong Joon, Se7en, Park Han Byul, DBSK’s Yunho, Shin Seung Hoon, Go Joo Won, Eugene, Park Hee Soon, Jung Jun Ha, Seo In Kook, Ryu SiWon, Kim Hyun Joo, Eru, Jung Il Woo, Cha Tae Hyun, Kim Min Jung, Kim Min Jong, Won Bin, Yoon Eun Hye, Kim Gyuri, Kangta, Kim Bum, Sean of JinuSean, C.N. Blue, SS501’s Kim HyungJoon and his brother, U-Kiss’ Kim KiBum, Gummy, Park Hyo Shin, Lee Yeon Hee, Kim Ji Hoon, Won Bin and more.

Read more Stars Pay Respect to Park Yong Ha on Seoulbeats.

Big Bang DaeSung picks SS501 Kim HyunJoong as his rival. On KBS 2TV ‘Late Night Variety Night Star’, DaeSung had made a surprise voice appearance on the show through Yoon JongShin’s phonecall. Yoon JongShin then tried to find a topic to keep the phone conversation going between DaeSung and SHINee Onew, and asked, “I’m next to your rival. Who do you think he is? Who is you rival amongst the idols?”

Read more of “Big Bang DaeSung’s surprising statement, ‘My rival? Kim HyunJoong’ ” on K Bites.