Han Hye Jin and Kim Won Kyoung

Lee Byung Hun (IRIS) has been found not guilty of illegal gambling in a trial resulting from accusations made by his ex-girlfriend, who has since fled to Canada. The court ruled that occasional gambling at legal gambling facilities is…legal! At the same time, former baseball pitcher, television personality and admitted illegal gambler Kang Byung Kyu was found guilty of attempting to blackmail Lee and defamation of character. So is the story over? No way! Right after the trial, Kang immediately told reporters, “I will sue Lee Byung Hun for defamation next week.” Can someone please make a drama based on this?!

New details and casting announcements on Athena, the follow-up to the smash hit espionage drama IRIS. Ha Ji Won’s name had been bandied about as the female lead for the series, but her management says it’s not gonna happen. Also, Athena is NOT a sequel to IRIS, but a spin-off. Biggest news of all? An official sequel, IRIS 2 is coming in 2011–and Lee Byung Hun and Kim Tae Hee will be back to star!

A beautiful new photo shoot in April’s Vogue casts Han Hye Jin and Kim Won Kyoung as lawn games partners has kind of a Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland vibe. I’m not sure why it’s called “Would You Date Me?” but I do know that you must click!

In Kdrama Stars Outside Korea News, Lee Yo Won will participate in an all-star concert to mark the 18th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Vietnam. The event, titled “Love and Friendship,” will be held in Ho Chi Minh City. And Shining Inheritance star Han Hyo Joo has said that she’d love to work in Japan next. She even has dream co-stars in mind: Miki Nakatani and Juri Ueno.

Samsung is hoping that the sight of Lee Seung Ki gazing into your eyes while he sucks on his finger and drinks from a frosty old-fashioned milk bottle will make you want to buy a refrigerator.

Continue Reading

Category: News | Tags: Angela Zhang, Athena, Chuno, Fever Watch, Ha Ji Won, Han Hye Jin, IRIS, IRIS 2, Japanese, Jdrama, Jejoongwon, Juri Ueno, Kang Byung Kyu, Kdrama, Kim Soo Hyun, Kim Won Kyoung, Korean, Lee Byung Hun, Lee Seung Ki, Lee Yo Won, Life is Beautiful, Miki Nakatani, Shining Inheritance, Song Chang Eui, Ueno Juri

Park Ha Sun

Actors, models and fashionistas were honored for their contributions to Asian culture last weekend at the 5th annual Asian Model Awards in Seoul. Park Han Byul (Everybody Cha Cha Cha) and VJ Noh Hong Chul took home the Fashionista Award, while Cha Seung Won (City Hall) and Lee Yo Won (Queen Seon Duk) shared the Special Award, and Ji Sung (Swallow the Sun) and Yoo Sun (The Sons of Sol Pharmacy House) were awarded the Popular Star Award. Topping them all was Lee Byung Hun (IRIS), who took the grand prize, the Asia Star.

Lee’s agency also just announced that he will star in I Saw the Devil, the new thriller from director Kim Ji Woon (The Good, The Bad, The Weird). Lee will play against Cho Min Sik (Oldboy) in the bloody revenge flick which starts filming in February.

Park Ha Sun (That Fool) has been cast as Queen In Hyun in the historical epic drama Dong Yi, airing in March. Producers say they wanted a fresh face to play the role of the deposed Queen who develops a close relationship with Dong Yi, a water maid who climbs to a powerful position within the palace.

Chuno’s ever-increasing ratings have been the talk of the kdrama world this season–besides burying the competing Hero, this comparison with the show’s time slot forerunner shows that Chuno even beat the popularity of the mega-hit IRIS! Chuno star Jang Hyuk has a strange way of setting the mood for romantic scenes–right before they had to kiss on camera, he looked deeply into co-star Lee Da Hae’s eyes and asked what she wanted to be in ten years’ time… For more Chuno tidbits, check out these behind-the-scenes stories from Lee Da Hae, Jang Hyuk and Oh Ji Ho as told on the variety show Happy Together.

This month’s other ratings success story is God of Study, and the young cast is getting a lot more exposure recently, including this pretty classroom shoot for Elle Girl starring Go Ah Sung.

Continue Reading

Category: News | Tags: Boys Over Flowers, Cha Seung Won, Cho Min Sik, Chuno, City Hall, Coffee Prince, Dong Yi, Everybody Cha Cha Cha, Fever Watch, Go Ah Sung, God of Study, Happy Together, Im Joo Hwan, IRIS, Jang Hyuk, Kan Mi Yeon, Kdrama, Kim Bum, Kim Hee Sun, Kim Ji Woon, Korean, Lee Byung Hun, Lee Da Hae, Lee Hyuk Soo, Lee Yo Won, Noh Hong Chul, Oh Ji Ho, Oldboy, On Air, Park Ha Sun, Park Han Byul, Queen Seon Duk, Smile Again, That Fool, The Good The Bad The Weird, What's Up, Yoo Sun, Yoon Eun Hye

Jin Goo

Happy New Year everyone! The year in Korean drama ended with a bang as always, with the three major networks each holding their gala Drama Awards.

On MBC, awards night was all about the Queens. MBC had a very good year with the hit Queen Seon Duk, which dominated the evening by winning the Daesang (Grand Prize), Drama of the Year, Excellence Awards in acting for Lee Yo Won, Uhm Tae Woong and Kim Nam Gil, and Best Couple (Kim and Lee), among many other honors. Yoo Seung Ho and Lee Seung Hyo also won Newcomer Awards for their work on Queen Seon Duk. Many of Seon Duk’s awards however were shared with another regal drama, the feel-good hit Queen of Housewives. Housewives cleaned up with Excellence Awards for Kim Nam Joo and Yoon Sang Hyun.

Over at KBS, IRIS and Lee Byung Heon took top honors. The action hit also scored Excellence in Acting awards for Kim Seung Woo, Jung Jun Ho and Kim Tae Hee. Lee Min Ho and Kim So Eun each won Newcomer awards for fan favorite Boys Over Flowers, and you can check the complete list of awards winners right here.

At SBS, the big winner of the night was Wife’s Temptation, which not only won Daesang, but also Best Actor and Actress awards for Byun Woo Min and Kim Seo Hyung. Other dramas that gathered multiple awards for acting at SBS were Cain & Abel, Brilliant Legacy, and City Hall.

After Queen Seon Duk’s massive win at the MBC awards, star Ko Hyun Jung has announced her next role, and it’s another intriguing and powerful female character: Korea’s first woman president!

Lee Dae Hae will appear January 2nd on the variety show Happy Together to promote her upcoming gender-switch historical drama Chuno. During taping, she reportedly performed an “almost perfect butt dance.” Almost?

Kim Hyun Jung is tops in Japan, at least according to the magazine Enolife, which ranked Hallyu stars’ popularity. Check out the complete rundown here.

Continue Reading

Category: News | Tags: Boys Over Flowers, Brilliant Legacy, Byun Woo Min, Cain and Abel, City Hall, Fever Watch, Happy Together, IRIS, Japan, Jin Goo, Jung Jun Ho, Kim Bum, Kim Hyun Jung, Kim Jung Eun, Kim Nam Gil, Kim Nam Joo, Kim Seo Hyung, Kim Seung Woo, Kim So Eun, Kim Tae Hee, Kimchi War, Ko Hyun Jung, Korea, Korean, Le Grand Chef, Lee Byung Heon, Lee Dae Hae, Lee Min Ho, Lee Seung Hyo, Lee Yo Won, Queen Seon Duk, Uhm Tae Woong, Wife's Temptation, Yoo Seung Ho, Yoon Sang Hyun

Mark Zhao

Queen Seon Duk aired its final, 62nd episode on Tuesday, and it was an emotional goodbye for the cast and crew of the very popular epic drama. At the wrap party, star Kim Nam Gil gave every single crew member a big hug, and Lee Yo Won reflected on her role and the series here. QSD at one point reached a phenomenal mid-40s rating, and the finale still managed to grab 37%. In January, the Queen’s time slot will be filled by something completely different: the foodie romance Pasta.

We reported earlier on Kim Bum’s (Boys Over Flowers) holiday trip to Japan, and now the video of Kim’s message to his Japanese fans and many more pics from the Winter Dream Dinner have been released.

Congratulations to Kim Nam Joo (Queen of Housewives), who has been chosen as the Actor of the Year by the Korean government. Her role as a strong, confident woman helped catapult the drama to the top of the ratings three times this year.

Kim Hyun Joo (Partner, Boys Over Flowers) released a new book centered on her love for crafts and knitting titled Hyun Joo’s Hand-Crafted Story. Partial proceeds of the book sales will go to charity, and you can see her rocking the scarf she made herself here.

Cha Seung Won (City Hall) sported sort of a Freddie Mercury-ish look for High Cut magazine, including a stretchy leopard print shirt. Check out the man, the myth, the facial hair right here.

Ethan Ruan (My Queen) has a new movie coming out with Mark Zhao (Black & White), and while on a variety show to promote it, the host promised to show the trailer…but only if they kissed each other first. Most people would be calling Human Resources right then and there, but Ethan and Mark made out on demand! The mafia film Monga will be released next February.

Continue Reading

Category: News | Tags: Black & White, Boys Over Flowers, Cha Seung Won, City Hall, Ethan Ruan, Fever Watch, Japanese, Kdrama, Kim Bum, Kim Ha Neul, Kim Hyung Joon, Kim Nam Gil, Kim Nam Joo, Korean, Lee Yo Won, Mark Zhao, My Queen, On Air, Queen of Housewives, Queen Seon Duk, Tawainese, Twdrama

Song Joong Ki

Kim Ha Neul will join So Ji Sub and Son Chang Min for military boot camp in preparation for their roles in Road Number One, which starts filming right after the holidays. The war drama’s start date in June is set to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War.

Kim Hyun Joong (Boys Over Flowers) recently revisited the same Macau egg tart shop from the drama with his family, causing quite a stir. More details and tourist video are here!

Yoon Eun Hye (Coffee Prince) is in so many notable photo shoots that it seems like a new one is released every day, but this catalog shoot with Hyun Bin (The World That They Live In) has a cool Polaroid-American Apparel vibe that’s worth checking out.

Remember when Rainie Yang and Show Luo came to New York for Show’s concert and supposedly made nice? Turns out there was a lot more to it than that, including constant bickering between the Hi My Sweetheart stars, and Rainie somehow losing $12,000 at a casino!

The 31st annual Yokohama Film Festival recently concluded, and several Japanese drama stars walked away with awards, including Yoshinori Okada (Atashinchi no Danshi) as Best Supporting Actor.

Park Hae Jin’s Hot Blooded Salesman (aka Hot Blood) ended to mediocre ratings–the final episode grabbed a 9% share. The audience consensus on the entrepreneur-centered drama seems to be a generally favorable “meh.”

Queen Seon Duk’s Lee Yo Won and a cat luxuriate in furs in the new Share Happiness spread in Elle magazine!

Also in Elle, catch the playful Young Guns shoot featuring Kim Bum, Kim Hye Sung, Song Joong Ki and other male stars in some of the goofiest photos we’ve seen in a while.

Kim Bum has also signed on with the skin care company It’s Skin, so if you’ve ever wanted to see him brandish a hypodermic needle, click here!

Continue Reading

Category: News | Tags: Atashinchi no Danshi, Boys Over Flowers, Coffee Prince, Fever Watch, Gong Yoo, Hi My Sweetheart, Hot Blood, Hyun Bin, Jun Ji Hyun, Kim Bum, Kim Ha Neul, Kim Hye Sung, Kim Hyun Joong, Ko Hyun Jung, Lee Yo Won, My Sassy Girl, Park Hae Jin, Queen Seon Duk, Rainie Yang, Show Luo, So Ji Sub, Son Chang Min, Song Joong Ki, The World That They Live In, Yoon Eun Hye, Yoshinori Okada