Boy band CNBLUE will hold an exclusive live concert in London, the birthplace of rock music. “‘CNBLUE Live in London’ will be held at IndigO2 in Greenwich, which can accommodate up to 3,000 people, at 7 p.m. on Sept. 22,” CNBLUE’s agency FNC Entertainment announced. The concert is part of CJ E&M’s global concert brand, “M-Live.” AEG, a global music entertainment presenter, will collaborate in organizing the concert. “AEG Live also collaborated in the joint concert of FT Island and CNBLUE that wa

Aug. 21, 2012

Korean pop music is undoubtedly the leading force in the Korean culture boom that is attracting thousands of visitors to the country. K-pop was the main reason that brought 21-year-old Hungarian Lici Nemczov to Korea in March. “I first listened to K-pop music and then learned about Korean culture and food on the Internet. And I came to Korea in March this year to learn the Korean language,” said Nemczov at the K-pop dance class at Seoul Global Culture and Tourism Center in Myeong-dong last week.

Aug. 17, 2012

Not since Zorro’s “Z” has a letter evoked more passion in the popular psyche than “K.” The “K” here, of course, stands for Korea, and it has grown to be a top prefix in today’s popular culture from K-pop (music), K-drama and K-movie to K-tech.Its popularity has made it a coveted prefix for various local arenas other than culture and entertainment too, such as business and politics.At the recent One Million Youth Gathering 2012 in Putrajaya, K-pop acts were featured to attract young voters, while

Aug. 13, 2012

Singer Kim Jang-hoon plans to spend more time performing abroad.Kim, well-known for his donations to various charities and causes totaling over $20 billion, will participate in a special concert commemorating the 20th anniversary of Korea-China diplomatic relations. The concert, which will also feature Super Junior M and Exo-K, will be held on Oct. 2 and aired throughout China. In February, Kim held his first concert in China at the Shanghai International Gymnastics Center.  Kim is scheduled to

Aug. 7, 2012

A performance featuring K-pop singers who belong to the same entertainment agency has attracted more than 100,000 fans in Tokyo, the organizer said Monday.The concert was held at Tokyo Dome in the Japanese capital on Saturday and Sunday as part of a world concert tour organized by the S.M. Entertainment Agency to capitalize on the rising boom of the Korean pop culture.During the “SM Town Live World Tour III in Tokyo” concert, the crowd enthusiastically sang along with the singers, waving colorfu

Aug. 6, 2012

The controversy over top South Korean girl group T-ara‘s surprise shedding of one of its members is showing signs of abating as the member apologized for causing trouble on her personal Twitter account.The controversy began when five members of the group on Saturday left tweets in unison apparently critical of Hwayoung’s attitude, giving an impression that she may have been bullied by fellow group members. On Monday, the group‘s management agency, Core Content Media, announced a decision to term

Aug. 1, 2012

Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul, the Thai-American member of the K-pop group 2PM, has been booked without detention for driving under the influence.The 23-year-old, often known as Nichkhun, had a minor collision with a motorcycle at around 2:45 a.m. in southern Seoul’s upscale Gangnam area, the Gangnam Police Station said. His blood alcohol concentration, tested at the scene, was 0.056 percent, a level that could lead to the suspension of his driver’s license, the police said.His agency JYP Entertainmen

July 24, 2012

S.M. Entertainment to hold an IT exhibition on K-pop singers in collaboration with global firmsS.M. Entertainment, one of the country’s three major entertainment agencies, is hosting the world’s first interactive entertainment exhibition in Seoul next month in collaboration with global firms. The S.M. Art Exhibition will present various types of entertainment content visualized through state-of-the-art IT technology.Don’t let the title mislead. Despite being called an “art exhibition,” the event

July 23, 2012

More than 10,000 were enrolled at King Sejong Institutes ― Korea’s state-run Korean language institutes operating overseas ― last year, double the number of students registered when the language school was established in 2009, according to the Culture Ministry.The institute was founded in 2009 with 4,301 students enrolled at 17 branches in six countries in 2009. According to Ahn Mi-jung of the Korean Language Policy Division of the Culture Ministry, the language schools, also known as Sejong Hak

July 22, 2012

Applications are open for the annual K-pop competition in New York, organizer Korean Cultural Service New York announced on Sunday.The 2012 NY K-pop Festival, which celebrates its second edition this year, is sponsored by three major entertainment agencies: S.M., YG and JYP. There are three categories this year: singing, dancing, and singing and dancing.Those interested in participating must pick a song by SHINee, Big Bang or the Wonder Girls, make a demo video of their performance, and upload i

July 22, 2012

KARA, one of the most popular Korean pop groups in Japan, was ranked 6th in the “2012 First Half Talent Power Ranking” according to Nikkei Entertainment, a Japanese entertainment magazine. The five-member girl group proved its popularity, ranking the highest out of hallyu stars in Japan. The result was a pleasant surprise for the group as it ranked after the five members of Arashi, a Japanese boy group, who took the top five spots. The survey of teenage girls in Japan placed KARA as the only for

July 12, 2012

SM EntertainmentSouth Korean group Girls' Generation was the No. 1 choice for foreigners participating in a South Korean contest for emulating the choreography of popular K-pop groups, the organizer said Tuesday.After analyzing video footage sent in by the participants of the "2012 K-pop Cover Dance Festival," contest organizer Korea Year Committee said that Girls' Generation was emulated in 155 i

July 11, 2012

Five-member boy band SHINee has completed its first arena tour of Japan. The group performed 20 concerts, stopping off at Fukuoka, Hokkaido, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, Tokyo and Hiroshima, and attracting 200,000 people.SHINee, which debuted in Japan in June 2011 with “Replay (Kimi-wa Boku-no Everything),” has a large fanbase in the country. The tour began on April 25, and additional dates were scheduled in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka after tickets sold out for the initial concerts. In Nagoya, three additi

July 2, 2012

HONG KONG (AFP) ― Thousands of fans flocked to a major K-pop concert in Hong Kong on Saturday, cheering an array of South Korean stars in the latest sign of the pop music phenomenon’s rising popularity.Music Bank featured eight popular South Korean artists and was the largest K-pop concert to be held in the southern Chinese city. Boy band TVXQ and singing starlet IU were among the groups that danced and sang to a sea of exuberant fans.“I am very happy that Hong Kong is able to organize such a la

June 24, 2012

Boy band 2PM and girl groups 2NE1 and Girls’ Generation received major awards at the MTV Japan music video awards on Saturday, beating other internationally famous artists. 2PM won the Best Group Video with “I am Your Man” and 2NE1 received the Best New Artist Video with “I am the Best.” Girls’ Generation won Best Album with “Girls Generation,” their first regular album in Japan, released in June last year. The album has sold 206,979 copies, making it the 11th best-selling album in the first hal

June 24, 2012

 Five members talk about their futures, unfinished musical journey in the U.S.Wonder Girls, one of the few K-pop groups that bravely entered the gigantic music market in the United States, are turning their eyes to the rest of Asia. The five-member group released its EP “Wonder Party” in Korea this month and will make its debut in Japan in July. The girls will also give their first solo concert in three years in Seoul on July 7 ― to “have some fun” with their long-waiting Asian fans, not retreat

June 20, 2012