K-pop artists have established different popularity turfs in different countries, a global survey conducted by CJ E&M showed.According to the poll results released Friday, the most popular K-pop artist globally turned out to be the girl group f(x) who won the highest percentage of votes at 16.4 percent, thanks to their Chinese fandom. K-pop boy band Shinhwa won 15.1 percent and SS501 leader Kim Hyun-joong 9.3 percent, placing them second and third, followed by boy bands EXO and SHINee. EXO won t

Jan. 26, 2014

Asian viewers have their eyes on South Korean dramas and actors. Kim Soo-hyun, in particular, hero of the hit drama “Man from the Stars,” is gaining explosive popularity in China, topping the “Today’s Actor” chart on China’s largest search engine Baidu on Jan. 14. “Kim Soo-hyun is handsome, and many girls would want to approach him,” said Connie Pang, 33, a big fan of Korean dramas who lives in Hong Kong. 　The 27-year-old heartthrob has been well-regarded for his acting, too. “Kim Soo-hyun is on

Jan. 22, 2014

Controversy over obsessed fans is firing up again after a netizen posted an online ad Monday, advertising a pair of underwear for sale, supposedly belonging to D.O., a member of K-pop group EXO.　On Jan. 20, a photo of men’s underwear was posted on social network service Kakao Story with the caption, “Do Gyung-soo’s (D.O.) underwear for sale.”　The poster, who is believed to be a “sasaeng fan,” offered to sell the underwear for 100,000 won ($94), writing that she had taken the item from his dorm h

Jan. 21, 2014

The number of K-pop fans around the world surpassed 9 million last year, according to a recent report by the Korea Foundation. The number stood at 9.28 million, up 2.58 million from 2012. Fan clubs came in at 987, up 204 from a year ago. By region, the Asia-Pacific had the greatest number of K-pop-loving fans at 6.8 million, while Africa and the Middle East together reported the most significant surge. The combined number of fans in Africa and the Middle East tripled to 60,000, with countries li

Jan. 12, 2014

Actor Eom Ki-joon posted a photo with Suzy of Miss A, who had come to watch the musical “Werther” on Twitter Sunday. The 39-year-old actor and the K-pop girl group member starred together on the KBS drama “Dream High” in 2011 as a teacher and student. Eom said he would perform on stage four more times before “Werther” end its run on Jan. 12. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

Jan. 6, 2014

Idol singer and style icon G-Dragon posted a photo of his father on Twitter Sunday morning with the title “Father and I in Sapporo for Big Bang Japan Dome tour 2014.”The photo shows the idol star taking a picture of his father sitting on a sofa dressed in black from head to toe, wearing a pair of matching black sneakers with a trendy muffler and fedora. The photo went viral among Twitter fans in Korea and abroad, receiving comments that his extraordinary fashion sense seems to come from his fath

Jan. 5, 2014

2PM’s Nichkhun shared a photo on Twitter of him being kissed on the cheek by his sister Cherreen.“Look at what I got this Christmas,” the idol star wrote o n Wednesday. 　Nickhun looked sulky in the photo despite the hearty kiss from his sister.　Ock Hyun-ju, Intern reporter(laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)　

Dec. 26, 2013

Tiffany of Girls’ Generation and Bora from Sistar have posed for a pictorial due to be published in the January issue of Harper’s Bazaar magazine.The two K-pop idols are currently appearing in the fashion collaboration survival show titled “Fashion King Korea,” where celebrities partner up with a fashion designer to compete against one another in various fashion challenges and missions. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

Dec. 24, 2013

Hallyu star Bae Yong-joon is dating a 27-year-old woman, his entertainment agency KEYEAST confirmed on Monday. “They have been in a good relationship for three months after they met through a close friend,” an official of the agency said, without providing further details. “It’s not time to talk about marriage yet.”Earlier in the day, a Japanese media outlet broke the story about Bae’s romantic relationship and described the girlfriend as an attractive woman fluent in English, who is also a daug

Dec. 23, 2013

Choreographer Hong Young-joo was certainly happy when audition show “Dancing 9” came out. While not involved with the show, she said she was glad to see Korea looking at dance not as something difficult, but as something that people can truly enjoy.“The reason why I wanted to teach kids is not for the sake of teaching kids, but to show them that it’s fun,” she said in an interview with The Korea Herald on Dec. 6. There are differences between the Western and Korean students in her studio, she po

Dec. 17, 2013

Park Bom of 2NE1 and young K-pop rookie starlet Lee Hi have combined vocal forces to take on Mariah Carey’s holiday classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” The duo unit dubbed “BOM&HI” is releasing the digital single as the first of a series of collaborative projects titled “YG x SAMSUNG MUSIC.” The Christmas track was pre-released at midnight Tuesday on Samsung Music and will be officially released to other local digital music sites on Friday. “Although it is a very famous song, I think peop

Dec. 17, 2013

The rising hip-hop star Zion.T, with one of the most distinctive voices in the industry, has announced that he will be releasing a new mini-album titled “Mirror Ball,” which will feature a fusion of traditional Korean trot-style sound with dubstep in a single titled “Miss Kim.” The album’s lead track “Miss Kim” is said to incorporate the old-time style of Korean trot music while giving it a modern-day hip-hop twist. The teaser video for the track shows black and white footage of mob-like charact

Dec. 17, 2013

Hwa-young, a former member of K-pop girl group T-ara, has signed an exclusive contract with a new agency named Wellmade STARM on Monday.“We have signed a contract with Hwa-young since we discovered her potential to become an actor,” said Wellmade STARM. “Through her transformation into an actress, she will develop new aspects of her that she hasn’t shown to the public yet.”Other actors the agency represents include Lee Jong-suk, Song Sae-byeok and Oh Yeon-seo.Hwa-young made her debut in 2010 as

Dec. 16, 2013

Wonder Girls member Sohee reportedly is set to end her contract with her current agency JYP Entertainment. According to local media reports. Sohee held a secret meeting with another agency specializing in acting as the termination of her existing contract is just around the corner.  “The contract with Sohee ends on Dec. 21 and we have decided to respect her decision to focus on her acting career after much discussion,” JYP Entertainment said in a press release.The contract with the other Wonder

Dec. 11, 2013

Suzy, a top-rated South Korean star, is expected to maintain an exclusive contract with JYP Entertainment through March of 2017, according to the agency’s public disclosure filings for investors. Suzy, a member of K-pop girl group Miss A, is one of the most lucrative talents discovered and nurtured by JYP Entertainment, which is listed on the KOSDAQ stock market. She is single-handedly dominating the television ad market by grabbing all the major modeling roles for big advertisers. Featuring Suz

Dec. 11, 2013

Idol band CNBLUE is set to embark on a Central and South American tour next month. The band will be the first K-pop artists to launch an extended tour in that part of the world. The tour will kick off on Jan. 26 in Mexico City’s Pepsi Center WTC in Mexico, and then move on to Parque del la Exposicion in Lima, Peru on Jan. 28, and Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile on Jan. 31. Movistar Arena has hosted performances of world famous artists such as the Black Eyed Peas, Maroon 5, Jennifer Lopez and B

Dec. 10, 2013