(Updated) Lee Byung Hun will not be cast in ‘IRIS 2′

Update: ‘IRIS 2′ and ‘Athena: Goddess of War’ are two different dramas. This article was merely meant to clarify that Lee Byung Hun will not be cast in ‘IRIS 2′. I assume he will also not be in ‘Athena’, but the point of the article was to break news about him not appearing in ‘IRIS 2′. Sorry for the confusion.

With the premiere of the drama ‘Athena’ looming ahead, many have been wondering about the possibility of actor Lee Byung Hun being cast in ‘IRIS 2‘.

‘Athena: Goddess of War‘, is a spin-off of the highly popular and successful KBS2 drama series ‘IRIS’, in which Lee Byung Hun and Kim Tae Hee took main roles. Many netizens had been curious about whether these two actors will be re-cast in ‘IRIS 2′, and finally on the morning of the 31st, an associate of Lee Byung Hun stated that the actor did indeed receive an offer and was currently looking into the character role.

However, during a phone conversation between newspaper company OSEN and an associate of Lee Byung Hun’s entertainment company, they stated,

“We have never received a casting offer from the production company Taewon Entertainment, nor have we even read the synopsis of the drama.

In reality, we are not in a situation for Lee Byung Hun to be cast for this spinoff. The filming for ‘G.I Joe 2′ will start at the end of this year. Due to ‘G.I Joe 2′, there will not be any plans for him to star in other dramas or movies for a while.”

‘IRIS 2′ is set to debut in late 2011 on KBS2.

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Baker King gets exported to six Asian countries

KBS 2TV’s Baker King Kim Tak Gu is becoming an even bigger sensation. It’s already receiving tremendously high ratings in Korea, but now it’s branching out.

The drama will be aired in China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The production company has signed a contract for it to be sold in those countries, and they are currently discussing with BCWW (BROADCAST WORLD WIDE) about the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia.

The four main characters: Yoon Si Yoon, Ju Won, Lee Young Ah, and Eugene met with BCWW on September 1st. The four will be promoting the drama in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in future.

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Who will cameo next on Gumiho Girlfriend?

Last week’s episodes of My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho featured two cameo appearances: UEE and Park Shin-hye, both from the Hong sisters’ previous drama, You’re Beautiful. This has people wondering who’ll be next, since the Hong sisters have previously had fun with bringing back actors from their other dramas.

Well, the idol stars of You’re Beautiful are planning to make appearances, starting with Jang Geun-seok, then Jung Yong-hwa. Their castmate Lee Hong-ki agreed readily to the cameo, but because of his busy schedule, he’s currently trying to work out a time to shoot his part.

Furthermore, according to the production company CEO, the You’re Beautiful cast isn’t the only source of cameo possibilities; they are preparing cameos from other stars as well.

Who wants to start making guesses? (Kang Ji-hwan? Han Ye-seul? Han Chae-young? JAE HEE?)

Ultimately, these cameos hardly make an impact on the current drama’s storylines, but I suppose such is the nature of cameos, right? The fun lies in the meta awareness of who these actors are and how they fit into the Hong sisters’ world, and these are two writers who positively revel in these fun extras. Sometimes they’ll reuse favorite actors but create entirely new characters for them, while in other instances they’ll make a cheeky nod to an earlier work.

For example: they loved Jang Geun-seok in Hong Gil Dong and brought him back for You’re Beautiful. They also coupled up Ahn Seok-hwan and Choi Ran twice, in Delightful Girl Chun-hyang and then My Girl. Choi Ran came back two more times, for Hong Gil Dong and You’re Beautiful.

On the other hand, sometimes they bring back existing characters, even if the cameo details don’t quite fit with the original drama. For instance, when Han Chae-young and Jae Hee cameo’d in My Girl after playing a couple in Chun-hyang, they used the same names, even though the cameo doesn’t fit all the facts of Chun-hyang. And Mi-nyeo’s reappearance last week hardly fits her You’re Beautiful character.

But I’m betting most of us don’t mind, since it’s enough to see these familiar faces again, yeah?

UEE in Episode 5; Park Shin-hye in Episode 6

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Taeyang performs on Kim Jung Eun’s ‘Chocolate’

Recently on the 29th ,Big Bang’s Taeyang performed on Kim Jung Eun’s ‘Chocolate’, where he talked about the whereabouts of the other members.

Taeyang said, “Daesung is currently at the peak of his drama filming, while Seung Ri is out doing variety shows.”

However, when asked about the whereabouts of T.O.P, Taeyang answered more or less impudently, causing the fans to be suspicious. Taeyang answered, “T.O.P hyung finished the filming for his movie. I don’t really know what he’s been doing lately,” making the whole audience laugh.

To the group’s leader, and Taeyang’s best friend, G-Dragon, he sent out a happy birthday message, saying, “My brother, happy birthday.” The recording occurred on G-Dragon’s 23rd birthday on August 18th.

To end, Taeyang said, “Next time we’ll come out all at once”, and asked everyone to look forward to Big Bang’s comeback.

Taeyang also performed ‘Where U At’, ‘I Need a Girl’, and ‘I’ll Be There’.

Check them out after the jump.

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Where U At

I Need a Girl

I’ll Be There

Se7en likes Taeyang’s chocolate abs

This week’s Music Core had a bit of male bondage going on between YG Family members, Taeyang and Se7en.

During a rehearsal of Taeyang’s single “I’ll Be There,” Se7en disguised himself as a back dancer, grabbed Taeyang’s leg during the performance and lifted up his shirt, presenting fans with only a view of his muscular back, but giving Se7en a nice shot of Taeyang’s buff body.

Just another example of how K-pop idols give their fans the best fanservice. Both artists are currently promoting and during Se7en’s live performance of “Digital Bounce,” he gave a quick shout out to Taeyang at the beginning of his song.

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Check out a fancam of the shirt lifting below:

Action-fantasy film Jeon Woo Chi gets a drama series

Kang Dong-won‘s 2009 fantasy action-adventure film Jeon Woo Chi is getting a drama series, to be produced by the company Chorokbaem (Green Snake) Media.

This could be cool, as the movie was a hit (it logged 6 million theater admissions) and was based on a premise with great potential. Jeon Woo Chi is a classical novel of unknown origin dating to the Joseon era that tells the story of a free-wheeling, mischievous Jeon Woo Chi (Kang Dong-won in the film), who swallowed the gumiho’s fox bead, which gave him powers of Taoist magic. He uses those powers to save the poor, oppressed people and becomes a hero.

In the drama series, we’ll be seeing a lot of the characters from the original novel, which includes the lower rungs of society like scam artists, bandits, and gisaengs.

Chorokbaem Media has a number of sageuk and fusion hits to its name, including Jumong, Kingdom of the Wind, Chuno, and Iljimae. Chorokbaem VP Kim Seung-wook said, “There are numerous hero stories out there, but it’s rare to have one as cheery and sparkling as Jeon Woo Chi. We look forward to showing a new type of hero in the drama.” There are also plans to reinterpret some of the Joseon era’s most famous figures, such as Hwang Jini.

Here’s the trailer for the 2009 movie version, which added a contemporary bent by having the reckless hero locked up in a scroll for 500 years. He is released into present-day Korea to use his powers to defeat goblins that are wreaking havoc.

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Why was Shin Min Ah chosen for ‘My Girlfriend is a Nine-tailed Fox’?

What is the story behind Shin Min Ah surpassing Jun Ji Hyun and Shin Se Kyung for the main role in the SBS drama, ‘My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox’?

Originally, Min Ah was never the first pick for the role. The original plan was for either Jun Ji Hyun, or the ‘hottest’ star of the MBC sitcom ‘Highkick Through the Roof’, Shin Se Kyung, to act out the ‘nine-tailed fox’.

However, due to the burdens of coming back as an actress in a drama, Jun Ji Hyun rejected the offer, while Shin Se Kyung was considered too young to act alongside actor Lee Seung Ki, and her image from ‘Highkick Through the Roof’ might have tarnished the lovable and cute character.

The producer of ‘My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox’ revealed that they chose Shin Min Ah for her ‘CF Queen’ image. The producer said, “Even though Shin Min Ah gained the ‘CF Queen’ image from shooting many CFs rather than dramas, for the role of the ‘nine-tailed fox’, we wanted someone who didn’t have a particular image as an actress. When we directly met with her, we felt that she could act out a ‘nine-tailed fox’ who hadn’t woken up in 500 years.”

Meanwhile, ‘My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox’ is currently scoring 10% in viewer ratings, and there are talks with ‘You’re Beautiful’ stars, Jang Geun Suk, Jung Yonghwa, and Lee Hong Ki to cameo in the drama after UEE and Park Shin Hye made cameos last week.

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Lee Minho achieves one million fans on Facebook

Talented actor, Lee Minho, was able to achieve something that doesn’t happen often, and that was reaching one million fans on his Facebook page!

To this date, Lee Minho is the first person from South Korea to achieve a total of one million fans on a Facebook page. With his page being open for just f0ur months, the amount of fans gained in such short amount of time is quite remarkable.

Via his official Facebook page, Lee Minho stated the following to his fans:

Hi, this is Min Ho Lee. Through Facebook, I’ve made about 1 million friends.When I first started Facebook, I didn’t think this many people would visit my page. I started with a small attempt to get to know my fans, but I’m happy that I’ve made so many friends as a result. There are many foreign fans who I don’t get to see often, and so I hope to keep in good contact through Facebook. Now wait! I will progress with a Facebook 1 million event! (2010.9.1 ~ 2010.9.13) If you have any questions for me, you can post it on my Facebook or Twitter page. Then I’ll try my best to send replies~~:) I hope many people participate in this~ Thank you~

He also posted an English subbed ‘thank you” video on YouTube.

Considering that Barack Obama has around 12 million fans, Michael Jackson has almost 20 million, American actor Leonardo DeCaprio has almost 500,000, and finally the Wonder Girls have about 350,000, this is truly something big by Lee Minho.

So prepare your questions now for the ‘Facebook 1 Million Event‘ starting September 1st and lasting until the 13th, and send them over to him via Facebook and Twitter.

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Super Junior’s Choi Siwon & Donghae to act in Taiwanese drama ‘Glamorous Challenge’

Super Junior’s Choi Siwon and Donghae have been cast in the Taiwanese drama Glamorous Challenge as the leading male roles.

According to Taiwan iFensi on the 24th, “The decision to cast Choi Siwon and Donghae into Glamorous Challenge has been finalized.”

Glamorous Challenge is a remake drama of a Japanese comic called Skip Beat, and it’s about a girl that gets betrayed by her long time boyfriend. In an attempt to get revenge, she debuts as a celebrity, and the drama unfolds with the various events she experiences soon after.

Taiwanese actress Lin Yichen will be playing the leading female role for the drama. Choi Siwon and Donghae already appeared in her music video for Firefly last September, and that was how the two were brought up during casting discussions.

Choi Siwon’s character is a successful celebrity that chooses business over his girlfriend. Although he is able to capture the hearts of women with his charismatic looks, he often looks back on his memories with his innocent girlfriend.

Donghae will be playing the role of a top star, and he is regarded as having the best looks and acting skills in the industry. He is also a mysterious figure of the leading female’s childhood, having disappeared when they were both young.

This will be Donghae’s first time acting, so much attention has been put on whether he will be able to express a character with perfect looks but awkward emotions.

Glamorous Challenge will begin filming in March of next year.

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F.T Island returns with ‘Love Love Love’ on Music Bank

After releasing the MV teaser, the mini album, and the full MV, F.T Island is back in full promotional swing with their comeback track, Love Love Love!

Armed with a fresh new sound and a brand new look and vibe, this pop-rock quintet is ready to take on the K-pop scene with their instruments. The boys have been spending a lot of time in
Japan lately, so it’s great to have them back! Check out their comeback performance below!

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How much do singers get paid on music shows?

Any typical viewer of K-pop’s ever-spectacular music shows would probably think the compensation for the artists is beyond imagination in numbers, especially for famous idol stars. However, a recent declaration by Korea’s National Singer Association begs to differ.

The Korea’s National Singer Association has recently elected trot artist Tae Jin Ah to be its next president. As the group’s new representative, Tae Jin Ah revealed, “I will make appearance fees for music programs more realistic now.”

What does he mean by that?

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Apparently, the artists who appear in those music shows actually get paid ridiculously little. Many artists have already proclaimed that by appearing on these shows, they actually lose money.

According to reports, each time an artist makes a performance on stage for a music show, he/she gets around $200. The rate is identical for all three broadcasting stations – MBC, SBS, and KBS – and the actual fee differs based on the artists’ years of experience in the music field rather than their fame.

The increments are as follows: debuted less than 5 years ago, debuted more than 5 years ago, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, and 40 years ago. Each group receives around $100 more than the lesser group, depending on the year that you debuted in.

Also, the rate does not differ for solo artists and group artists. Although the group artists receive a tad more than the solo artists, they are not enough to compensate each member of the group with a fair amount of money. To give an example, a member of SNSD only receives about $100 for each stage (including a handful amount of bonus for their high popularity).

Due to such low compensation, many artists have filed complaints toward the broadcasting stations for a long period of time. Typically, a dance artist would spend around $5,000 for each stage due to various stylists, backup dancers, and stage wardrobes. Although they technically lose money, they would do it anyway since appearing on music shows for artists are crucial for their promotions.

What do you think – too low or just right?

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Kim Hyun Joong to release an album next year

It has been announced that SS501’s Kim Hyun Joong will release an album next year with his new label, Keyeast.

On the 26th, a press conference was held for the drama Playful Kiss.

At the conference, Kim Hyun Joong stated, “The reason why I moved to Keyeast was because I could act and sing at the same time.”

He then revealed his future plans to continue as a singer, stating, “It’s not for sure yet, but I am in training for an upcoming album. I do not know if it will be a solo album or a group, but by the looks of it, there will be a higher chance of being it a solo.”

A reporter asked about his status with SS501, which he replied, “Nothing is decided. No one knows if we will come out with an album in the future, so I don’t know why everyone keeps saying we disbanded.”

There is a good possibility that the album will be with all five members.

Stay tuned on allkpop for more information about this matter.

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Extended 15 min trailer for Playful Kiss

Just yesterday we had the new teaser for Playful Kiss, and now there’s a longer cut available (thanks to everyone who sent it to me!). I don’t actually think it’s an official trailer — it feels kind of rough — but it gives us an extended look at the drama.

It seems like Boys Before Flowers has been the main point of comparison for this show, but I’m getting a much more Goong-like vibe, which in my mind is a very good thing. It’s no surprise, either, since PD Hwang In-roi directed Goong; one of my favorite aspects of that drama was its time spent in the school, which seems to be a key point of this story as well.

Furthermore, lead actress Jung So-min has already been called a “Little Yoon Eun-hye” for her facial resemblance to her (if you ignore her eyes, in some angles they look eerily similar), and I anticipate that this role will solidify that image — not only does she have the physical similarity, but similar character mannerisms of Chae-kyung, the role that made Yoon a superstar.

(I still think Kim Hyun-joong looks a bit old for her, but I’m hoping for solid chemistry.)

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Hallyu stars gather for a special drama Haru

From 2PM’s recent campaign song, Boom Boom Boom, to this upcoming drama, Haru, it looks like all of Korea’s stars are participating in promoting the year of visiting Korea. Hallyu stars, Yunho, Kim Bum, Big Bang, Han Chae Young, Park Shi Hoo, and Lee Da Hae have gathered for the Omnibus drama Haru (Day), produced by the Korean National Tourism Organization.

This drama has been produced in honor of 2010 being the year of visiting Korea. The meeting between the drama’s all-star cast and staff has drawn much attention to the drama. In Haru, Yunho is an action star in a play, Kim Bum is a photographer, Lee Da Hae is a screenwriter, Han Chae Young and Park Shi Hoo play the couple in Lee Da Hae’s scenario, and Big Bang is a group that finds a school that is being shut down and holds a mini-concert for the students.

The first round of filming has taken place at Busan Station, GwangAn Bridge, Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi-do, Haerang Train, and Hangang. This drama will portray Korea’s beauty through it’s new convention, beautiful cinematography, and captivating soundtrack.

There is no doubt that this special drama is going to be a hit in Asia.

Yunho has already entered the Asian market through his activities with TVXQ, Kim Bum has attained Hallyu stardom through Boys Over Flowers, Big Bang has been sensational with their album releases in Japan, Han Chae Young has been getting ready for her Hollywood debut, and Lee Da Hae played the heroine of popular drama Chuno.

The drama is set to be released at the end of September.

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Kim Hyun Joong talks about his kissing scene in Playful Kiss

With less than a week left until the MBC drama Playful Kiss airs, anticipation continues to build, and a press conference was held at the Seoul Imperial Palace Hotel this afternoon.

Kim Hyun Joong (who will be playing the drama’s leading male role, Baek Seung Jo) expressed his feelings about the kiss scene with his female partner in the drama, Jung So Min (who will be playing the character, Oh Hani):

“I rarely had eye contact with her, and the kiss happened when we were both in a situation where we didn’t have any lines. It was very awkward. But the awkwardness was essential for that scene, which fits perfectly with the storyline. It was a ‘Playful Kiss’.”

Kim Hyun Joong also expressed how he felt about acting as Baek Seung Jo:

“It wasn’t easy acting out the character of a genius with an IQ of 200.

The script was packed with words that I wasn’t familiar with. Because there were several words that I didn’t know, I had to study a lot.”

The drama will make its debut on September 1st through MBC.

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Park Shin Hye to cameo in My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox

Actress Park Shin Hye, who played the role of Go Mi Nam in popular drama You’re Beautiful, will make a cameo appearance in My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox, another piece of work scripted by the Hong Sisters.

Although the actress is currently busy promoting her new movie, Cyrano Agency, she kindly agreed to appear in a cameo because of her good relationship with the Hong Sisters. My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox is receiving a lot of attention for its wide spectrum of popular cameo appearances, including Im Hyun Shik, Lee Soo Geun, Jung Woon Taek, and recently UEE. The Hong Sisters hope to further increase viewership ratings by adding the friendly Park Shin Hye to the list of cameos.

The cute actress showed herself standing alongside Daewoong (Lee Seung Gi’s part) during the short preview clip, making the audience curious as to what their relationship is. Park Shin Hye, who claims to be an avid watcher of My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox, commented, “Although my appearance in the drama isn’t very long, I will try my best to give the most help to the drama as possible.”

Meanwhile, Park Shin Hye’s cute cameo transformation can be viewed on the 26th.

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TaeYang’s international doing strong up on North American iTunes chart

TaeYang’s international album is causing up a fever in North America.

His international album released on 25th August on Apple iTunes is up #3, #5 and #5 on Canadian, American and Japanese iTunes R&B/Soul album chart. The album also went up to the top 10 rankings on the iTunes chart for various countries on the day of its release.

Previously TaeYang’s 1st full length album ‘Solar’ also went up to the #1 and #2 position on Canadian and American iTunes R&B/Soul charts. The album this time includes 2 new songs which are the title song ‘I’ll Be There’ and ‘Connection’ as well as 3 hit songs recorded in English language.

And the MV for the title song ‘I’ll Be There’ also received over 1 million views on Youtube 2 days after its release. And currently there are over 1.4 million views for the MV.

Meanwhile, coming 25th and 26th September, TaeYang will have his solo concert ‘Solar’ . Tickets for the concert will start selling from 30th August.

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New teaser for Playful Kiss

The first teaser for Playful Kiss was very short, though evocative (and cute!). This new one is a bit longer and gives us more of an idea of the opposites-attract dynamic between the two leads, Kim Hyun-joong and Jung So-min. Although at this point it’s more of opposites-bicker-in-denial-of-attraction, at least on his (perfect, polished) end, since his haughty character Baek Seung-jo feels mostly exasperation at Oh Ha-ni’s annoying ways.

(I’m feeling better about Kim’s acting in this preview, though of course it’s too early to say. Please, please, please be decent! I really do want to like this drama.)

Below are translations of the clip. I’ve tried my best to hear accurately, though a few words were hard to make out. But you get the gist:

Ha-ni: “People tell me to stop dreaming. But I have faith. If I keep walking steadily, I’ll make it to the finish line in the end.”

Seung-jo: “Hey, Oh Ha-ni.”

“Hey! Oh Ha-ni!”

“HEY!”

Seung-jo: “Sorry to tell you…”

“Thoughtless girl.”

“She’s a good girl.”

Ha-ni: “But that doesn’t get me down. Because I can just make him mine.”

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