Photofix 92

In magazines:

• Kim Beom in High Cut

Kim Beom in High Cut (Vol.9)

Kim Beom in High Cut (Vol.9)

Kim Beom in High Cut (Vol.9)

On television:

• Park Shin Hye went to New Caledonia -which was the location for a few episodes of Boys Over Flowers – to film OliveTV’s It City. “Park Shin Hye in New Caledonia, Take it Paradise!!” will be broadcast on July 24.

Park Shin Hye on OliveTV's It City (7/24/09)

Park Shin Hye on OliveTV's It City (7/24/09)

Park Shin Hye on OliveTV's It City (7/24/09)

Park Shin Hye on OliveTV's It City (7/24/09)

Park Shin Hye on OliveTV's It City (7/24/09)

Park Shin Hye on OliveTV's It City (7/24/09)

KP’s Note 6

Dear KPculturists,

As you’ve probably noticed, we changed our site layout recently. If you’re new and want to catch up on older posts, click on Archives on the right sidebar to see posts categorized by month, topic, or tag. Our posting schedule was quite irregular last month, but we’re still pushing ahead. Just today, we put up five posts so have a look and click on Older Posts to catch up on this week’s news.

Did you get a chance to see some celebrities’ childhood photos in our Just4kix series? Click here to see what stars like Kwon Sang Woo, Lee Da Hae, Kim Ha Neul, and Se7en looked like when they were young. We’ll post another Guess Who this weekend.

After five months, we [already? finally?] passed 1,000,000 hits. Thanks for continuing to visit our site.

Sincerely,

KP

P.S. Here a few cute, random photos for your amusement:

• CL of 2ne1 and Yang Seung Ho (2ne1′s stylist) have fun with the camera

CL & Yang Seung Ho

• Kim Byul and Kim Beom, take a break on the set of Flight (비상) to pose with Mason Moon Moorhouse in June. The two-year-old baby actor is referred to as Moon Mason in Korea and is of Canadian-Korean heritage. He rose to fame as Jang Keun Suk’s co-star in Baby & I (애가와 나).

Kim Byul, Mason Moon Moorhouse, Kim Beom

• Kim Hyun Joo and Lee Dong Wook fall asleep in each other’s arms while filming Partner

Partner - still

Minimix 33

• After releasing on their respective solo albums, Horan and Alex returned to the electronica genre with DJ Clazzi. Clazziquai Project released its fourth album, Mucho Punk, on July 14. A slight variation of the album was released at the beginning of this month in Japan under the title Mucho Musica. They will perform on Mnet Countdown on July 23 and live at Seongnam ARt Center on August 21 and 22.
  

• SBS will broadcast a special program for its weekend hit Brilliant Legacy on Monday, August 3. Kang Ho Dong – Lee Seung Gi’s close colleague and show fan (refer to the fourth point in Minimix 29) – will be host the program and give viewers a glimpse behind the scenes. Lee Seung Gi, Han Hyo Joo, Bae Soo Bin, Moon Chae Won, and other cast members will participate in filming the special on July 30.
  

  Brilliant Legacy

• Joo Jin Mo, Kim Beom, Son Dam Bi, Choi Yeo Jin and the rest of the cast and crew of SBS drama Dream kicked things off with a ceremony on July 15 at Ilsan Production Center.
  

  Kim Beom with Son Dam Bi, Joo Jin Mo, Choi Yeo Jin in background

  The other lead cast member is Park Sang Won (Hateful But Once Again) as CEO Kang Kyung Tak. Julien Kang, Marcos Benjamin Lee, Hyun Woo, and Chung Lim have minor roles as Flower Fighters 101 (Double F 101) – a group of good-looking martial artists. Dream is scheduled to premiere on July 27 on SBS following Ja Myung Go‘s early exit.

  

  Son Dam Bi, Joo Jin Mo, Kim Beom

• Actress Kim Sung Eun (Returned Earthen Bowl) and athlete Jung Jo Gook (FC Seoul) will hold their wedding at 6pm on December 11 at Walkerhill W Hotel’s Vista Hall. The two are approaching their one year anniversary, having been introduced to each other by friends last July. Both are in their mid-twenties, with Kim being several months older than Jung.
  

  Jung Jo Gook, Kim Sung Eun

• Mother, starring Kim Hye Ja and Won Bin, has been invited to have its North American premiere at the 34th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September. The TIFF describes it as “a unique noir thriller that digs into the secrecy surrounding a terrible murder and the mystery of a mother’s primal love for her son” and praises director Bong Joon Ho.
  

  Mother

Minimix 23

• A spokesperson for Family Outing announced that the show will undergo some major changes as it hits its one year mark in June. One such change includes Lee Chun Hee and Park Ye Jin’s departure from the variety show. The two chose not to renew their one-year contracts in order to focus on their acting careers. They will film their final trip at the beginning of next month. The spokesperson was also admitted that the show is in discussions with actors Park Hae Jin (East of Eden) and Park Shi Yeon (The Slingshot) to replace “Chunderella” and “Sweet & Savage Ye Jin Mistress”.
  

  Lee Chun Hee & Park Ye Jin

• Choi Chul Ho and Lee Ha Nui (better known as Honey Lee, Miss Korea 2006) have been added to the main cast of Partner (파트너). Choi will play Lee Young Woo, a ruthless attorney who boasts a 100% win rate. He is a genius who has rapidly climbed up to become the successor of a large law firm, Haeyoon. Lee’s character is Han Jung Won, a colleague of Eun Ho (Kim Hyun Joo) and Tae Jo (Lee Dong Wook). She is a beautiful lawyer with outstanding abilities and such a strong personality that one would think she has no blood nor tears.
  

  Choi Chul Ho and Lee Ha Nui

• A representative of the war movie 71 confirmed that Kim Beom has dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts. Kim is filming Flight (비상) with Kim Byul until the end of June, at which time he must begin shooting Dream.
  

  Flight - still (Kim Beom)

• Upcoming SBS drama Dream (드림) is finalizing its cast. Actress Choi Yeo Jin will make her return to the small screen from last year’s My Woman. She has been cast as PD Jang Soo Jin who works for a broadcasting station.
  

  Choi Yeo Jin

  It appears that some English will be spoken in the drama with models Marcos Benjamin Lee and Julien Kang joining  Dream‘s cast. Both will likely be playing mixed martial arts athletes as both have some experience and interest in the area. Interestingly, Julien Kang has had a first hand look at the competitive sport as the younger brother of a top MMA fighter. Dream is set to begin filming in June for a summer premiere.
  KP’s note: I thought that the drama was titled Dream simply because it was about the fulfilment of a dream or something. However, it turns out that Dream is also the name of an MMA organization. The Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG) – the leading Japanese combat sport promoter and parent company to Dream – is investing in the production of the drama. Hence, there are plans for it to be broadcast on TBS in Japan.

• Wheesung and Park Jung Hyun (a.k.a Lena Park) will be performing as part of The Blue Ribbon Presents Global Pop’s second year. At 8pm on June 19, the two pop/R&B singers will kick off the three-concert series at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Click here for more information (in English).
  

  Wheesung, Park Jung Hyun

• In April, Yoo and his fans from internet community DC Inside raised ₩23,800,000 through a fundraising campaign. It was decided that this money would be put toward setting up a kindergarten in Nepal this coming October. A source close to the actor said that Yoo would go to Nepal for the opening ceremony and return after participating in a variety of volunteer activities along with some fans.
  

  Yoo Ji Tae

  Yoo is currently playing twins in the film Bimilae (비밀애) with Yun Jin Seo. His fourth directorial project, Invitation, will be screened at the sixth annual Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia held in Japan early June.

SBS Dream Cast

Update (5/12): Originally posted on May 8; revised on May 12.

Kim Beom, Joo Jin Mo, Son Dam Bi

Kim Beom (19), Joo Jin Mo (34), and Son Dam Bi (25) are finalizing agreements to co-star in Dream, an SBS drama to begin filming this summer.

Dream is a 16-episode drama with Baek Soo Chan (Golden Bride) directing and Jung Hyung Soo (Jumong, Damo) writing the script. It is being produced by CJ Entertainment, and will air on Mondays and Tuesdays beginning in September once Ja Myung Go ends its run. The project was previously titled Tough Guy, and is now in the process of casting and creating scripts.

Kim Beom’s character is named Lee Jang Seok, a tough guy who has spent time in a juvenile detention centre for pickpocketing. As he gets involved in mixed martial arts, he meets sports agent Nam Je Yil (Joo Jin Mo) by chance. The two embark on a difficult journey to reach the top. Son Dam Bi will play Park So Yeon, a 27-year-old Tae Bo instructor at her father’s martial arts centre. Her character has a strong image, and discovers martial arts athletes who have the potential to go pro.

Assuming that casting goes as planned, this will be singer Son Dam Bi’s drama debut. Kim Beom currently has several movie projects on the go after completing KBS drama Boys Over Flowers this past spring. Joo Jin Mo won a Best Actor PaekSang in February for his role in A Frozen Flower.

Minimix 20

• Singer-DJ Koo Jun Yup is holding a press conference on May 6 to address rumours about being involved with drugs. It is reportedly out of concern for his mother’s health that DJ.Koo is making it clear that he should not be accused of doing drugs every time a celebrity drug scandal breaks out. He feels wronged, as May 2 was the third time he has been investigated by the police for drug abuse in his lifetime, solely based on the fact that he is a club DJ. A source close to Koo said that he doesn’t even smoke and is concerned at how the accusations cause stress to his family members.
  

  Koo Jun Yup

• Lee Ha Na (26) and Ahn Sung Ki (57) are lovers in the melodramatic film, Fair Love (페어 러브), which began filming this month. Ahn plays a middle-aged photographer who begins seeing a 26-year-old university student at the request of his friend. As he falls in love with the young woman, he rediscovers purpose in his life. Fair Love is a low-budget film being produced with less than $800,000 USD.

• Xiah Junsu of TVXQ/DBSK injured his leg during rehearsal on May 3, forcing him to perform on stage in a wheelchair at the Kobe concert on May 4. Despite obviously being unable to dance, Junsu still sang all of his parts as planned. DBSK’s ’2009 – The Secret Code’ tour will hit 10 Japanese cities in coming months.
  

  Junsu & Jaejoong

• Click here for the teaser to an extended commercial for LG’s OZ service. This is part of OZ generation’s ‘We Start‘ campaign starring Kim Beom, Kim Min Ji, Yoo Seung Ho, Lee Yeon Hee, Kim Kibum, and Choi Ara. The theme song, “We Live in Oz”, is by Clazziquai (vocals by Horan).

• Moon Geun Young showed off a different side at her fan meeting on May 2 at her current school, Sungkyunkwan University. She practiced with pro dance group, Friends, for two weeks to perform in front of approximately 700 fans in attendance.
  

  Moon Geun Young & Friends

  The event was also in celebration of her 22nd birthday. Painter of the Wind co-star Moon Chae Won made a special appearance, while Kim Tae Hee and Bae Soo Bin were among several who video-recorded their congratulatory messages. Members of her fan club, Angels, brought Moon Geun Young to tears upon surprising her with a video message from children at Ends of the Earth Study Room and the announcement that they donated books and supplies to the facility.

• MC Mong put up a picture on his minihompy of himself and girlfriend Joo Ah Min. The caption read, “The happiness of my life”.
  

  Joo Ah Min & MC Mong

• Actress Choi Jung Won (The Kingdom of the Winds) visited Bangladesh last week to volunteer with children in poverty. In particular, she made ties with three siblings who are living with their grandparents in a difficult financial situation. Choi promised to send the monthly support to lighten the burden on the eldest sibling who, at age 15, is supporting the family with his low income as a rickshaw driver. By doing so, she is giving the eldest sibling an opportunity to upgrade his education at a vocational school. She returned before the weekend to host the Children’s Day (first Sunday of each May) special, ‘Love Concert to Give Hope to Children of the Global Village’.
  

  Choi Jung Won

• A week away from his musical comeback, Jun Jin seriously injured his wrist while filming Infinity Challenge on April 30. Despite the injury, he did a photo shoot for his upcoming mini-album’s jacket cover on May 1 and filmed the music video overnight on May 2. Jun Jin is planning to go ahead as planned and perform on Show! Music Core on May 9 to promote his mini-album, which is being released on the same day. He has been recommended to get surgery shortly.

• Brilliant Legacy is off to a strong start. Within two weeks, it gained the top position among weekend dramas with a viewership of 23.2%. KBS historical drama, Iron Empress, pulled in 16.5%, while new MBC sports drama, Strike Love, trailed at 7.7%.
  

  Lee Seung Gi & Han Hyo Joo