Minimix 39

• Couple Alert – Yoon Jin Seo and Lee Taek Keun have been confirmed as a couple by her agency. The actress and pro baseball athlete met while doing a photo shoot for Mnet’s Trend Report Feel – hosted by Yoon – in April and were introduced to each other by friends. They began dating in May. Yoon is currently filming Bimilae with Yoo Ji Tae while Lee is playing in the 2009 baseball season with the Woori Heroes.
  

  Lee Taek Keun & Yoon Jin Seo

• Lee Hyori and Ryoo Seung Beom are playing a long-time couple in a music video for hip-hop duo Leessang. For Leessang’s sixth album, Lee and Ryoo are starring in the MV for the title track as a couple who has been together for 10 years. Lee reportedly agreed to participate and moved around her schedule upon hearing that she would be working with siblings Ryoo Seung Beom and Ryoo Seung Wan. Ryoo Seung Wan is directing the video; he previously worked with Leessang on their “Ballerino” MV and in his 2008 film, Dachimawa Lee.

• The sixth episode of Style will feature cameos by 2ne1, FT Island, 2PM, Kang Ji Hwan, and Cha Ye Ryun. They filmed a party scene celebrating the 200th issue of Style magazine. The shoot took place in Itaewon on Monday, August 10. The episode will be broadcast on August 16. Style has already overcome the 20% mark in viewership after its fourth episode.
  

  2ne1

• Look at Alex’s and Ricky Neely Kim’s most recent photo essays here and here.

Minimix 38

• Two Days and One Night (1N2D; 1박2일) will try to follow up its successful Audience Tour Special with a Foreigner Tour Special. Six foreigners residing in Korea were invited to join Kang Ho Dong, MC Mong, Kim C, Lee Su Geun, and Lee Seung Gi on a trip to Chungsando from August 5 to 6. The guests ranged in language abilities, but there were no translators used. The Foreigner Tour Special will be broadcast on August 16 and 23 on KBS2.
  

  Two Days and One Night

  In other 1N2D news, there are currently discussions regarding whether or not Kim Jong Min will return as a regular member upon his completion of military service in December.

• On August 5, members of DC Inside (internet community portal) Jung Il Woo Gallery congratulated the actor’s 1000th day since his debut by sending rice cake snacks for the entire cast and crew of Jung’s new drama, My Fair Lady. The rice cakes were accompanied by several other gifts for the star.
  

  gifts from DC Jung Il Woo Gallery

• Tamra, the Island (also called Tamna the Island; 탐나는 도다)’s leads, Im Ju Hwan and Seo Woo have denied reports that they are dating. In an interview with Money Today’s Star News, Im stated that they are just good colleagues. (When asked, he responded that his last relationship was a couple of years ago with a fellow university student.) Since the Group Eight production filmed for four months last year in Jeju-do, the four main cast members – Seo Woo, Im Ju Hwan, Hwang Chan Bin, and Lee Sun Ho – grew very close. Tamra, the Island begins its broadcast this weekend at 7:55pm.
  

  Im Ju Hwan & Seo Woo

• Yashimmanman 2 broadcast its Brilliant Legacy special this week with guests Han Hyo Joo, Lee Seung Gi, Moon Chae Won, Bae Soo Bin, Kim Mi Sook, and Yoo Ji In. On the program, Moon Chae Won was asked which of her former co-stars she likes better – Lee Min Ho or Lee Seung Gi. Her response?
  

  Moon Chae Won

  Lee Seung Gi!

• Style debuted last weekend on SBS with a strong viewership of approximately 17%. Although reviews were generally favourable, there was significant criticism towards E Ji Ah’s over-the-top acting  as opposed to Kim Hye Soo’s strong performance as Editor Park Gi Ja.

• Cha Ye Ryun and Lee Dong Gun have supposedly ended their relationship – but sources close to Lee are claiming that the two were never dating in the first place and remain good friends.

Upcoming Dramas – Sneak Peek 4

Go beyond the jump to see some of the most recently released photos from upcoming dramas Dream, Style, and My Fair Lady.

Dream - poster photo

Style - Lee Yong Woo, E Ji Ah, Kim Hye Soo, Ryu Si Won, PD Oh Jong Rok

My Fair Lady - poster photo

Minimix 30

• Kim Hyun Joong is appearing in the music video for Kim Joon’s first solo track. Kim Joon’s agency representative said that Kim Hyun Joong gave Kim Joon a lot of counsel in preparation for his first solo activity. The title of this song, “Ready OK! (준비 OK!)”, has a double meaning – not only does it mean “Ready… OK!”, it also says “Joon, Be OK” (according to the pronunciation of the Korean title). Members of Kim Joon’s group, T-Max, have all completed recording tracks for their solo collection album to be released online July 9.
  

  Kim Hyun Joong & Kim Joon

• On June 27, 600 of Ryu Si Won’s Japanese fans – from their twenties to sixties – visited Korea to watch him on the set of Style. Ryu introduced his fans to the drama’s director, staff, and actors. Following three hours of filming at a restaurant in the Seoul History Museum, the fans went over to Shilla Hotel for a private fan meeting with the actor.
  

  Ryu Si Won on set

• Cha Tae Hyun and Jang Hyuk each gave a special lecture to 100 aspiring and rookie actors at C.A.S.T., iHQ’s acting training center, on June 13 and 27 respectively. They imparted words of wisdom and counsel as actors who have been in the entertainment industry for over a dozen years. The two belong to SidusHQ, the management division of iHQ.
  

  Cha Tae Hyun, Jang Hyuk

• Sugapoint‘s brand model, Chung Lim, filmed a music video with Joo Ah Min for a digital single album. Like 2ne1′s “Lollipop”, the music video for the song is going to be used as a CF for Sugapoint. The music video will show Chung Lim at an auto mechanics centre dreaming of becoming a car racer and Joo Ah Min at a motorcycle painting shop dreaming of becoming a showbike rider. Joo Ah Min’s boyfriend, MC Mong, visited the filming set to cheer them on.
  

  Chung Lim

  Chung Lim is transitioning from singing to acting, as he has recently been added to the cast of SBS drama Dream, starring Joo Jin Mo, Kim Beom, and Son Dam Bi.

Minimix 29

• The leads of Style began filming on June 22 in Jeju-do. The weekend drama is expected to begin airing on August 1, following the end of Brilliant Legacy.
  

  Style - still

• Lee Jung Jae expressed some regret over having had to turn down some leading roles in dramas that went on to great success. For example, he was a final contender for hits Lovers in Paris, Full House, and Sorry, I Love You. However, these parts eventually went to Park Shin Yang, Jung Ji Hoon (a.k.a. Rain/Bi), and So Ji Sub, respectively. Regarding his choice to decline the parts, Lee said, “I wanted to do all three of those productions. At the time, I was tied to the film Typhoon for  at least a year so I had no choice but to give up. Honestly, it’s regrettable. I thought they were characters that I could express well.”

• Seo In Young revealed on Yashimmanman 2 just how difficult 2008 was for her. Her overload of singing and broadcasting activities led to high stress and depression to the extent that she was unable to fall asleep without prescription pills. Seo said, “Seeing how people who used to criticize me get wildly excited over me in one moment made me think, ‘Even if I do one little thing wrong, they’ll quickly turn their backs on me’. I even got auditory hallucinations.” Her depression was the reason for her abrupt departure for the United States. In addition, Seo broke up with her boyfriend last year after finding out that he wasn’t being [emotionally] faithful to her. She called his phone after receiving a text message saying “Sleep well” from him. He mistakenly pressed the talk button with his butt because it was [assumably] in his back pocket, and Seo could hear him seranading another girl. In other Seo In Young news, she is writing a book series about her experiences with travel and shopping abroad. The first book of the planned series highlights Tokyo and is being released on June 25.
  

  Seo In Young

• Lee Seung Gi was asked in an interview how his Two Days and One Night (1N2D) castmates reacted to his current drama, Brilliant Legacy. Suddenly putting his hands on his head, Lee said, “They keep pressuring me [by asking], ‘Your co-star Han Hyo Joo is so pretty…Can’t we meet her once?’ [Kang] Ho Dong hyung sent me a text message like this: ‘Sunwoo Hwan is cool. Eun Sung (Han Hyo Joo) is your girl. Seung Mi (Moon Chae Won) is a liar so you have to come to your senses’. Isn’t he toooooo absorbed [in the drama]?”

• Hyun Woo (Tae Hee / Hye Kyo / Ji Hyun) joins Kim Beom, Marcos Benjamin Lee (a.k.a. Marco), Julien Kang, and Chung Lim as mixed martial artists in SBS Dream. The drama also stars Joo Jin Mo, Son Dam Bi, and Choi Yeo Jin. Hyun Woo is currently attending action school for nine hours a day in order to train for the role.
  

  Hyun Woo

Minimix 28

• Han Chae Ah joins the cast of Style as a senior-level editor named Cha Ji Sun. At the magazine company, she clashes with Lee Seo Jung (E Ji Ah), the assistant who has been there for a year. Han Chae Ah has previously worked with Style’s male lead, Ryu Si Won, on his 2007 music video for “With You”. Her acting debut was through last year’s drama, Kokkiri (a.k.a Elephant; 코끼리)
  

  Han Chae Ah

• Ryu Si Won has spent approximately $8 million USD (10 billion KRW) for the construction of a building in Samseong-dong, Seoul. The construction of the Ryu Si Won Building – with seven above-ground floors and two underground floors – is scheduled to be completed next month. Ryu has been directly involved with the architectural and interior design. The use of the building has yet to be confirmed; however, it is likely that Ryu’s agency, R’s Company, and his racing team, Team 106 (sponsored by EXR) will move in. Space will also be leased/rented to other businesses. Ryu joins several other celebrities who own $4-8 million buildings in the Gangnam area: baseball player Park Chan Ho, singers Seo Taiji, Shin Seung Hun, Bi, comedian Shin Dong Yeop, and actors Ko So Young and the Kim Seung Woo-Kim Nam Joo couple.
  

  Ryu Si Won

• Singer-actor-MC Moon Hee Jun is releasing a mini album today (June 18), titled Last Cry. The album consists of three songs (five tracks) with the theme of breaking up. The title song is called “Toy”. To display his musical talent, Moon composed and arranged the music and wrote the lyrics for all of the songs on Last Cry.
  

  Moon Hee Jun's Last Cry

• Sung Yu Ri is currently filming in Las Vegas with the cast and crew of Swallow the Sun (preview here). On the morning of June 17, Sung Yu Ri’s first scene in America was to cycle from the entrance of the Mirage to the Bellagio and run in to the hotel
  

  Sung Yu Ri

• Triple‘s male leads – Lee Jung Jae, Lee Sun Kyun, Yoon Kye Sang – admitted that they really enjoyed watching the first few episodes of the drama on television. Lee Jung Jae stated, “I watched the broadcast quietly alone at home. I watched really enjoyably. Although the audience [numbers] didn’t come out to what I expected, it’ll do well.” Co-star Lee Sun Kyun expressed similar sentiments and added, “I usually don’t have a nagging personality but maybe due to my love for this production, I keep giving my acting juniors Kim Hee and Min Hyo Rin an earful. I think I’m becoming more and more like Hae Yoon.” The youngest of the three, Yoon Kye Sang, admitted that he originally wasn’t going to watch episodes 1 and 2. “When filming a drama, there are times when I’m ashamed to see my acting. Every time that happens, my heart wavers. Since the atmosphere on set is so good, I was fearful that my wavering would cause a setback. But then I turned on the TV five minutes prior [to the first episode]. It was really fun,” Yoon said. Despite generally positive reviews, ratings have remained in the single digits. According to TNS Media Korea, episode 3 of Triple captured 6.9% of viewers as opposed to City Hall‘s 16.7% and The Accidental Couple‘s 15.0%.
  

  Yoon Kye Sang, Lee Sun Kyun, Lee Jung Jae in Triple

• Yoon Eun Hye’s comeback drama, My Fair Lady, is rumoured to be broadcast on KBS2 following Partner in late August. In the romantic comedy series, Yoon will play Noh Yu Ra, the second of three sisters in a rich household. A love story develops when a poor man enters the home as a housekeeper/manager with the intention of getting his hands on the family’s hidden slush fund.
  

  Yoon Eun Hye

• Jung Dae Hye, Wang Seok Hyun, and Eun Ji Won attended the premiere and press conference of Lynx Adventure (a.k.a. Missing Lynx; El lince perdido in Spanish). The three participated in the Korean dubbing for the animated film about a group of animals trying to escape an eccentric billionaire’s personal Noah’s Ark.
  

  Jung Da Hye, Wang Seok Hyun, Eun Ji Won

• A previously undisclosed clip of JYP dancing to 2PM’s “What Time Is It Now” has been attracting attention on the company’s YouTube channel.