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.

Minimix 27

• Jung Hyung Don and girlfriend Han Yu Ra have set a wedding date! After formally introducing their families on June 9, they have set September 12 as their wedding date although the venue has yet to be decided. The two met last year while working together on the SBS show Mystery Commando – he as a host and she as a scriptwriter. (She currently writes for MBC’s 오늘 밤만 재워줘 – loosely translated as Let Me Stay Over Tonight.) Although they began dating around October of 2008, the relationship was not publicized until this past April. Two of Jung’s Infinity Challenge co-hosts – Jung Joon Ha and Noh Hong Chul – also revealed their relationships this year.
  

  Jung Hyung Don and Han Yu Ra

• After a year and two months, Tablo is stepping down from being the DJ of Tablo’s Dream Station on MBC FM4U. There were various reasons cited – including increasing activities abroad and preparation for their sixth album as well as a remix album. June 13 will be his last broadcast.
  

  Tablo (from his blog on http://www.mapthesoul.com)

• Hit weekend drama, Brilliant Legacy, has been extended by two episodes (to a total of 28) due to high ratings. Discussion continues over extending it further to 30 episodes, but has yet to be approved.
  In related news, the show’s male lead, Lee Seung Gi (Sunwoo Hwan), distributed gifts to the entire staff of approximately 70 people. He gave each crew member a sweater, t-shirt, and handwritten letter to express his gratitude for their hard work. It reportedly took him about a week to write all of the personalized letters in between filming for Brilliant Legacy and Two Days and One Night.
  

  Brilliant Legacy - poster

• JYP Entertainment opened up an official English-language website for the Wonder Girls as their fame rises in America. In a hugely successful move for the group, the girls – Yenny “the go-getter”, Mimi “the daydreamer”, Sun “the perfectionist”, Sohee “the chic”, and Yubin “the swagger” – are touring with the Jonas Brothers for the entire summer. (KP’s note: Many Korean articles are referring to the Jonas Brothers as “America’s Big Bang” – in your opinion – true or false?)
  

  Wonder Girls

  In related news, the Wonder Girls are in China for a couple of days along with the cast of Two Days and One Night (1N2D / 1박 2일) to film a segment for the show before heading to the U.S.

• Hyun Young will begin studying at Korea University’s Graduate School of Journalism & Mass Communication this coming September. At age 32, Hyun Young stated that she is eager to study seriously since she is starting later than most. She will become schoolmates with actresses Lee In Hea (Iron Empress) and Kim A Joong (The Accidental Couple).
  

  Hyun Young

• Hallyu star Lee Young Ae (Sympathy for Lady Vengeance) was accepted into Hanyang University’s doctorate program for Theater & Cinema after submitting documents and passing an interview. Although she did not do a written test, a representative from Hanyang stated that Lee received no special consideration and was accepted on the same standard as all other doctorate students. After registering in July, she will begin her studies on September 1. Lee previously studied German at Hanyang for her undergraduate degree and attended Chung-Ang for her Master’s in theatre.
  

  Lee Young Ae

• Lee Kyung Kyu and Eun Ji Won join Kim Gu Ra and Moon Hee Jun as hosts on SBS variety program, Intimate Note (절친노트). The program will undergo some changes and be called Intimate Note 2 beginning June 19. Rather than inviting guests who are uncomfortable with each other to resolve their problems on the show (previous guests include Sohee-Yoobin, Seung Ri-Dae Sung, and Kangin-Sungmin), the second season will invite celebrity best friends to show viewers what true friendship is like. Close friends Kim Je Dong, Yoon Do Hyun, Kim Jang Hoon, and Bae Chil Soo will be Intimate Note 2‘s first featured guests.
  

  Intimate Note 2 hosts

Couple Alert – Eun Ji Won & Miss Lee

Eun Ji Won

Singer turned television host Eun Ji Won (30) is off the singles market. He is currently seeing Miss Lee (32), the older sister of professional soccer player Lee Dong Gook’s wife. They have dating for the past three months.

Photofix 45

The environmental edition in honour of Earth Day (4/22/09)

In marketing:

• nine celebrities participated in this spring’s Save the Penguin campaign

Save the Penguin - Yoo Ji Tae

Save the Penguin - Park Ye Jin

Save the Penguin - Kim Joon

Save the Penguin - Han Hyo Joo

Save the Penguin - (back) Oh Sang Jin, Park Ye Jin, Marco, Kim Joon, Han Hyo Joo, Kang Soo Jung; (front) Yoo Ji Tae, penguin, Jung Yoon Suk, Kim Soo Jung

In magazines:

• Boundaries of Forest [entertainment agency] artists are featured in Cosmomen’s May issue for Kick the Habit for Earth! campaign. The BOF artists donated their full photo shoot fees to United Nations Environment Programme.

Kick the Habit - Bae Yong Joon

Kick the Habit - E Ji Ah

Kick the Habit - Lee Bo Young

Kick the Habit - Hong Soo Hyun

Kick the Habit - Choi Gang Hee

Kick the Habit - Park Ye Jin

• 20 celebrities – not all are included below – posed for a joint environmental campaign between Jack & Jill and Vogue Girl (5/09), called ‘CLEAN_air, water and the city’

CLEAN_air, water and the city - Lee Chun Hee

CLEAN_air, water and the city - Kang Hye Jung

CLEAN_air, water and the city - Eun Ji Won

CLEAN_air, water and the city - Jewelry S

CLEAN_air, water and the city - U-Kiss

CLEAN_air, water and the city - KARA

CLEAN_air, water and the city - Lee Sun Kyun