[News] KARA to make acting debut through Japanese drama, “URAKARA”

KARA will be making their acting debuts next year through a reality show called “URAKARA” on Japan’s TV Tokyo 24.

“URAKARA” is a ‘dating mission drama’, in which the girls are given missions involving both virtual and reality dating. The show plans to reveal the different sides of the members, while delighting viewers with their innocence on the subject of love.

Sankei Sports revealed, “The members will be using both Japanese and Korean in their script. Filming will take place in both countries as well. They’re able to converse comfortably in Japanese, but they’ll be studying the language more intensively in order to express a broader variety of emotions. They’re excited, but are also nervous.”

The drama consists of 12 episodes in total and will begin airing on January 14th.

KARA is also currently promoting their latest single “Jumping” in both Korea and Japan.

[News] ‘Inkigayo’ pressures artists to bail out of the ‘2010 MAMA’

The ‘2010 Mnet Asian Music Awards‘ (MAMA) is only a few weeks away, but the Korean music industry is heaving a heavy sigh due to the overlapping schedules between the 2010 MAMA and weekend music programs on KBS, MBC, and SBS.

Although Mnet had previously stated that changing the event date is out of their control, it appears that SBS’s “Inkigayo” cannot accept their statement. Furious over the timing which happens on Sunday, November 28th, representatives from the popular music program apparently gathered various agency representatives and delivered a subtle ultimatum.

One anonymous industry representative stated, “‘Inkigayo’ called all of the agency representatives together. Although they never told us to not attend the MAMA, they simply stated, ‘Try and see if you can go,’ which is just as, if not more, scary. After the meeting, all of the agency representatives called up Mnet and announced that their artists would not be attending.”

While SM Entertainment will be continuing their Mnet boycott this year, others, such as JYP Entertainment, have decided to still send their artists to the awards event.

[News] Government ministries come together to protect underage celebrities

The Korean government has put out a few standards regarding the excessive exposure that underage celebrities are put through.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family presented a security measure for protecting underage celebrities against sexual pressure, as well as promoting education rights and fair career opportunities. It was a collaborative effort with the Ministry of Culture, Sports, & Tourism, the Korea Communications Commission, and the Fair Trade Commission.

According to these joint measures, support will be given to each broadcast company to establish their own guidelines on what would be deemed ‘excessive exposure’ and ’sexually suggestive content’. These various ministries are looking for amplified standards that will protecting children and teens from sexual violation and entrenching their rights to be educated.

In addition to the broadcasting regulations, the ministries are seeking to entrench these protective measures in regular contracts as well. They hope that once the conditions become codified into laws, businesses will have no choice but to accept and sign the remedied contracts before hiring a minor.

While these are positive and progressive measures, they remain conditions and not laws. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is seeking to change this with the help of various entertainment agencies and broadcasting companies.

Additionally, a ‘teenage celebrity broadcast career guideline’ is also undergoing discussions.

A representative from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family revealed, “In the near future, we will also be running campaigns and nation-wide advertisements.”

[News] MBC weekend variety makes way for 2010 Asian Games broadcast this week

It has been reported that the broadcast of some variety shows on MBC will be postponed due to the scheduled broadcast of the ongoing ‘2010 Asian Games’.

On November 9th, broadcasting station MBC announced that variety shows scheduled for November 13th -’We Got Married’, ‘Infinity Challenge‘, and ‘Quiz that Changes the World‘ – will be replaced by the male football preliminary match between Korea and Palestine, followed by the baseball preliminary match between Korea and Taiwan.

In addition, MBC’s ‘Hot Brothers‘ and ‘Enjoy Today’ will also be cancelled on the following 14th, to be replaced by the female football preliminary match between Korea and Vietnam.

[News] 4th Special of ‘Playful Kiss’ revealed through Youtube

MBC’s ‘Playful Kiss‘ came to an end on the 21st of October. The drama went against some tough competition and suffered in the ratings department. Despite that, the show grew a small die-hard fan base and they were quite disappointed to see the show end so soon. However, that disappointment was somewhat turned around when there was news stating that Playful Kiss would continue airing via special episodes through video sharing website Youtube. The announcement also mentioned that it will have a different storyline than the TV version!

We have posted the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st specials before, and now check out the 4th special below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FomGu9aIMo&feature=player_embedded

Kim Hyun Joong stated, “Since Youtube doesn’t have strict restrictions, we were able to show a steamier love scene than on television. I believe that the couple will look more natural than on TV. Youtube is a place where netizens of the entire world can share and communicate. I hope ‘Playful Kiss’ can participate in the phenomenon and become an international icon.”

Meanwhile, the special episodes of Playful Kiss will be divided into seven different videos, about 10 minutes each.

On November 17th and 18th, making-of films including special NG cuts will also be released!

[News] Netizens Comment on Hyomin's Childhood-Debut Photos

Girl group T-ara member Hyomin's set of pictures as she grew up is currently the hot topic around the internet.

On November 5th, photos of Hyomin from childhood up to her current self were posted in an online community. Photos of herself taken from when she was in kindergarten, to middle school, to pre-debut, and now show that even during different times in her life, Hyomin was still very beautiful.

Netizens have made comments such as: "I don't think she looks very different from how she did before," "She's definitely an uljjang," and "You can already tell she is going to be a beauty even at an early age". However, some netizens also made comments such as "Her eyes look different," and "There was something that changed here".

[News] "Jungle Fish 2" OST singer is 'Ti-Yeon' not 'Ji-Yeon'?

n the credits of KBS 2TV's 'Jungle Fish 2', there seems to be a misunderstanding.

It seems the keen-eyed netizens are at it again. While the credits are being shown, a misspelling of Jiyeon(지연) brought up a confusion. In the credits, the singer for the OST was typed as "티연" which is TI-YEON. The uncalled for typo brought up another reason for netizens to complain. A spokesperson already said "We are sorry for this mistake, and will be more careful the next time to avoid this happening."


The theme and setting of 'Jungle Fish 2' has also recieved much bad press as good. The show doesnt seem to represent the korean education setting well, and are too obscene for young people to watch.