Korean Media News

[Daum Hope Star]

This is CNBLUE. We would like to support children in Burkina Paso, Africa.

Hello, everyone.

We are CNBLUE’s Jung Yong Hwa, Lee Jong Hyun, Kang Min Hyuk and Lee Jung Shin

How many meals do you eat a day?

Sometimes, as we live a daily hectic routine, we often forgot the importance of the rice that we eat every day.

I think we got a lot of things that have already been used to do.

As time goes by, going to school with friends whom we laugh with naturally and chat. And we sometimes take it a matter of course not to skip the meal every day.

We watched the video of the chances of children in Burkina Paso. They could only eat full meal less than 5 times a year. We felt extremely sad when we watched the way children ate meals.

Seeing absent-minded children to eat hastily, we felt heartbroken badly thinking, “This is really happening right now in Africa”.

After hearing that they could eat healthfully and could study if they have school, we have established school in Burkina Paso in Africa on February this year.

Toma, 12 years-old whose parents passed away 7 years ago lives with his grandmother.

He works in White Sand Mountain where he digs the sand, which is his only job he can do for his disabled grandmother. He breaks firm stones and ships them in trucks from 7 am to 4 pm which is such a hard work.

Although he got paid only 1,800 won for loading stones in the truck, he should work to buy Grandmother’s corn porridge while skipping his lunch. His shoulder looked so burden.

Toma has dream to be a great soldier. To achieve the dream, he need proper education in school.

Since illiteracy rate is over 80% in Burkina Paso, it’s hard and difficult to dream about it.

Since there are 150 students per classroom to study, many of them can’t write even their names.

Fortunately, CNBLUE School has been established last February and accommodates 100 children at present. They study in class and eat proper meal. But the school requires meal expenses for them to eat food on daily basis.

Netizens, please share your concern and love.

If we, CNBLUE and netizens gather our power together, children in Burkina Paso who suffer from starvation could dream about their bright future.

Please join us!

MORE

Video credit: klaritia @youtube
Photo credits: jjunsunny @twitter
Translated by: CebuNuna @cnbluestorm
Edit & Posted by: Camille @cnbluestorm

Hallyu star Kim Hyun Joong will be holding a free concert in Japan this July!

According to Kim Hyun Joong’s agency Key East, Kim Hyun Joong is planning to hold a showcase to commemorate his upcoming second Japanese single ‘HEAT’. The free showcase will open twice at the Saitama Super Arena on July 15th.

Key East added that they will randomly select 32,000 of his fans who have purchased the limited edition of ‘HEAT’ and its original version, both due on July 4th.

The concert will be divided into two parts and Kim Hyun Joong is planning to perform some ten different songs including his new single “Heat”. The singer will also be inviting Japanese musician B’z to stand on stage with him. There are a variety of special events also prepared that will be entertaining for the fans.

Source: Nate

Trot singer Park Hyun Bin is set to prove that three times is indeed a charm with the release of his third Japanese single on June 27. The song, entitled “Trust Oppa,” is being released in Japanese due to demands. With the song’s launch, the singer will also make his way around the nation, performing various showcases and meeting with fans.

A May 17 post on Park’s official Web site explains that the song is one that “President Lee Myung-bak used during his campaign.” Lee was not available to confirm.

Back in December, Park held his first solo concert in Shinagawa, Tokyo, where more than 1,000 Japanese fans attended.

The singer made his debut in Japan in the spring of 2011, and his two single albums, “Shabang Shabang” and “Gondre Mandre,” went on to reach the No. 1 spot on the Enka chart, which ranks Japan’s popular music. Currently, the singer is promoting a ballad song titled “Hourglass” in Korea.

Source: JoongAng Daily

TVXQ is the new face of Shilla Duty Free.
Here's their CF below:

The bed scene of Park Yuchun and Han Ji Min in “Rooftop Prince” attracted attention.

In episode 18 of SBS drama “Rooftop Prince” aired on May 17th, 2012, Lee Gak (Park Yuchun) suddenly experiences of his body turned blur. Lee Gak realizes that the time for him to go back to Joseon Dynasty has arrived.

Lee Gak said worriedly to Park Ha, “My body is a bit strange. I cannot see my body, I cannot give you a hug. They phenomena of my body temporarily disappeared and re-emerged means that it’s time for me to back Joseon Dynasty, right?”

Park Ha feels uneasy, and walks up and down in front of the door. Lee Gak makes the disturbed Park Ha lying on the bed. They clasp their hands. Lee Gak confesses his longing, “Don’t know when we’ll part, I just want to be with you now, I really like this moment.”

In addition, in the next episode preview, Yong Tae Mu who fails to receive the inheritance decides to kill Lee Gak, and uses the car to hit and kill Lee Gak, arousing suspense.

Source: dramahaven

Actor Lee Jong Suk will become the new MC of SBS music program ‘Inkigayo’.

On May 19th, Wellmade StarM stated that Lee Jong Suk has been earmarked to lead Inkigayo as a substitute emcee in June. Original MC, IU is likely to be absent for a few weeks due to her concerts. Lee Jong Suk will take her place and will join KARA’s Goo Hara and Nicole.

Lee Jong Suk, who gained much popularity for his role on MBC sitcom ‘High Kick 3‘, will be making his emcee debut through ‘Inkigayo’. The actor also plans to put special performance on the show to celebrate his debut as host.

Source: Nate

Female singing duo Davichi has shown its allegiance to friend and composer Cho Young Soo by agreeing to sing for his new album free of charge.

The girl group was featured in the single “A Night like This” on Cho’s digital album “All Star,” which was released online yesterday. The song also features newbie group 2Bic.

This isn’t the first time that Davichi has performed in the composer’s songs.

Back in 2008 and 2010, the duo also recorded songs for the composer, who strongly supported the group when it debuted in 2008.

When Davichi was starting out, Cho composed the song “Love and War” for the duo, and it later became a huge hit.

The girls were also set to perform in the United States earlier this year along with T-ara, which belongs to the same agency. But visa problems forced the cancellation of the event, called “K-pop Power & Beauty,” that was to be held at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.


By Carla Sunwoo
Source: JoongAng Daily

SNSD member Yuri has a dazzling performance in the SBS drama “Fashion King“.

Recently, Yuri had an interview with a Korean female magazine. Here’s translated part of the interview.

Yuri was wearing a yellow jacket, dragging the rack while talking on the phone. Her sudden appearance scared Yoo Ah In. She said to him coolly, “I don’t have time, get out.” This is the scene in episode 3 of “Fashion King” where the two first met. The lines of Yuri is all in English, while the last sentence, “get out,” perfectly expresses her apathy and irritability. She not only speaks English like local, but also conveys her feelings.

Yuri is unlike Tiffany and Jessica who lived abroad. “I’ve been thinking of waiting to act before I debuted, when I was a trainee 7, 8 years ago, I have thought of it for 10 years. I continuously attends the acting class and reads the script alone. Then, I feel happy I can star in a drama. I met director for 10 times before the filming started, because director did not know me very well, and has no way to identify my acting, so he gave me a lot of opinions. My biggest fear was to act using English. Anna is a famous and experienced designer in New York, so she cannot just smoothly speak, but also must attentively express the emotions. When practicing, I will use a tape recorder and camera to record and keep repeating the listening.”

Girls’ Generation member YoonA used to star in “You Are My Destiny” in 2008, Jessica also starred in “Wild Romance” recently. Comparing with them, Yuri who wanted to act and prepared for 10 years started relatively late. Unlike other members, up to the broadcast now, no one is criticizing her acting.

“It’s like my character, very similar to Anna, I want to show a more complete state. Whether it is in English, acting, singing and dancing, I want to show sincerity. In order to express this image, I must be familiar with it. And in order to become familiar with it, I have to keep practicing hard, I think this is why I spent a longer time.” Lastly, Yuri was selected by fans in MBC variety show “Show Champion” as the member of Girls’ Generation who has the best body. Even the members of SNSD also said, “We envy the healthy body of Yuri.”

Fitness instructor Sean Lee said in the SBS program “Victory”, “One members like Sooyoung has naturally born body, but the perfect body of Yuri come from her continuous efforts in exercising.” The choreographer teacher of SM Entertainment, Shim Jae Won said, “Everybody will stand on the stage to accept the teacher’s criticism in the end, if one doesn’t work hard, it will become their scars, even if this stage is their dream, there is no way to bring them happiness.” Even pop groups like Girls’ Generation also need to continue to grow to get everyone’s attention no matter where they are.

This is why Yuri’s words can not be taken lightly, “Although I look very attractive, but there is a lot of hardship on the painstaking road which others couldn’t seen, making me shaking and giving up, but I keep telling myself that this is only a temporary moment, I will stand up again. Because we get a lot of love and other things from everyone, so we have the responsibility to repay the love. This is why no matter how difficult or hard, I cannot give up, and which is why no matter how hard, we can get the strength to face it.”

In May, the autobiography-style film of SM is releasing, and Yuri wrote on her individual poster, “I can fall but I will not give up,” which is why Yuri, regardless of as singer or an actor, would succeed.

Source: dramahaven

Girls’ Generation’s member Yuri has a dazzling performance in the SBS drama “Fashion King“.

Recently, Yuri had an interview with a Korean female magazine. Here’s translated part of the interview.

Yuri was wearing a yellow jacket, dragging the rack while talking on the phone. Her sudden appearance scared Yoo Ah In. She said to him coolly, “I don’t have time, get out.” This is the scene in episode 3 of “Fashion King” where the two first met. The lines of Yuri is all in English, while the last sentence, “get out,” perfectly expresses her apathy and irritability. She not only speaks English like local, but also conveys her feelings.

Yuri is unlike Tiffany and Jessica who lived abroad. “I’ve been thinking of waiting to act before I debuted, when I was a trainee 7, 8 years ago, I have thought of it for 10 years. I continuously attends the acting class and reads the script alone. Then, I feel happy I can star in a drama. I met director for 10 times before the filming started, because director did not know me very well, and has no way to identify my acting, so he gave me a lot of opinions. My biggest fear was to act using English. Anna is a famous and experienced designer in New York, so she cannot just smoothly speak, but also must attentively express the emotions. When practicing, I will use a tape recorder and camera to record and keep repeating the listening.”

Girls’ Generation member YoonA used to star in “You Are My Destiny” in 2008, Jessica also starred in “Wild Romance” recently. Comparing with them, Yuri who wanted to act and prepared for 10 years started relatively late. Unlike other members, up to the broadcast now, no one is criticizing her acting.

“It’s like my character, very similar to Anna, I want to show a more complete state. Whether it is in English, acting, singing and dancing, I want to show sincerity. In order to express this image, I must be familiar with it. And in order to become familiar with it, I have to keep practicing hard, I think this is why I spent a longer time.” Lastly, Yuri was selected by fans in MBC variety show “Show Champion” as the member of Girls’ Generation who has the best body. Even the members of SNSD also said, “We envy the healthy body of Yuri.”

Fitness instructor Sean Lee said in the SBS program “Victory”, “One members like Sooyoung has naturally born body, but the perfect body of Yuri come from her continuous efforts in exercising.” The choreographer teacher of SM Entertainment, Shim Jae Won said, “Everybody will stand on the stage to accept the teacher’s criticism in the end, if one doesn’t work hard, it will become their scars, even if this stage is their dream, there is no way to bring them happiness.” Even pop groups like Girls’ Generation also need to continue to grow to get everyone’s attention no matter where they are.

This is why Yuri’s words can not be taken lightly, “Although I look very attractive, but there is a lot of hardship on the painstaking road which others couldn’t seen, making me shaking and giving up, but I keep telling myself that this is only a temporary moment, I will stand up again. Because we get a lot of love and other things from everyone, so we have the responsibility to repay the love. This is why no matter how difficult or hard, I cannot give up, and which is why no matter how hard, we can get the strength to face it.”

In May, the autobiography-style film of SM is releasing, and Yuri wrote on her individual poster, “I can fall but I will not give up,” which is why Yuri, regardless of as singer or an actor, would succeed.


Source: Dramahaven

Big Bang, who just wrapped up their local promotions, is set to take their tour to Asia, North and South America, and Europe, performing in 25 cities in 16 countries.

For the past few days, Big Bang has been hyping fans by announcing the confirmed list of countries on their official Facebook page. Aside from the Philippines and Malaysia, as well as in Indonesia and Taiwan, Big Bang added Hong Kong as their last stop in Asia for ‘Alive Tour 2012’. Tour locations in North America, South America and Europe are yet to be revealed.

TS Entertainment has just released another making film for B.A.P’s “Power” music video via their YouTube channel.

In addition to the previously-released videos which featured the filming that took place near a highway in Songdo, and the making-of video Take 1, B.A.P unveiled the making-of video Take 2. The video footage covers the boys behind the scenes as they monitor their performances and having fun on set.

Following the success of their first full-length album ‘IGNITION’, B1A4 will soon be releasing a repackaged version of the album. The digital album will be released on May 24th, while the physical album will hit shelves on the 29th.

Following teaser images and video of members Baro, Jinyoung, Sandeul and CNU, B1A4 updated their official website with their last teaser featuring member Gongchan.

A video teaser for ZE:A’s upcoming comeback has just been released!

As reported earlier, ZE:A will be making their comeback this coming June. The boys dropped their first hint at the scene of ‘2012 Dream Concert’, where ZE:A’s SiWan served as the main MC. The banner posted at the concert displayed the date “201206”, indicating a comeback in June.

This time, ZE:A released a video teaser showcasing various members of the group along with concert footage. The words “ARE YOU READY?!” are seen along with the release date of June 21.

Check out the teaser below!

SS501’s Kim Hyung Jun participated in the OST for the SBS Plus’ new drama ‘I Love You’. The singer-actor released his latest track “Even the words, I Love You”, a soft melodramatic song which blends in very well with the drama’s overall love story.

‘I Love You’ is based on Kang Pool’s popular comic and tells the love story between the elderly. The show will be SBS Plus’ first feature-length drama that will be produced in-house. Kim Hyung Jun plays the role of Jung Min Jae, a smart public service worker and a well-off plutocrat son who has a painful family past.

Ahead of their official comeback, Leessang pre-released the track “Humility is Hard” off of their upcoming 8th album titled ‘Unplugged’. On May 18th, the duo unveiled the full music video for the song.

“Humility is Hard” is a remake from the track originally released by Cho Youngnam. Leessang has given the song a fresh and modern twist with their unique music sense. The music video follows two young boys, representing Gary and Gil, and their mischief.

Enjoy Secret's latest performance on Sketchbook as the girls performed popular song titled "Why Do You Call Me" by Diva.


Original version

Ballad group Noeul sing their latest hit song Leaving and popular song Propose on Youngstreet.

Check out their amazing performance here!



Check out the "Propose" live performance as well

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hWiV__vko8

2PM will release a special member's selection album and a new MV of Only You has been filmed,check out the MV here.


’2PM Member’s Selection’ track list:01. 10 out of 10
02. Only You
03. Again & Again
04. I Hate You
05. Might Come Back
06. Heartbeat
07. Tired of Waiting
08. Gimme the Light
09. Don’t Stop Can’t Stop
10. Without U
11. I’ll be back
12. I Can’t
13. Hands Up
14. Give It to Me
15. Hot
16. Thank You
Special Tracks
17. Alive (Junsu)
18. Move On (Junho, Wooyoung)

Filming has begun on The Jackal Is Coming, an action comedy movie that pretty much hooked my interest with its one-line premise: A bungling killer (Song Ji-hyo) is hired to kidnap an pop singer (Jaejoong) and fails in multiple ways to kill him. There’s no mention of it in the description so far, but does she also fall in love with him? That’s the obvious conclusion, isn’t it? Obvious in the way of Korean movies and dramas, I mean, not obvious in the way of life, because that’s just insane.

The casting seems pretty spot-on, and the goofy plotline has plenty of comic possibilities. I’m basically seeing it as another version of the Myung-wol the Spy concept, except hopefully funnier, and with a hopefully less asstastic hero. Basically I’m just looking for somebody to reboot that premise and do it justice, since I want it to work, despite the mess that the series was.

Meanwhile, the pop singer will also have a dogged, invasive stalker (the kind known as a “sasaeng fan,” which describes those fans with no concept of boundaries or privacy concerns when it comes to their favorite idol oppas), played by Joo Min-ha (Queen of Housewives).

These stills come from the movie’s first shoots, taken in a factory where our heroine, Song Ji-hyo, finds herself in the midst of a police chase. The role calls for a decent amount of action, as these stills suggest, and I think I’ve seen enough of Ace Ji-hyo on Running Man to say she’s up to the task.

The movie plans to release later this year.

Via Osen

 The champion in mixed double table tennis of Etude Coool skin world championship came up!
Min-ho, SHINee, and Sandara won the last gold in mixed double table tennis finals of the Coool skin world championsip!
It will be shown the crucial moment that Etude Sun BB team knocked their competitors down!
Take a look at Sandara & Min-ho’s winning speech!
Win against oily, hot, heavy summer skin!
National Team Player, Etude SUN BB plays for coool skin!
Please give Etude Sun BB team a message of encouragement!Wannabe Sweet? Play Etude!






Credits: etudeblog

They’re still young rookies but they have started to accumulate experience. As they shake their bodies until they’re out of breath and carry on with their steady lives, their know-hows have increased too. ‘MAMA”s imposing sound, with the members who are like one during their strong performances, is oddly addicting. It’s barely been a month since they debuted and they have already started to show to the public their infinite possibilities and charms.

“Rather than being tiring, it’s amazing and fun. We’re also gradually getting used to the stage. I’m happy because we can show an image that’s a bit better” (Baekhyun)

The members introduced the positive reactions they received about ‘MAMA’ from the people around them with a bright expression. “They all said it was alright. My parents told me it was really cool after watching the broadcast. But they told me to always think about my health first and take care of my body a lot” (D.O)

After D.O’s history, the conversation suddenly moved on to parents. The members had a momentaneous dim expression and said “We last saw our parents last January for Seollal”. They knew their parents attended their debut showcase during late March but looked disappointed because they couldn’t meet them.

“It’s true that our parents came to the showcase but we couldn’t meet them because we were so busy. Since EXO-M’s parents are living in China they couldn’t come, we also felt sorry to be able to meet our parents only amongst us. On the opposite, when we had our showcase in China, the EXO-M members thought of us and didn’t meet their parents. We’re considerate of each other like this a lot” (Suho)

Chanyeol also expressed how much he missed his parents. “In the past I did a lot of voluntary service at halls for the elderly and welfare centers and there, an old woman I was cleaning for gave me a candy while telling me ‘Thanks a lot’. It’s been a long time since I’ve been separated from my parents and I can’t even go see my grandfather and grandmother during holidays so I suddenly felt like crying” (Chanyeol)

While holding in their longing for their parents that they have, EXO-K overcame their difficult trainee lives and had their strong debut stage, receiving as many favorable comments as the amount of time they spent on their intensive training. One of them was about Kai’s and the members’ awesome expression game. The part where he shouts”MAMA” to call the Gods while staring into the air with a slightly weak look is definitely ‘MAMA”s highlight.

“During the whole song, the expression game is a part that is absolutely needed. In our daily lives, we check our expressions when we take pictures of our faces with a self-camera” (Baekhyun)

On the other hand, Kai, the main actor of this expression game performance said “I do it as I feel when I listen to the song” while showing a relaxed image. But as opposed to the chic and arrogant image and the overflowing confidence he shows on stage, the fact that he gave only 10 points out of 100 to the ‘MAMA’ promotions caught our attention.

“There’s a lot more we can show in the future. I think we’re evolving little by little” (Kai)

While Suho, in contrast to shameless and cold Kai, gave to the team 50 points. “Because well begun is half done (laughs)”


Suho talked tenderly with deer-like eyes. He somehow seemed like he lacked charisma for a leader, when we asked him “Is there a leader-only secret to manage dongsaengs?” he tipped “I manage the members every week during family meetings. We resolve minor trivial things with love and hugs and I scold them a lot for big mistakes or if they act impolitely”.

Chanyeol then added and explained “Leader hyung doesn’t always scold us loudly but he leads the dongsaengs with quiet conversations”. When we joked and said “You look like someone who got scolded by his hyung a lot” he struck an embarrassed face, laughed as his face turned red and shook his head.

As we were reaching the end of the interview, we were very curious about one thing. Each of the 6, no, 12 members have different personalities, so with what convictions and values are they uniting with and towards what goal are they running to?

“The common motto we all attach importance to is ‘Training to give more than to receive’. You generally think that celebrities only receive, right? But we’re thinking that we are sharing the love we receive. To accomplish that we have done voluntary service since pre-debut” (Suho)

From leader Suho’s reliable answer, we could guess dimly EXO-K’s essence. Through ‘MAMA’, they are singing the pain of the modern age communication gap; they’re uniting on the basis of consideration for each other with warm hearts that understand that feeling.

EXO-K responded ‘No comment’ when asked about the follow-up song and the next concept. They piqued our curiousity by saying “If we get the opportunity, we could even promote with EXO-M”. They’re still doing their best promoting ‘MAMA’ in Korea. Like the ‘monster rookies’ they are, displaying their explosive potential on the music charts at the same time they did when they debuted, we’re looking forward to the day they’ll compete on worldwide stages, which is coming soon enough.

(*) Sehun unavoidably couldn’t participate to the interview that day because he was going to school.


source: bntnews
translation cr; emilie @ exok-trans

Girl group T-ara member Hyomin will open a collection (shop) exclusively for G-Market.
T-ara's Hyomin is working with on a collaborative project with stylist Kim Sungil for G-Market. Together, they're working to release products through the shop.
The G-Market shop is scheduled to officially open on June 4th. Hyomin came up with a total of around 150 products including a variety of flower patterned dresses, beachwear, shorts and various other items. The items will range between 20,000 to 50,000 won.
Hyomin has been actively involved in the product planning, designing, product launch preparations and the photoshoots for the product. On the 16th, she visited the G-Market headquarters to conference with stylist Kim Sungil and improve the product she's involved in. Currently, Hyomin is a model for G-Market's T-ara Star Shop.
G-Market's Fashion Marketing leader, Lee Yooyoung said, "The customer's response to T-ara's Star shop and member collaborative projects have each been successful and popular. The individuality of each of the T-ara member is unique, and in the future we hope to showcase a variety of fashionable items in collaboration with the T-ara members."

Source: NateTranslated by: Nathaniel @ Diadem 

IUIU (Korean: 아이유), who was born as Lee Ji-eun is a South Korean singer and actress. Her stage name IU, is derived from "I and You" which symbolizes that we can become one through music.
IU debuted on September 24, 2008 with her first mini-album, Lost and Found, in which she was praised by various Korean artists for her strong vocals. On April 16, 2009, IU returned with her first full album,  titled Growing Up, with her title song being "Boo." She started promotions for the album on the 17th. Within three weeks, "Boo" went up to the #1 contendants for SBS Inkigayo, and her name also went up twice on Take 7 together with other notable artists like SG Wannabe and YounHa. The song also did well on KBS Music Bank K-Chart, on Mnet M!Countdown chart, and on various online music charts.


Real Name : Lee Ji Eun (아이유)Date of birth : 16th May 1993Height : 162 cmWeight : 47 kgBlood Type: A Hobby : ReadingSpecialty: SingingDebut: September 24, 2008 Labels: LOEN Entertainment Education: Attended Dongdeok Girls High SchoolFavorite foods : Raw fish, sweet potatoFavourite Musicians: Kim Tae Woo, Gummy, TamiaFavourite Star: Gummy, Ha Dong Kyun, Taeyang Favorite actors : Kang Ji-hwan, Jung Jae-young, Han Ji-minIdeal Type: Yoo Ah In Cyworld: http://www.cyworld.com/zieun2Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/lily199iu
====================Discography====================Korean Discography2008:

• Lost and Found

• Growing Up
• IU...IM

• Real

• Last Fantasy

• Spring of a Twenty Year Old

• I□U (Japanese pre-debut album)

• Good Day

• Dream High
• Welcome to the Show (cameo - Episode 1)

• Dream High 2 (cameo - Episode 1)
• Salamander Guru and the Shadows (cameo - Episode 6)

Congratulations to TaeTiSeo for winning on Music Bank again with their new song Twinkle.

Check out other performance from today's show!

‘Idol House’ SM Entertainment shows a male idol group, EXO-K for the first time after SHINee from 4 years ago. By having a peculiar promotion, they successfully drew the attention of the whole world before even debuting. They raised the expectation with a total of 23 teasers during 100 days. EXO is divided into EXO-K who promotes in Korea and EXO-M who promotes in China, they debuted at the same time on April 9th.

This time, the expression ‘Great boast, small roast’ was proved wrong. The six members, who got their peculiar name EXO-K from the word ‘EXOPLANET’, which stands for a planet out of the solar system, have such a sophisticated and perfect image that they can give the impression that they really fell from another planet.

You would think that they kept on going easily with the strong support of their company but armed with the SMP, it was a handicap. As much as it’s difficult to change one’s likes and dislikes, the members have various charms and respectable skills worthy of the love they receive. 

We recently met EXO-K’s members for this interview and instead of the stiff expressions they showed during the showcase, they shouted energically their official greetings “We are ONE. Hello, we are EXO-K” more relaxedly and with a bright image. A month ago they were at loss and had trouble working as a group, but during this time period, the members matured a lot.

“These days, it’s going well when we’re doing music programs. On days with music shows, we generally sleep around 4 hours, but today (Monday) we slept 7 hours” (Kai)

“I’m really having fun now. For my first birthday after our debut, the members and the fans congratulated me a lot and we had an event too” (Baekhyun)

These days, everytime they’re asked how they’re doing, the members reply like this with a shy expression. On stage, they hit high notes like professionals and match their difficult synchronized choreography looking like they are completely familiarized with it, but when facing them, we get the strong feeling that they’re ‘like children’. But here, they held the conversation with D.O’s round and bright eyes, Suho’s passionate image representing the team and with always a noticeable utterance, and Chanyeol’s brightness.

When watching the angelic members’ image, we were curious about whether they felt pressured by the media’s attention just because they’re SM rookies and the public’s expectations for them to have performances at the level of seniors such as DBSK-SHINee.

“Our promotions lasted for a very long time, right? I think that while the fans were waiting their expectations raised by quite a lot. Moreover, our seniors opened the Hallyu and K-POP path well so it pressured us even more of course. But under that pressure, we promised to practice even harder and to put in a lot of effort” (Chanyeol)

The genre of the title song ‘MAMA’, the SMP (SM Music Performance: its peculiarity is the splendid and strong performance), resembles the first generation of idols like H.O.T and Shinhwa and to the early days of the 5-membered DBSK, which makes them confident.

“When I first heard it I really liked it. It’s really imposing, and it’s been a long time since the SMP appeared, right? I thought that we could show a performance different from the other singers” (Suho)

“You can think that it’s old-fashioned or out of season but I think that this generation didn’t get to hear a lot of the SMP. Instead I thought ‘Won’t it be an original and new genre to them?’” (Chanyeol)

But thinking back to their first broadcasted performance on ‘Inkigayo’ only makes them dizzy. Starting from D.O’s ‘Superior (Imposing) Orchestra”s slip of the tongue, the members really tensed up. As soon as the subject was brought up, D.O headdesked, not knowing whether he should laugh or cry. After that mistake, when D.O just hears about the ‘first broadcast’, you can only see him sigh.

“Our first performance wasn’t live to emphasize on the performance. The pressure of the live of course decreased with that. But since it was our first time wearing an ear-mic, everything was unfamiliar so we were really nervous” (Baekhyun)

“Truthfully, even now, this kind of interview is easy but the interviews with cameras are really hard. You know how your face is still but only your mouth smiles? Recently, we had an interview once with Tony senior on ‘M!Countdown’ and I got scolded because my lips were really shaking” (Kai)

Even if they look perfect, they’re still rookies who are scared of the camera. “We can’t choose only one fan-idiot (T/N: A fan-idiot is a member who’s awkward with the fans and doesn’t know how to react and interact with them). We’re all fan-idiots” They gave us this standard answer. They showed their images only through teasers at first, that’s how they were exposed to the public before their debut, but as opposed to that they got to meet the fans through music programs, fanmeetings and fansigns and they were so amazed by it, it was totally showing.

EXO-K is complete only once these 6 members, who look similar yet totally different, are all together. They said that until now their singer seniors, such as DBSK, Super Junior, SHINee, etc. helped them a lot.

“DBSK’s U-Know Yunho senior and Max Changmin senior always monitor us and always give nice words to each one of us everytime we meet them after a while. Sometimes they even tell us warm words through speaker phone when we’re practicing. Seeing that we had a lot of members, Super Junior’s Leeteuk senior too told us a lot of things like ‘Make them unite as a leader’, ‘Unite a bit more’, ‘You exist because you are a group’” (Suho)




source: bntnews
translation cr; emilie @ exok-trans