Korean Media News

The world renowned Jang Dong Gun and Song Seung Heon are powerless in front of “Gag Concert”.

SBS weekend drama “A Gentleman’s Dignity” and MBC weekend drama “Dr. JIN” show the downward trend after broadcasting just 2 episodes, while KBS2 variety show “Gag Concert” shows its majesty of weekend winner.

According to AGB Nielson Media Research agency, “A Gentleman’s Dignity” aired on the evening of May 27th, 2012 rated 12.8%, the rating which fell by 1.3% from premiere episode.

The audience rating for “Dr. JIN” was 11.8%, dropping 0.4% from 12.2% of premiere episode.

The strong lineup of Jang Dong Gun and Kim Ha Neul of SBS’s “A Gentleman’s Dignity”, and Song Seung Hun, Lee Bum Soo, Kim Jaejoong and Park Min Young of MBC’s “Dr. JIN”, coupled with the fact that these two dramas have been highly anticipated prior to broadcast, and that they both received praises in the premiere episode, but both dramas suffered drop in viewership ratings on 2nd episode.

Meanwhile, KBS2′s “Gag Concert” shows off its strong power. “Gag Concert” on the evening of May 27th, 2012 which part of the broadcast timing was overlapping with the drama, achieved the rating of 19.9%, an increase of 0.3% over the last week.


Source: dramahaven

Comedian Kim Mi-hwa apologized for her radio show guest’s comment that denounced Olympic gold medalist figure skater Kim Yuna’s practice teaching session as “a show.”

Last Tuesday, Kim had Hwang Sang-min, a psychology professor at Yonsei University, as a guest on her radio program on CBS. The two talked about figure skater Kim Yuna, who is also a senior at Korea University majoring in physical education, and takes part in practice teaching sessions at Jinseon Girls’ High School in Seoul.

During the show, Hwang said that it would be a “correct expression that Yuna performed a show rather than doing a practice teaching session.”

His comment enraged fans of the Olympic star, and host Kim also felt the criticism as well.

Kim posted an apology on Twitter on Friday.

“We’re sorry to Yuna. Our producers’ intention wasn’t meant to be like this,” Kim said in a reply to a message posted by a teacher from Jinseon Girls’ High School. “We are trying to deliver our apologies in next week’s show.”


By Joo Kyung-don
Source: JoongAng Daily

After 21 months serving in the public relations department of the Ministry of National Defense, actor Lee Dong Gun is set to return to the K-drama scene this fall when he stars in “The Secret Lovers.”

This will be Lee’s first acting role since starring in the 2008 drama “Night After Night.”

Lee was discharged from the Army on March 28 and said he had originally chosen to star in the drama “I Can’t Lose,” but due to a delay in its production, he opted for “The Secret Lovers” instead.

Sports Seoul reported that Lee will be the protagonist in the drama based on the 2009 film “7th Grade Civil Servant” starring Hallyu actress Kim Ha Neul.

The script will be written by Chun Sung-il, who also wrote the script for the movie.

The plot of the drama adaptation is based on the comic happenings that unfold when a civil servant catches a corporate spy.

“The Secret Lovers” is set to air in September on MBC following the end of the drama “Arang and the Magistrate,” which will air from July.


By Carla Sunwoo
Source: JoongAng Daily

Actress Epani revealed on Friday that she and musical actor Seo Sung-min held a private wedding back in April in the Philippines.

“We got married last April at a resort in Cebu in the Philippines. To the fans, I’m so sorry that I’ve only revealed it now, but we wanted a quiet ceremony with just our close friends and family members there,” said Epani on her Cyworld page. The actress also posted photos from the event.

“It was a beautiful ceremony and we promise to live happily ever after,” the entertainer wrote.

Seo proposed to the actress back in January during the curtain call for the musical “Let’s Go to the Rose Inn,” which she starred in.

“As a bee is drawn to honey, I am naturally drawn to you. I promise to love you and then love you some more,” musical actor Seo Sung-min said as he got down on one knee.

Seo presented his lover with a three-carat diamond ring thought to be worth around 350 million won ($ 310,700) in front of the audience.


By Carla Sunwoo
Source: JoongAng Daily

Singer Kim C is making headlines for admitting that he doesn’t know who miss A’s Suzy is.

On the May 26th episode of KBS 2TV’s ‘Story Show Do Dream’, singer and former ‘1N2D’ member Kim C confessed that he did not know who fellow guest miss A’s Suzy is, but that he finds her to be a kind person.

Suzy, who recently won the Rookie of the Year Award for her role in the film “Introduction to Architecture” remarked, “I find the spotlight burdensome when I don’t even know what acting is yet. From the start, I got a leading role and received a rookie award. I should be happy for receiving an award, but I’m not.”

To this Kim C stated, “I don’t know who Suzy is. This is the first time I’ve seen her. Judging from what she’s just said, it seems like she’s originally from the music industry who got into a girl group after a lot of hard work.”

He continued, “I think Suzy is a nice person. It seems she didn’t work as hard for this area of the industry as she had for her music and she feels apologetic for taking away that award from the other rookie actors. It makes her a kind person.”

Fellow guest Jang Seo Hee agreed, “I’m of the same opinion. It’s because she’s nice that she feels that way. You have the potential to grow even more in the future.”


Source: Nate

SHINee’s fans displayed their love for the boys in a very unique and creative way.

Recently, several photos were posted on an online community board titled, “SHINee’s fans’ dedication.”

The series of photos show close-ups of the impressive and unbelievable masterpiece of SHINee’s fans. They carefully carved out the words “SHINee”, “Onew” as well as other shapes and designs using the lead of the pencils.

Netizens who wwere amazed at the pencil carvings remarked, “SHINee’s fans are impressive”, “They are not persons. They are Gods”, “What true fans” and more.

Recently, B.A.P opened official Facebook page for the group’s official bunny mascot Matoki. The Facebook page features teaser photos of Matoki bunnies as comic characters set to conquer Earth through the comic series titled “Earthventure”.

B.A.P first introduced Bang Yong Guk’s bunny mascot named ‘Shishimato’, the leader amongst all the Matokis who desires world domination. This time, the bunny mascot for member Himchan has been unveiled.

On May 28th, B.A.P introduced Himchan’s bunny mascot named ‘Tatsmato’ also known as ‘Face’. Tatsmato is described to be super cute but a shy person. Check out his short teaser below!

The duo of TVXQ continue to enjoy successful streak, as their new single and DVD has impressively dominated Japan’s pre-order charts.

On May 25th, TVXQ’s upcoming Japanese single “ANDROID” seized #1 spot in major pre-order charts such as Amazon, Tower Records, TSUTAYA and more. TVXQ further drew interest by also managing to conquer the top three spots on Tower Records.

“ANDROID” is TVXQ’s first dance song in about a year ago to release in Japan since their 32nd single “Superstar.”

Also, TVXQ’s live DVD of ‘TVXQ Live Tour 2012: Tone’ that drew in more than 550,000 fans is also boasting high sales numbers. The DVD will include footage of the duo’s large-scale Japanese concert that took place from January to April 15.

The polite leader of Big Bang, G-Dragon, is receiving a lot of attention from netizens for his “folder bow”.

Recently on an online community board, several pictures of G-Dragon have been posted with the title ‘G-Dragon Folder Greetings’.

In the collected images, G-Dragon is seen bowing at perfect 90 degree stance. Not only is G-Dragon pictured bowing at award ceremonies, he’s also seen exchanging greetings even towards juniors and audience members.

Netizens commented, “He came off as being rough and strong, but it’s good to see him with such great manners”, “I hope more singers become like him” and “I always felt that G-Dragon was polite.”


Source: Nate

KARA’s sister group, Rainbow, will be making its comeback to the Korean music scene this summer.

An associate from the girls’ agency, DSP Media confirmed on May 25th, “Rainbow will be making a Korean comeback as early as July or August.”

The agency described that the ladies are fast paced at work producing their new record, and they are very carefully choosing their title song and subtracks, as it is their first return in a lengthy while.

“Their title song has not yet been determined, so we cannot explain what kind of concept it will be just yet. However, it will be full of colors that are characteristic of Rainbow”, a rep added.

Meanwhile, Rainbow has performed well on the Japanese charts with songs such as “A”, “Mach”, and more.

Mighty Mouth’s Shorry J apologized to Girls’ Generation fans for making a quite interruption on TaeTiSeo’s winning acceptance speech at the recent episode of KBS ‘Music Bank’.

On May 26, Shorry J tweeted, “To Girls’ Generation fans, I didn’t mean to interrupt TaeTiSeo. If you were offended I am very sorry. I won’t do it again. Don’t be mad.”

Fellow Mighty Mouth member Sangchu further explained, “We teased TaeTiSeo because we were so happy for them, but I guess that was too much. It’s my fault because I encouraged Shorry J to do so. I’ll be more careful. I’m really sorry.”

The incident occurred during the May 25th episode of ‘Music Bank’ where TaeTiSeo won a triple crown for title track “Twinkle”. While the girls were giving their acceptance speech, Shorry J made a hilarious face behind the girls, which unintentionally upset the fans.

As previously reported, Hallyu group FT Island has been singled out by leading Japanese music channel Space Shower TV Plus, being the focus of a special program aired on May 27.

The one-hour show featured a live acoustic set as well as interviews and moments from the studio. FT Island performed “Stay” from their latest Japanese album ‘20’, as well as hit songs “Flower Rock” and “Venus”.

Check out their performances below!

After approximately four months since the release of “Hit U”, girl group Dal Shabet will be making their return with their first full-length album ‘BANG BANG’ next month.

‘BANG BANG’ will have a total of 14 tracks, including 4 previous hits, 1 intro track, 1 instrumental and 8 brand new songs. Its title track “MR. BANG BANG” was produced by E-Tribe and is set to show a brighter side of the group, fitting in the summer season.

Dal Shabet revamped its line up this past week. Leader Viki left the group to pursue her solo career, while new member Woohee join the group to replace her. Woohee is said to be very talented, possessing outstanding vocals and dance skills.

‘BANG BANG’ is scheduled to be released on June 7th.

Tracklist:

01. Enter Dal★Shabet (Intro)
02. Disco Time
03. Supa Dupa Diva
04. Pink Rocket
05. Bling Bling
06. Hit U (feat. Bigtone)
07. Girl Girl Girls (feat. Makustle)
08. Love Shake
09. Many Boys
10. Mirror
11. Mr. BANG BANG
12. Without You, I
13. Try to Come Closer (feat. Nassun)
15. Mr.BANG BANG (Instrumental)

Sunny Hill has participated in part 1 of the OST for tvN’s upcoming drama ‘I Love Lee Taeri’. The new OST track titled “Do It” is scheduled to release on various digital sites on May 29.

Sunny Hill member Jubi will be making her acting debut in ‘I Love Lee Taeri’. Jubi will be playing the leader of fictional girl group “Apple Head” in the series and the song “Do It” will serve as their title song.

“Do It” is composed and produced by Night & Day and is characterized by a fast beat and an electronic rock guitar sound. With its powerful sound and addictive melody, it’s expected to appeal to people of all ages.

“I Love Lee Taeri” is a fantasy romance-comedy drama and a sequel to “The Wedding Scheme.” It tells the story of a middle school student who suddenly finds himself a man in his 30’s. The drama, which was produced by screenwriter Moon Ji Young and director Kim Do Hyuk, will be aired every Monday and Tuesday starting May 28th.

Singer Kim Tae Woo participated in the OST for SBS new weekend drama ‘Gentlemen’s Class’!

On May 26th, Kim Tae Woo released his latest track “High High”. The song “High High” is an upbeat tune that features a catchy chorus line.

‘Gentlemen’s Class’, starring Kim Ha Neul and Jang Dong Gun, focuses on the love story between a rude architect and a bright and spunky high school ethics teacher. The drama made its premiere on May 26th on SBS.

Big Bang has just revealed new image teasers for its upcoming special edition album title track, “Monster”!

After releasing solo teasers for members G-Dragon, T.O.P and Taeyang, Big Bang revealed the teasers for Daesung and Seungri. These images serve as a glimpse of the music video for the album’s title song with these new photos for “Monster”, schedule to be released on June 3.

The special edition album ‘Still Alive’ will also be released on June 3. This mini album will include a total of nine tracks; five new songs as well as “Blue”, “Bad Boy”, “Fantastic Baby” and “Love Dust”. The title song “Monster” is written and composed by G-Dragon himself.

Following the release of their 8th full-length album ‘Unplugged’ along with the music video for their title track “Someday” on May 25th, hip hop duo Leessang unveiled the music video for “Pursuit of Happiness”.

“Pursuit of Happiness” features Jo Hyuna of Urban Zakapa. The video shows Gil and Gary of Leessang as they prepare their album, working hard on recording studio.

Watch the full MV below. Also check their ‘Unplugged’ album here.

Check out SPICA's amazing performance on KFN Show,the girls performed Russian Roulette and  Painkiller

As One released the 2012 version of Day By Day,you should really check out this song,it's simply amazing!

Nam Gyuri unveiled a set of new photos on her Twitter on 27th May.

She said,"shooting for my 2012 profile,i'm happy"!

She is seen posing confidently in a black feather dress,showing off her glamorous figure and elegant charm.

Like her new photos?

Check out A Pink's surprise appearance on Gag Concert.

The girls demonstrate the basic dance steps of their latest hit song Hush,check out the video above!

Check out Miss A's performance on Open Concert,the girls performed their debut song Bad Girl Good Girl on the show,enjoy their performance here!

The last of the secrets are out, and all that’s left is the fallout. Sun-woo is sharpening his claws for what promises to be an eventful finale as Jang-il comes face to face with what Sun-woo went through so long ago. If this show were a game, it’d be called Finding Human Decency, and no one would ever win.

Note: Since the finale has already aired, please remain spoiler-free in the comments section. We’ll get there soon enough.

 
EPISODE 19 RECAP

With all the new fatherly revelations to deal with, Sun-woo turns to kendo to unleash some pent-up frustration. Not Dad arrives to explain the situation to his Not Son – that he raised him because he was the child of the woman he loved. Sun-woo wants to know why Chairman Jin didn’t raise him if he was his son, and Not Dad explains how Jin threw his mother away, sure that she was pregnant with another man’s child.

He seems to want Sun-woo to forgive Jin on the basis of their shared blood, but Sun-woo doesn’t share the same ideals. Jin killed his father, threw away his mother, and took Ji-won’s father’s company. His revenge has already been set in motion, and there’s no going back now.

Chairman Jin and his wife come to a head about their relationship – or lack thereof, for that matter. She’s seen the pictures of him with Sun-woo and is incensed that he gives his usual reaction to her questioning: “You don’t need to know.” Done with being silent, she fights back by claiming that she’s jealous of his dead fiancée, because she didn’t get to marry him. Ouch.

Sun-woo, Min-yun, and Ji-won are in the final stages of a six-month plan to take over Chairman Jin’s prized resort in Thailand and oust him as CEO in the process. Ji-won is eager to help on the legal side of the revenge, though she wants Sun-woo to consider his revenge on Jin complete once it’s over. It’s with hesitancy that he agrees, though I wouldn’t hold him to his word on that one.

Chairman Jin’s camp goes into crisis control mode, and it’s with some surprise than Jin learns of Sun-woo’s plan to hold a stockholder’s meeting. Knowing that Sun-woo will try to dismiss him from his CEO position, Chairman Jin murmurs to himself: “I can’t lose that resort. That’s more important than my life. That’s how I got all the way here after all that bloodshed.”

Sun-woo’s camp stays focused on the meeting until Geum-jool interrupts with the news that Yong-bae hung himself and is in a coma. Sun-woo is hardly surprised, and wonders why he’s still alive if he tried to do the same thing his father did. With a sigh, Geum-jool asks his friend to just forgive them already.

“I can’t forgive alone,” Sun-woo says almost off-handedly. “No one is asking for forgiveness, so how can I forgive?” Ji-won tries to point out the logic fail in that statement (he doesn’t need to be asked for forgiveness to forgive), and Sun-woo just agrees to send flowers.

As for Chairman Jin’s wife, she’s had it with her husband and goes to Sun-woo with the pictures of him and her husband at Eun-hae’s gravesite. Sun-woo is able to make up an excuse which Hee-jun doesn’t totally buy, but she lets it slide for now… she has more important things to talk about. Like making a deal with Sun-woo to allow her to come out of the shareholder’s meeting unscathed. She could care less about how her husband fares.

In the hospital with his father, Jang-il tearfully admits that what he said before (that he’d give the okay for Yong-bae to kill himself) didn’t come from the heart. “If you go like this, I can’t live on,” he claims.

He’s interrupted by a phone call from Joon-ho, who wants him in for an interrogation on an attempted murder charge. Uh oh.

Interrogation room. Jang-il sits across a table from his colleague, Joon-ho, who asks him point blank if he ever hit Sun-woo over the head and threw him off a cliff. To every question about the crime Jang-il denies his involvement, though he admits that he and Sun-woo were once friends.

So Joon-ho decides to bring in Sun-woo to ask him if he was struck in the head by Jang-il. He and his frenemy share a glance, and Sun-woo seems to hesitate before answering no. We flashback to the drinking conversation Sun-woo had with Jang-il where he claimed that he wrote that he didn’t remember anything on the petition, but he remembered everything. The exact conversation Joon-ho listened in on through the phone.

I don’t know what Sun-woo’s aim is in denying Jang-il’s involvement, or if he’s in cahoots with Joon-ho. The prosecutor knows they’re both lying and decides to bring in Soo-mi for group questioning.

With a smile on her face, Soo-mi assures Joon-ho that she wasn’t necessarily lying before – she was just confused. (Right.) When presented with her paintings she claims that she asked Sun-woo and Jang-il to be her models, a question which Sun-woo flatly denies. Sun-woo: “It’s not true. I was never her model. Choi Soo-mi is lying.”

Meanwhile, Ji-won goes to work on convincing fellow shareholders of Chairman Jin’s fishiness and encourages them to attend the upcoming meeting.

In the interrogation room, Sun-woo continues his odd habit of locking eyes with Jang-il each time a question is posed to him that he has to lie about. It’s almost as if he’s challenging Jang-il to tell the truth, the real story, even though he could just do the same now and get this all over with.

But he goes on with his mind games, claiming that Jang-il wasn’t the one to attack him. He even pats his old friend on the back as if to say, It’s okay. Instead, when asked who struck him from behind, Sun-woo answers: “Lee Jang-il’s father.” Because Yong-bae was complacent in the murder of his father with Jin, Sun-woo claims that he clubbed him to stop him from turning in the petition.

Joon-ho, confused, asks the million dollar question: why didn’t Sun-woo say anything before? Looking to Soo-mi and Jang-il, who’s maintained a stone cold poker face this whole time, Sun-woo replies, “I wanted them to apologize. I also enjoyed watching them struggle to live by lying.”

This is the final straw for Jang-il, who grabs Sun-woo by the collar. Who does he think he is? “If you don’t like it,” Sun-woo says with a near smirk, “you can change it.” Ahh. I see the angle here.

Once the trio is outside, Soo-mi notes that while Sun-woo got them into this mess, he got them out in the end. Why? Jang-il has the same question on his mind, but Sun-woo fires back, “Why didn’t you speak truthfully then? I put everything on your father? How do you feel selling out your father?” He gets inches away from his face and practically croons the inner thought process going on in Jang-il’s head – that everything was for the best as long as he gets to live, even selling out his father.

Jang-il’s hand goes to Sun-woo’s shoulder, though Sun-woo immediately pulls it off with a fierce warning: “I told you not to touch me.” But if Jang-il doesn’t like it, he invites him to go tell the prosecutor the truth. That, or he can go strangle his father to prevent him from testifying against him when he wakes. “Strangle him like he strangled my father,” Sun-woo orders.

But Jang-il, looking quite dead inside, smiles ruefully. “Fine. Give me hell for the rest of my life.” It’s said with an air of resignation, as if he’s given up.

Then, he turns on Soo-mi. How could she have stayed silent, when Yong-bae tried to kill her father? Does she want Jang-il that badly?

Soo-mi: “You’ve become a true devil.” (O rly?) Sun-woo fires right back, “I still have a long way to go to catch up to you guys.” I’d say that’s true.

When Jang-il begins to leave, Sun-woo asks him if he doesn’t even have a ‘thank you’ to give for him not putting him in prison. Jang-il doesn’t, and he walks on without a word, leaving Sun-woo standing alone.

As Sun-woo drives later, he’s forced to stop in the middle of the road because his vision goes blurry. Eek.

The press mob the outside of Yong-bae’s hospital room, with Geum-jool keeping them at bay. Inside, Jang-il promises his father that it will all be over soon. Sun-woo watches the TV coverage from his room with a bored expression, and I’m guessing that the news from the interrogation room has leaked.

Next up for a press mobbing is Chairman Jin. He assures himself that Sun-woo won’t succeed in the shareholder’s meeting, and that he’ll never go down.

Back with Team Sun-woo, we overhear the reporter on the TV claiming that Jin is denying everything related to the crime – and besides, the statute of limitations has passed. Even though he should be happy, Sun-woo’s expression is serious and troubled.

It’s already time for the shareholders meeting, and the officiator calls for a show of hands of those in support of dismissing Chairman Jin as CEO. Two-thirds must agree in order for it to be passed. Slowly, hands start popping up around the room, including Sun-woo’s. It comes down to Hee-jun, who smiles to herself.

We flash back to her meeting with Sun-woo, asking how she can help his cause against her husband. As for what she would get in return, Sun-woo promised that he would help to place a new CEO from her family. I wonder if she’s looking out for Yoon-joo.

Back at the shareholder’s meeting, all eyes are on Hee-jun, as her vote would seal the deal. She raises her hand, to the shock of Chairman Jin, and the motion is passed. Chairman Jin is no longer CEO.

The room empties, leaving Sun-woo and Chairman Jin alone. Sun-woo tells him that he’s still trying to figure out what’s most precious to him and leaves him alone to fume. It’s never a good idea to leave a dangerous man like that alone to plan revenge, is it?

Team Sun-woo celebrates their victory against Chairman Jin. Sun-woo isn’t completely happy – he knows that it won’t bring his father back. Geum-jool urges him to go visit Yong-bae/Jang-il in the hospital, and Sun-woo offers a drink to the memory of his dead father. “It’s a good day,” he tells the picture.

Next we see him, he’s in Yong-bae’s hospital room. Jang-il arrives at the same time and confronts him. Is he here to strangle his father? Sun-woo is like, Do you think I’m like you? He came to wish his father a speedy recovery so that he can stand tall to be stoned for his crime. “If he just dies like this, it’s too easy,” Sun-woo says.

Things heat up when Sun-woo reminds Jang-il that his father is a murderer, which causes Jang-il to throw Sun-woo’s Get Better gift on the ground. Challenging him, Sun-woo asks when exactly it was that Jang-il found out that his father killed his father… and when Jang-il attempts to get physical, Sun-woo just plucks him from the ground like a paper doll and throws him on top of his father’s comatose body.

Outside the hospital, Sun-woo seems to be having some more eye problems. Ji-won calls him from a sidewalk as a mysterious van screeches to a halt next to her and suited men pour out, abducting her and leaving her phone on the sidewalk. Sun-woo, on the other end, has no idea what happened.

Ji-won is thrown into a locked room and rails against the doors ineffectually. Sun-woo grows suspicious when he can’t reach her by phone.

Chairman Jin is in a rage over his wife’s betrayal, and Yoon-joo is there to bear the brunt. He uses force to throw his stepdaughter onto a chair. “If I can’t keep the resort,” he tells her menacingly, “you and your mom won’t live through the day.” Yikes. I believe him.

With tears in his eyes, he recites his creed for that resort. It means everything to him. A home for his dead parents, who worked themselves to death. For what it’s worth, Yoon-joo seems to be on his side, and not her mother’s.

The next day, Min-yun and Sun-woo come to the realization that Ji-won might have been abducted by Jin, wanting revenge over the resort. Tae-joo comes just in time to overhear the news.

Their suspicions were correct, as Chairman Jin confronts Ji-won in the warehouse he’s locked her in. She’s not even surprised – she knew it was him. He wants her to call Sun-woo and tell him to set things right about the resort, only then will he let her go. When he throws her the phone she calls the police instead, so he wrestles it out of her grasp.

However, he returns to his office to find Sun-woo already waiting for him. He demands to know where Ji-won is. Chairman Jin assures him she’s safe, and he’ll tell him if he sets everything right. Sun-woo grabs him by the collar and claims he’ll call the police, and Jin is not afraid.

Sun-woo hesitates, remembering that this is his father he’s threatening. Tears spring to his eyes and Chairman Jin actually makes fun of him, like, Is the wittle baby crying wittle tears? He tells Sun-woo to think carefully – Ji-won’s time is running out.

“Did you do this to my mother?” Sun-woo asks. “Were you like this to your fiancée?” And Jin, unfazed, simply tells him to return the resort to him.

Sun-woo starts tearing through Chairman Jin’s house, breaking everything he can take a stick to. He calls for Ji-won and receives no answer. Ji-won tries taking a chair to a huge metal door… and A for effort, I guess?

And just like that, we find Sun-woo beating the tar out of Secretary Cha, who claims he doesn’t know where Ji-won is. Geum-jool and Min-yun are standing by, and he orders them to throw Cha off the roof. They hold him over the edge as he screams bloody murder and finally breaks, telling them Ji-won’s location.

As he peels out to find her, Jang-il calls Chairman Jin to tell him to come beg his father for forgiveness. Jin tells him to come to his home instead, and soon enough his office door opens…

…Only it isn’t Jang-il, it’s Tae-joo. Yeah! Dad fight!

He’s come to ask for Ji-won and to tell the truth: that Sun-woo is Chairman Jin’s son. He explains that he loved Jin’s fiancée but never slept with her, and she never betrayed Chairman Jin even once. She only loved him.

This news hits Chairman Jin enough for the self-assured smile to fade from his face. Jang-il arrives outside in time to overhear Tae-joo telling Jin to stop hurting his son, Sun-woo. So Jang-il knows now.

Chairman Jin doesn’t seem to believe it, and wonders how Tae-joo used his own son against him for revenge. Not Dad tells him to do a paternity test if he’s so uncertain and leaves, running into Jang-il on his way out.

Jang-il confronts Chairman Jin, victorious. “I came here to give you hell, but look what I found out?” he gloats over the information, even though he claims it isn’t such a big surprise – both father and son are persistent and ignorant. Chairman Jin tries to punch him for that, but he stops the blow easily.

Looking him dead in the eyes, Jang-il tells him that his father is dying right now because of him – and if he does die, he won’t let Chairman Jin get away with it.

And Chairman Jin, left alone, lets the whole “Sun-woo is my son” realization sink in.

Sun-woo takes a sledgehammer to the door locking Ji-won in and saves her. She makes sure to let him know that this was all the evil Chairman Jin’s doing, a statement that makes Sun-woo uneasy. That’s his evil father, after all.

They have a heart to heart in the car, with Sun-woo telling her he can’t live without her. She says likewise, etc. You know the drill.

Meanwhile, Chairman Jin talks over a translator that’s supposed to help him appeal to foreign moneylenders.

Sun-woo pays a visit to Soo-mi as she packs up all the Wall of Crazy paintings and asks her about a commission he requested earlier – a painting of Yong-bae hitting him in the back of the head. She claims she’s working on it, but judging by her face, she isn’t.

He wants to take the paintings off her hands and asks the price. When his back is turned she throws gasoline on the box of paintings and sets it on fire. Sun-woo actually laughs at her nerve, but is otherwise unconcerned.

Claiming that he wants some water, he returns to her gallery whistling happily… and casually takes a knife to all of her paintings. HA. Okay, it’s not so much the action, but the way he’s going about it that’s just awesome. It’s just a walk in the park for him.

And the best part? He keeps going back and forth, back and forth, cutting into each painting three or four times. Soo-mi comes running in to stop him and he pushes her to the ground roughly. Damn. No one can accuse him of messing around.

In the hospital, Yong-bae passes away. Jang-il sits next to him dejectedly. “Father… where are you going? Did you get to see Kyung-pil? When you see him, beg for his forgiveness. If he beats you up, take it. I will pay for the rest of the sins. Had I only not been smart… had I been less ambitious… Father… you wouldn’t have walked that path. It’s all my fault. Father… it’s all my fault.” He breaks down, sobbing over his father’s body.

Cut to: Jang-il bursting into Chairman Jin’s office, calling him out for killing his father. “Your father’s greed killed him,” Jin replies, completely unfazed. Jang-il accuses him of being inhumane. (Er? Since when were tree branches humane?)

Chairman Jin wants Jang-il to help him out with a resort issue and travel with him to Taiwan. After all, “Life goes on for those who live.” He claims that time (a few days) will heal all wounds, but Jang-il is like a rabid animal who must be held back from attacking him.

 
COMMENTS

A bit anticlimactic for a finale lead-in, but what’cha gonna do. There were some great moments this episode, which is something that can be said of the whole series – there are some phenomenal, mind-blowing moments, but one begins to wonder if we could have condensed the proceedings a bit with a shorter episode count. As it was, today’s episode ran ten minutes short due to a broadcasting accident, with the last scene being unceremoniously cut off before the title sequence was displayed. It was pretty impossible to miss, and an official apology was given on behalf of the production crew for the mishap.

The beauty of the shorter episode format in kdramaland is the ability to showcase stories that don’t need to be concerned over stretching out multiple seasons, and revenge is just one of those things that doesn’t work over a gazillion hours because all we’d be seeing are obstacles put between our protagonist and his end goal. To see whether Equator Man has been spinning its wheels a bit is something we’ll discuss in the finale, since I’m curious as to how this is all going to end. Obviously Sun-woo has given Jang-il more than enough chances to repent, though the outcome seems bleak. He might have changed due to his father’s death (which came as a surprise to me, since they’d bothered to keep him alive for no discernible purpose), especially when he asked his father to go beg for Kyung-pil’s forgiveness in the afterlife. Hopefully that’s a precursor to Jang-il changing his ways. Better late than never, right?

The greatest moment of the episode was one of the simplest, when Sun-woo sliced Soo-mi’s paintings. I love that it’s petty and how he’s just washed his hands of her – she’s incorrigible, and there’s nothing to be done. If her father being almost-murdered by Yong-bae didn’t stop her from taking Jang-il’s side, then she’s truly hopeless. (Speaking of, where was Kwang-choon this episode?)

Ji-won’s abduction scene(s) didn’t really hold water for me, mostly because she didn’t seem to be in any real danger and because I’ve just never connected with her as a character. There’s the argument that she’s so dependable that you’d want her around in real life despite her milquetoast presence, but the chief job of a television show is to entertain – so if she is failing to entertain, then she’s simply failing to do her job as a character.

I have a feeling we’ll be in for quite the ride for the finale. Here’s hoping that it’ll be a satisfying one, inasmuch as revenge can be satisfying, that is.