Korean Media News

JYJ’s Yoochun updated fans with his whereabouts after successfully completing the SBS drama “Rooftop Prince”.

On June 4th, Yoochun tweeted, “It’s summer^^ A lot of Tiger Balm” and attached several photos taken from the beautiful island of Bali.

In the photo, Yoochun is ready for the summer, donning a casual T-shirt and shorts. The JYJ member is enjoying himself during his well-deserved break.

Someone said this when we said that we'll meet EXO-K: "What did you eat to be this good looking?" We were asking really ourselves 'What did you eat to be this good looking?' after the members jokingly said "All six members are visuals". But EXO-K's answer was, "We just eat food." It seems like the famous saying wasn't wrong: a person who can make it will make it.

Suho

Full name is Kim Junmyeon. Born on the 22nd of May 1991. 174cm. He started his training at SM in 2006 and has the longest trainee period out of all the members in EXO-K.

His hobbies and specialities are acting and golf. Due to his luxurious hobby as a golfer from his Level 8 rank in Kangnam Golf, he is also named as 'Just Rich'. According to Kai, Suho was born to be a leader. "I had spent 5 years with him as a trainee and he bought me a lot of delicious food. He is rich," he had said, hence his nickname 'Just Rich' but his eyes twinkled whilst saying, "I wasn't close with Suho-hyung for 2 years, but I thought of him as a great hyung after he bought me food, and from then onwards we became close. I admire him." 'Free' was the leader's first qualification and told them to fill their stomachs. Suho made an agreement that he will take responsibility for the members in case any warnings come to pass them by, and from that day on, he was already holding the title of a leader.

Leader Suho has powers but he is concerned over the members' elementary-student-like taste in food. The members like to eat chicken, pizza and ham hocks for snacks, and to this, Suho said, "The members use their powers but their tastes are just like that of primary school students."

Suho has other nicknames such as JunMen and MyunChael, which are Junmyun+Amen and Junmyun+Michael respectively. JunMen and MyunChael started off when people said that his stage presence and expressions are saintly. There is also Junmyun+Sungmo Maria (Saint Mary) which makes Junmomaria. Suho said that he is quite satisfied with those nicknames but Joynews24 couldn't fully confirm that.

Before debut, Suho was said to be in charge of talking within the team. Suho seemed to be at a loss for words after his other members started taking charge, even though he has just done a little talking at the showcase and their 'Music Bank' interview. The reporter commented, "You don't seem to talk much these days," but he responded in a sad tone by saying "The dongsaengs are so good in talking that I've lost my place. I shall be better in organizing and being a pillar of support."

According to the members, Suho is in charge of being serious, quality, model, taking the lead and hugs. EXO-K members picked his luxurious yet soft side when he has charisma as his biggest charm.

Suho's weakness is losing at rock, paper, scissors. Suho usually loses when they do rock, paper, scissors to see who will clear up the mess after having a snack. "They are already on top of me. I am losing just for the dongsaengs," he backlashed. We then decided to have a rock, paper, scissors game between the reporter and Suho. The reporter won. Suho then nodded to what the dongsaengs said, "We already know hyung's rock, paper, scissor pattern."

Kai

Full name is Kim Jongin. Born on the 14th of January 1994. Standing at 182cm, he won SM's 10th Teenager Dance Battle Competition. He also won the popularity award which already gave him the light to succeed as a star. He is the member with the second-longest trainee period after Suho. He is friends with Taemin but he has captured lots of noonas, aunt fans in their 20's to 30's, with his performance and sexy expressions. He is a person with dangerous charms that makes people keep the word 'oppa' in front of him. The reality is that he is in the maknae line of EXO-K.

He has the nickname 'Dancing Machine', just like how we was named 'dance jjang' with his outstanding dance skills. His other nickname is 'Teaser Rich'. He had appeared in 12 of the 23 teasers and was the first member to be revealed in the series of teasers. He was in 50% of them. This is the reason why he is called 'Teaser Rich'.

Kai wasn't used to the name 'Kai' given by the office so he wasn't even able to call himself 'Kai'. He smiled like a child saying, "I like an anime called 'Top Blade' and my favorite character in the anime is also called Kai. It feels good to have the same name." You're not allowed to forget that Kai is a 94-er. Let's forget the fact that he would not like animes because he is 19 and an oppa.

His hobbies and specialities are dance, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, locking etc. and he is able to do various dances. This is why Kai is in the center of EXO-K when it comes to performances.

Kai was ranked 1st among the members with the most charisma. Kai was happy and nodded, saying, "I am 1st when it comes to charisma." Suho complimented him by saying, "I can feel his charisma on stage. His dark skin is sexy. He is good at performances and he has this expression to act out," and "I got goosebumps in the part of the music video when Kai has a solo soot in the 'MAMA' part because it was so cool." On the other hand, he was ranked last in terms aegyo. This is because he doesn't have any aegyo.

Kai is in charge of sexiness in the group. Kai said, "At first I opposed to it, but now I quit that and am following up with it." He is a man who can catch up with this easily.

D.O

Full name is Do Kyungsoo. He was born on the 12th of January 1993. He stands at 174cm. He and Baekhyun have the shortest trainee period within the group, with one year after starting in 2010. You can often see him on posts with the title 'The Celebrity Who Finds Fans Fascinating'. D.O's trademark is his eyes popping out after seeing his fans. There is even a photo of D.O with the file named 'A_celebrity_of_the_peninsula_finding_fans_fascinating.jpg'. D.O's small accident with 'Superior Orchestra' on 'Inkigayo' had also become one of the fans and D.O's restricted videos.

D.O's stage name comes from his last name 'Do' with the letters separated and said separately. His hobbies and specialities are singing and beatboxing.

Due to his big eyes and its clean white parts, he is nicknamed 'Rich in Whites'. Unlike his charisma on stage, he is very shy and has spoken the least in this interview. When we asked him specific questions, he rolled his eyes and showed a bit of his shy cuteness. He still seems fascinated by interviews and fans.

D.O looks like he'd have a lot of aegyo but he doesn't. According to the members, he is just cute. The members of EXO-K said, "His surprised expressions when he sees his fans off-stage are cute," and "He looks unexpectedly cute in the photos taken by the fans. He has no aegyo though."

D.O is the mother of EXO-K. He is in charge of cooking. He gives off the vibe of a mother when he looks after the members. If the members are sick or hurt, he'd get medicine right away to show his concern. Being able to cook well is D.O's charm. The members said that he is especially good at cooking spaghetti.

The members complimented him by saying that D.O is versatile, but "He is not completely good at one dish." D.O's eyes grew bigger to EXO-K's words. "He isn't completely good at one thing but he is good at various things. It's very delicious but there's nothing that stands out."TO BE CONTINUED..

Source: Joynews
Translation: sunnybun @ CODE:EXO

Big Bang made it into the top 30 on the U.S. iTunes’ Album Chart yesterday, a very first for Korean artists.

No Korean band had ever made it into the top 100.

Big Bang’s album “Still Alive” was released Sunday and landed at No. 30 on the list. Topping the list was John Mayer, with Adele No. 2.

The new album contains the current hit “Monster” and was produced as a way of thanking the band’s fans for making the band’s fifth EP “Alive” a resounding success.

German DJ Boys Noize had a hand in the album, helping band members G-Dragon and TOP produce a song titled “Feeling.”

“Alive” was released on Feb. 29 and has been at the top of a number of music charts both nationally and internationally.

Earlier in March, the EP beat out Pink Floyd and Estelle to reach the fifth spot on the iTunes top 10.

The six-song EP also went to No. 4 on iTunes’ Canadian chart.


By Carla Sunwoo
Source: JoongAng Daily

Big Bang, who recently made their comeback announced a new project with Hyundai Card.

On June 5, Big Bang attended a press conference for the “YG X Hyundai Card Re-branding Project” and talked about their new plan for their special album “Still Alive” as well as new collaborative plans between YG Entertainment and Hyundai Card.

G-Dragon stated, “Since we are all are very interested in music, we shared each other’s opinions ideas to make this special album. The album and the music video are all made as a blockbuster status quality and it was a very nice experience. We are planning to show you many different performances and stage attire.”

Big Bang will not be holding any local promotion activities for this album, but they will meet their fans through the event “Re-branding Project”. Hyundai Card portrayed Big Bang’s musical growth through a new logo, BI (Brand Identity), album jacket and music video. They also produced Big Bang’s brand guidebook.

A new musical project called the “Re-Monster” will also be launched. The project will include a special event for various musicians to reinterpret Big Bang’s new song, “Monster”. The new redefined songs can be uploaded onto ‘Hyundai Music,’ where they will be judged and the winning musicians will have a chance to release a digital single.

G-Dragon said, “We hope that many indie bands will participate in the project. We are so excited that indie musicians and other musicians will reinterpret our song.”


Source: Star News

Park Yoochun ended his character as Lee Gak who time-travelled from Joseon Dynasty to modern day Seoul in SBS drama ‘Rooftop Prince’ on the 24th May, after displaying his excellent acting.
On the 30th May in a restaurant at Yeoiudo, Park Yoochun had his interview with our reporter, and talked about Kim Jaejoong who is currently acting in MBC’s weekend drama ‘Dr Jin’ and Kim Junsu who just released his new solo album ‘XIA-Tarantallegra’, cheering up the both of them.
Park Yoochun expressed, “When Junsu said that he is going to release an album, I said, ‘It has to be released no matter what. It is such a good chance.’ His singing skills has been honed through the previous appearances in musicals thus I believed that he can do well for his album.”
“On the day of the release of his MV, I watched it late night and had a shock. So handsome, so unique. I had a proud feeling of ‘As expected of a JYJ member’.”

He also talked about Kim Jaejoong who is challenging historical drama for the first time in ‘Dr Jin’. Recently, there are comments on similarity of Jaejoong’s ancient accent in ‘Dr Jin’ and Park Yoochun’s accent in ‘Sungkyungkwan Scandal’ and ‘Rooftop Prince’.
To this, Park Yoochun explained, “I have yet to watch ‘Dr Jin’ but I didn’t especially gave him any specific acting skills or experiences. Every actor has his own values. I felt that one have to portray it with own’s uniqueness through own experiences and that’s what a true actor should do.”
“All I can pass to him are technical experiences like getting good camera angles, lighting angles etc. But even if I didn’t tell these to him, the filming director will tell him too. Thus there’s no necessity to pass any experiences.”
Lastly Park Yoochun said, “Due to constraint in activities and thus we can’t have any singer activities, I am very glad that we are able to stand firm on a television screen. Hopefully our singer-activities ban can be lifted.”

Source: asiatodayTranslated By: rachui@sharingyoochun

Actor Lee Taesung mentioned of his co-star Park Yoochun who has acted in SBS TV Wed-Thurs drama ‘Rooftop Prince’ (script-writer: Lee Heemyung, director: Shin Yoonseob – An Gilho).
On June 4, in an interview with TV Reporter at a cafe located in Sinsa-dong Kangnam-gu Seoul, Lee Taesung has answered “Certainly.” to the question “Are you and Park Yoochun really close in real life?”.
Lee Taesung said “I officially met Park Yoochun-sshi for the first time in ‘Rooftop Prince’ but he has become a friend who is in tune well with me. With only a few words, we can understand what the other means and our way of thinking is similar too”. Furthermore, “Because of the shooting, we see each other more often than we see our parents”, Lee Taesung amusingly expressed the reason why they can’t help but became close.
Then, he continued “Until now, I have met a lot of male actors but finding someone who has mutual understanding with me is not easy. When shooting together, the actors become friends quickly but also become more distant easily later. However, Park Yoochun’s case is different.”
In particular, Lee Taesung revealed “Today is Yoochun-sshi’s birthday but as he is now in Bali for a photoshoot, I have sent him a ‘Happy birthday’ message”. He added “Through a few text messages with him, I knew all his schedules”. The relationship between him and Park Yoochun becomes stronger and stronger even after ‘Rooftop Prince’.
Also, Lee Taeseung cannot forget other actor and actresses he met in ‘Rooftop Prince’. When talking about the cast of ‘Rooftop Prince’, he complimented “Before going to the filming set, I have prepared myself to face some discords that might happen because of people’s different tendencies but all the cast are so friendly and sociable so the shooting went really well.”
In the drama ‘Rooftop Prince’ which has ended on May 24, Lee Taesung acted as Yong Taemoo who was originally bright and had good manners but in order to protect his place, he has committed evil deeds without hesitation and formed a fierce rivalry with Lee Gak, which was played by Park Yoochun.

Source: TV Report via NateTranslated by: SweetieXiah of JYJ3

SM's new boy group has been standing in the middle of hot topics since their debut was announced. SM, the 'Master of Idols', has released a new group and the attention being received by fans and music representatives is explosive.

EXO has been different from the start. The order of which the members of EXO were revealed was different compared to other idol groups' promotions. The members have been revealed one by one through photos and teasers instead of being revealed at once, starting with Kai. It has been 100 days from the start of their teasers till their debut stage, the showcase. Just like the saying 'bears grow by eating artemesia and garlic', EXO grew up by eating teasers and photos.

Followed by the kings of teenagers, the myth of idols, a god from the east, a super rainfall of the music industry, shining idols; SM's new future are the boys from the alien world who possess superpowers. They are divided into K and M to take over the world.

We firstly met up with EXO-K, which consists of Kai, Suho, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Sehun and D.O. They debuted with the song 'MAMA'.

All six members have their own special skills. Kai has teleportation skills, Sehun controls wind, Suho controls water, Baekhyun controls light, Chanyeol controls fire, and D.O controls strength.

Suho has stated, "Even though we look silly and childish, I'm still proud of it." The leader spoke with utmost confidence. Kai has also said, "It's quite unbelievable. Its unbelievable but we really do have superpowers."

When asked what they thought about other people's powers, Kai had stated, "Even though I'm satisified with my own powers, I'm somewhat jealous of EXO-M's Tao's power. Being able to sleep and rest a lot, and even being able to rewind time and do a better job at the live broadcasts of music programs. I wish it was real," and Baekhyun had also added, "I'm jealous of EXO-M's Luhan's power. Because when we're lazy we can just move things towards ourselves," he spoke while laughing.

SM's new boygroup has been receiving as much attention as their seniors, TVXQ, Super Junior, SHINee, amongst others. And that is when they had confessed that it was a huge burden.

"There is a huge burden on our chests, of course. Because all of our seniors are doing so well, we sort of wonder if we can do the same. And also because of the 100 day promotion, all expectations shot up really high, so we were extremely worried. But it seems as if during the period of our waiting, we worked really hard," Chanyeol had stated.

"Of course there were lots of burdens on us. We all spent quite a while in the company and we all want to be like our seniors, so there were a lot of worries. It would be great if we could be as good as our seniors. (smiles)"

The attention they've been receiving is getting bigger as it's been a while since SM's latest group debut. We even spotted SHINee fully monitoring EXO-K's stage at KBS 2TV's Music Bank and giving them advice, which gave off a heartwarming atmosphere.

"Senior U-Know Yunho called us after our first broadcast on 'Inkigayo'. He called after monitoring us during his stay in Japan for his concert at Tokyo Dome," Chanyeol said, seemingly overwhelmed. "We listened to it together in the practice room on speakerphone. It was touching because he gave advice to each member."

EXO-M and EXO-K are like a team yet a family despite the fact that EXO-M are far away in China. When asked about EXO-M, they had given us a serious answer.

"Brothers? It's our other half. Since we are one team. I think we can also call them our reflection in the water or a mirror? We are currently doing what we can in Korea and China, but I think we can do better on stage together."

EXO-K does not feel a language barrier with EXO-M even though there are two Korean members (Chen and Xiumin) within the group. They made us laugh by saying "We have to improve our Chinese if the Chinese members are there but it's more like us learning Korean since they are so good in Korean."

"K and M use different languages, and the visuals and atmosphere is also different. The tone of the songs and performances are different as well. If you listen to K and M, the songs feel completely different. I think EXO's strong point is being one team with completely different charms." (Suho)

There has been flood of boy groups in 2012. What is EXO's weapon to stay on top of those male idol groups? Baekhyun explained, "The best part is having K and M promoting at the same time with one song but in different languages." Chanyeol caused laughter after saying "Each idol group has a visual representative but us EXO-K are all visual representatives," and "It's an ant hell. You cannot escape from it," and showing his intense gaze.

"Our goal for this year is the Rookie Award. EXO-K will work harder with promotions. We will show our hardworking sides by responding to the big amount of love you're giving us. And we will always be a modest EXO-K. We will become a cool group that will not lose its roots and is always well-mannered."

The energetic six boys coming from outer space have already started taking over the Korean music industry. EXO-K's 'this star like the earth' and 'the history created by six boys' starts now.
TO BE CONTINUED..

Source: Joynews
Translation: xiushipao + sunnybun @ CODE:EXO