May Pang's Asian Media Internet News

SM Entertainment's boy group SHINee is back with their second full length album entitled "Lucifer." Since their debut in 2008, their style and music changed drastically. The album consists of 14 tracks, their title track being "Lucifer."

In addition to their album release, the group also released their music video for the title track. The song is very catchy, however, I was a bit disappointed with their new look. The 'mohican' hairstyle on member Key doesn't suit him at all. Leave that hairstyle to G-Dragon. That of course is my opinion, many people will think otherwise.

The start of their comeback promotions begin July 23rd during KBS Music Bank. Looking forward to their performance live and best of luck to them!

Watch "Lucifer" MV!

source: omgkpop, sment @ youtube, kpoplive

Japanese Idol group KAT-TUN made an appearance on Korea's Mnet M! Countdown on July 1st. This is their first appearance on the show. The group was given a warm welcome by the emcees of the show and were given a short interview, asking questions like what was their favorite Korean musicians. I don't understand Japanese, but I swore I heard one of them say Rain and Big Bang . Of course it didn't end just there. They also performed "The D-Motion" shortly after as fans cheered them on. Great job to KAT-TUN and all the best in what's yet to come in the future!

Check out 'The 'D-Motion'

source: eunjokihoon @ youtube

Yes! It is here! TaeYang just released his album just hours ago and more surprises are at hand! Right now M! Countdown is being aired as we speak and while that show is going on, his MV was released! It's just a simple video, which I find cute! Take a look for yourself!

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Police announced Wednesday that Korean actor and singer Park Yong-ha, known mostly for his role in 2002’s 겨울연가 or ‘Winter Sonata’, was found dead in his apartment in southern Seoul early Wednesday morning by an apparent suicide. Early reports say it looked as though he hung himself with an electrical cord.

Friends and family say the 33-year-old actor had been severely upset for awhile as he dealt with his father dying of stomach cancer, however, his suicide still came as a shock. There was no note, but family members told media that he kept saying, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” the night before his death, as he massaged his ailing father.

Park first debuted in 1997, but shot to stardom across Asia after appearing in ‘Winter Sonata’ with Choi Ji-woo and Bae Yong-joon. After that, he went on to release a series of popular albums and singles, including ‘Just Yesterday’, the opening theme to the SBS drama, ‘All In’ with Lee Byun-hun and Song Hye-kyo. He was recently cast with Yoon Eun-hye in a new drama, 러브송 or 'Comrades, Almost a Love Story,' which is a remake of a 1996 Hong Kong film, and was set to begin filming in July.

Suicide has become a major social issue in South Korea as more and more celebrities and public figures are choosing to end their lives, which often leads to thousands of 'copy-cat suicides'. After actress Choi Jin-sil died, there were a reported 1,700 within the following month. The health ministry in Seoul said that in 2007 about 23.9 people in every 100,000 kill themselves and more than 14,500 people committed suicide in 2009, which equates to about 35 suicides a day. The country now has the highest suicide rate out of all of the 30 OECD countries.

Choi Jin-sil, her brother Choi Jin-young, model Daul Kim, former President Ron Moo-hyun, Boys over Flowers actress Jang Ja-yeon and now Park Yong-ha. There is a serious problem with suicide in South Korea. Even today, it is still consider taboo to openly talk about depression or even mention that the stress of everyday life is too much to handle. Admitting that one needs help is still seen as admitting failure.

But even with suicide brought to the forefront with the rising number of high profile deaths, so far all anyone seems to do is sit back and wonder who’s going to be next.

Rest in peace, Park Yong-ha. And may all our thoughts and prayers be with his family and friends during this tough time...

source: Washington Post, JoongAng Daily, AFP

For my Pick of the Week, recently, I have been watching this Korean variety show called "우리 결혼했어요" or in English "We Got Married." The show is based on bringing two celebrities together, where they both go through the trials and tribulations of being married. The show has been going on since 2008, but it caught my eye this season with, as fans call them, the "Adam Couple" aka 2AM's Jo Kwon and Brown Eyed Girls' Son Ga In.

To me, this couple is really cute; just seeing them together, makes me feel all cozy inside. I normally see Jo Kwon being so rambunctious and humorous on other variety shows that it sometimes questions me about his 'diva' like personality. However, on We Got Married, we get to see this other side of him; how he cares for his woman and what he would do in such situations. As for Ga In, I love her personality. She is one of those ladies who can stand for her own but when she needs someone to comfort and care for her, one look and she got it. She has these tendencies of making Jo Kwon jealous, the push-pull effect, where the woman pushes the man away but really it just pulls him in to love her more, however I feel like she does that to test if he truly cares for her; and he passes every time. In some ways I can relate to Ga In, since I like putting my man to the 'test.'

Even though We Got Married is a just a television show and the married couples are supposed to be fake, I personally feel that The Adam couple would make it well in real life; as from watching the show, I see a very strong bond grow between them. Just recently, Kwon spent money out of his own pocket to by Ga In couple rings. Although his event to give it to her was sort of fail (They went to the movies where he hid the rings in the popcorn so when she would reach for some popcorn, she'd find them. Later he found out, she doesn't like movie theater popcorn.), it still turned out well since she did end up finding the rings, her face glowing in happiness. They were even asked to make a couple song during the 2009 holiday season called "We Fell in Love." Are they trying to hint their fans? Should they date in real life? It looks like it's getting serious between those two and I would hate to see this relationship end once their time is up on the show.

For anyone who is interested in a show that shows true character and humor at the same time, I do recommend We Got Married. Maybe future newly weds might learn something after watching it!

Watch "We Fell in Love"

source: BEGISLOVE4 @ youtube

Hollywood is constantly making remakes. For the most part, they need to leave the originals alone. A few nights ago I decided to go to the movies, (thanks to a friend named Edward Hong) with a posse of friends, including fellow AMIN writers: Lara Visconti and Jessica Dawson to watch The Karate Kid 2010 movie. I was so skeptical. I am a fan of the original one with all of its cheesiness. I do admit that I watched  all of  The Karate Kid sequels ever made. Part two was my favorite, because Mr. Miyagi, played by the late Pat Morita, and Daniel, played by Ralph Macchio, went to the beautiful island of Okinawa. I hated part three and the feminist in me  likes part four just because for a change a girl was The Next Karate Kid.

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Fans got really excited when they found out Big Bang's vocalist TaeYang, real name Dong Young Bae, will be releasing his first full length album "SOLAR" on July 1st. Throughout the week, YG Entertainment has been releasing the track titles from his album, leaving the fans in suspense. Some of the tracks you may already heard, like "Wedding Dress," "Only Look at Me," "Where U At," and "Prayer," but there are new tracks that are to be heard. There will be two versions of this album: a regular version and a deluxe version.

Well, the full track list is finally complete! Along with an audio preview to the first track, which is called, "SOLAR." The title track in which TaeYang is to promote will be "I Need a Girl," featuring Big Bang Leader G-Dragon. The MV is already in the process of filming and it is heard that Sandara Park will be in the video, based on the photos from her me2day . What a great contribution for YG Family, they're ALWAYS together! Also Shaun Evaristo, whom we interviewed in the beginning of this year, is to be helping YG Entertainment and TaeYang with choreography, so we all know that the dancing is going to be flawless!

I'm excited for this album to come out! Being a TaeYang fan myself, I'm ready to hear and see what he has in store for us. What do you guys think of his track list and audio preview?

Here is the full track list:

source: bigbangupdates, bbupdates2010 @ youtube, allkpop, soompi, omgkpop, ygbigbang,com/taeyang

Lee Jung Jin, known for his acting in past dramas such as Love Story in Harvard and 9 Ends 2 Outs, has been added to the cast of the upcoming melodrama, Runaway. The upcoming drama stars Lee Na Young and Rain.

The story of Runaway centers about how a large amount of money disappears during the beginning of the Korean and the situation arises again in 2010. Then drama takes the viewers through a 'chase' in which the characters end up in different Asian cities. Lee Jung Jin plays the chief investigator  who chases Rain and Na Young, as the two main characters are fugitives in the drama. Lee stated:

“I’m definitely blessed to be participating in such well-made projects like my recent movie The Fixer and the drama Runaway. Viewers will have big expectations, and I want to leave them with a strong impression.”

The drama has begun filming and is scheduled to air later this year.

source: dramabeans, allkpop, asiae

Korean vocalist Se7en has confirmed his comeback this coming summer!

“We have decided that the release date for the new album will be on July 21st .” YG Entertainment stated on June 16th. This will be Se7en's comeback, three years since he had released his last album Se7olution in November 2006.

Following the album release will be one released song in mid-July.

YG Entertainment is now on the move for the summer to release their artists once again. TOP promoting his song Turn It Up, TaeYang releasing his first full album SOLAR , Se7en with his mini album, and Big Bang coming back after their promotions in Japan.

We want to hear your opinions on this! What do you think?

Dong Youngbae, also known as TaeYang of the Korean idol group Big Bang has a special gift for his fans. Yang Hyun Suk aka YG has officially confirmed his official full album release date. "SOLAR" will be the title of the album and is scheduled to be released on July 1st.

The album will consist of 13 songs, including his previous hits from his mini album "Hot", 'Only Look at Me' and 'Prayer.' The album will have two versions, a "deluxe version" as well as a regular version. The deluxe version will have all 13 songs while the regular album will have 11.

YG scheduled to have a 1 minute teaser up on TaeYang's YG site on June 25th up until the 30th. So VIPs are you ready for some sun? Fun fact: TaeYang means 'sun' in Korean.

source: Aleee @ibigbang, bigbangupdates @ twitter