2016년 12월 24일 토요일

Korea's first Flying 4D Theatre was opend in Seoul


What is it like if you could fly through the sky and experience all sorts of uncharted places in Korea?
Flying 4D theater was opened for the first time in Korea to experience this feeling.

One of audience said during a interview, "As I ride on it, I could feel like i was flying for real while struck by a snowstorm and rain and it was amazing experience."

A 20m dome-shaped vertical screen structure is used to enhance immersion.

In addition, high-quality 6K camera was used for shooting in 19 locations accross South Korea including Jeju's Seongsan Ilchulbong peak and Sorak Ulsan rocks and were shot in 530 cuts for 60 days.

This 4D motion theater was just opend along with French Revolution 2VR, new rollercoaster ride with VR mount at Lotte World in Seoul.

2016년 12월 22일 목요일

Top 10 most popular smartphone games of 2016 in Korea


What is the most popular smartphone game of 2016 in Korea?
According to App Ape, Mobile Apps Analysis Service, Korea's Top 10 mobile games were selected based on MAU(Monthly Active Users), which means users who run apps at least once a month from January to November 2016.
The list is based on data from Korea's Google Store, and the launch of mega popular 'Lineage 2 Revolution' and 'Lineage: Red Knights' in December were not included since December is not over.





In 2016, NHN Pixel Cube's "Friends Pop" was the most popular game in Korea. 'Friend's Pop' is a 6-way, 3-match puzzle game using cute Cacao Friends IP and is especilly popular among female users.

The second is "Modoo Marble" from Netmarble.
Netmarble which enjoyed the heyday of the games, was able to put five games in the top 10 list of 2016.
With the popularity of Netmarble's just released game,  Lineage 2 Revolution, which ranks first in MAU on Dec 18, is expected to continue.

Third place is 'Anipang 2'. The latest version of the series, 'Anipang 3' has released, but the previous version is still showing popularity.
There are three versions of anipang on the top 10 of the MAU total,'Anipang 2', 'Anipang sachunsung' and  'anipang mahjong',  showing the popularity of anipang series in Korea.

4th place is 'Piano Tile 2'. It is a simple game of knocking on a black and white keyboard.
It is a rhythm action game in which you must press the passing key quickly.
Simple UI and unique gameplay made it popular among all ages and it even surpassed MAU of "Modoo Marvel" in January.

5th place is 'Seven Knights' from Netmarble. It is the action RPG which represents Korea Action RPG along with Gamevil's 'Become a Star Dragon Blaze', and it became the role model of many action RPGs.
The number of users who play games is close to 85% for male players, and especially for young players who are over 60%. Although the MAU has decreased by about 40% compared to January, it continues to maintain steady DQU and Google play rankings.


6th place is 'anipang mahjong' followed by Minecraft, Cookie run, anipang sachunsung and Clash of Clan.














2016년 11월 24일 목요일

Top 10 best selling smartphones in Korea (November, 2016)

Top 10 most selling smartphones by domestic mobile carrier in the second week of November



1. iphone 7 128GB (SKT)

2. iphone 7 128GB (LG U+)

3. Galaxy S7 32GB (SKT)

4. Galaxy S7 32GB (LG U+)

5. Galaxy S7edge 32GB (SKT)

6. iphone 7 128GB (KT)

7.  Galaxy wide (SKT)

8. Galaxy S7 32GB (KT)

9. Galaxy J5 (LG U+)

10. LG Wine 3G (KT)

2016년 10월 28일 금요일

Top 10 best selling smartphones in korea (third week, Oct 2016)


Top 10 most selling smartphones by national mobile carrier during the 3rd week of October (oct 16~23) according to the ATLAS Research & Consulting.

Sales of Samsung Galaxy S7, S7edge and LG V20 soared after Galaxy Note 7 recall and discontinued in Korea.

1. Galaxy S7 (SKT)

2. Galaxy S7edge (SKT)

3. Galaxy S7 (U+)

4. LG V20 (U+)

5. Galaxy S7 (KT)

6. Galaxy S7edge (U+)

7. Lg V20 (SKT)

8. Galaxy J5 (U+)

9. Galaxy S7edge (KT)

10. galaxy wide (SKT)

Domestic sales of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus which was released in Oct. 21 are expected to dominate the chart of 4th week in Oct.
Apple's iPhone 7 was a huge hit in Korea selling more than 200,000 units in its opening weekend.









2016년 10월 23일 일요일

Top travel trends and hot domestic destinations for 2016 in South Korea


According to Expedia (www.expedia.co.kr), online travel agency's data of hotel bookings from January to September this year, Sokcho city in Gangwon province emerged as hot domestic destination and solo traveler increased during the peak travel season.

Sokcho saw significant increases in domestic tourists due to augmented reality (AR) game, "Pokémon Go".
Sokcho was the only area in South Korea you could play the augmented reality game that has swept the world, largely thanks to a technical loophole.
Accomodation booking has increased 139.5% from January to September compared to same period in 2015.

During the same period,  Jeonju city in North Jeolla Province and Yeosu city in South Jeolla province saw significant increase in domestic travelers, 118.1% and 89.2% respectively.

Like last year, Seoul (26.7%) had the highest hotel reservations market share, followed by Jeju (24.4%), Busan (15.9%)and Incheon (6.1%).
Seoul and Busan saw decrease in domestic traveler compared to last year's 34.6% and 19.9% respectively while domestic traveler to Jeju island increased from last year (21.7%).

There has been a change in number of tourists by season as well.
More korean travelled by group or family in spring while solo traveler increased in summer.

Solo traveler visited Seoul city most by far, more than half (53.8%) had visited Seoul this year followed by Jeju (9.2%), Busan (8.7%), Incheon (4.6%) and Gyeongju (2.1 percent).




2016년 10월 17일 월요일

After Typhoon Chaba hit Busan city, a story of the foreign mother and her daughters touched the hearts of Koreans



On the morning of Oct. 5, Typhoon Chaba made landfall on the southern coastal regions of Korea, causing huge gusts and tidal waves that swept over Busan and adjoining regions. The powerful waves broke through some seawalls, engulfing water-front property and major roads along the coast. By the time afternoon came, the skies had cleared, but the typhoon had left in its wake an absolute disaster.

The few pics of foreign mother and her two daughters cleaning Gwangalli Beach in Busan city for many hours after Typhoon Chaba swept the region became hot topic online early this month.

The story of the mother and daughters voluntarily cleaning the beach caught on camera by bypasser got broadcast on news channels, newspapers and has touched the hearts of Koreans across the country.

Various social media sites have also praised the mother and her daughters, setting them as good examples for others to follow.

Korean media even revealed the identity of foreign mother and daughters recently.
Mother is Diane Rupert, 38years old American who is working as teacher at Busan international school, and her two daughters Fiona (11), Stella (5) living in Busan since 2009.

Rupert said, "I became aware that our family picture at beach became talk of town on Korean websites through American friend of mine some time later," "My daughters acted spontaneously and it attracted voluntary participation from Korean citizens and bypassers, I am happy to participate with my children in restoration of typhoon damage in community i belong to".










2016년 10월 14일 금요일

LG to star in aggressive marketing campaign to benefit from discontinued Galaxy Note 7 in South Korea

LG Electronics which released their new flagship smartphone 'V20'on Sep,29 is slated to compete for market share in the absence of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 in Korean smartphone market.

LG went on aggressive marketing including slashing the price of G5, their previous flagship phone which was released march this year from 836,000 won($736) to 696,000 won($616).

Customers who are familiar with Android-based smartphones are likely to prefer smartphones from Google and LG, while others who have lost trust in the Samsung brand are expected to take this opportunity to switch to Apple’s iOS-based iPhone models.

LG is trying to gain domestic premium smartphone market share as much as possible before Apple iPhone 7 and 7 plus's Korea relaese date, Oct 21 and Google’s new premium Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones upcoming release in Korea.

However, many Korean netizens pointed out that LG should lower the price of V20 to attract Galaxy Note 7 owners looking for alternative high-end smartphones, not G5 which was already admitted 'failed product'even by LG itself.

The LG V20 is slated to launch in the US by Oct. 28.



2016년 10월 5일 수요일

Black women in Hanbok graffiti earn favorable response in US


Korean graffiti artist Shim Chanyang posted the photo of his lastest work on Oct.5, 2016 and received praise on social networking services and local press in US.
He drew this Korea-inspired graffiti at workcontainer yard arts district in Los Angeles that features a black woman wearing Korea's traditional costume hanbok.

He said he put Do Jong Hwan, Korean famous poet's phrase "Flowers Shaken While Blooming" on graffiti because he wanted to leave Korea's beautiful flower and Hangul in US.

Shim was invited to a graffiti event in San Francisco at which he drew another Korea-inspired piece.

"I felt the pride and appreciated the beauty of Hanbok even more after watching American enjoy the painting of black female in Hanbok and Korean culture," he said.



2016년 9월 29일 목요일

Manggyeong-dae, Mt. Seorak's best hiking course and viewpoint will temporarily open to the public in 46 years


Mt. Seorak is among others, Korean favorite mountain. With fantastically-shaped rocks and waterfall, dense grove, deep valley, clean water, ... both in name and reality, it is the best mountain in South Korea.

Manggyeong-dae, the Nae-Seorak's observatory is the best place to see the Seorak Mountain's stunning rock formations and valleys along the ridge.
Manggyeong-dae is known to boast stunning scenery which is comparable to one of China's major tourist attractions, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park(張家界).

Manggyeong-dae finally will be opened to the public temporarily from the first day of the Oct,2016.
After 46 years, since Mt. Seorak became national park in 1970.
Since 1970, visitors access to Manggyeong-dae has been prohibited to preserve forests and to prevent accidents, etc.
Korea National Park Service will decide whether to open Manggyeong-dae to local and tourists after temporary opening ends on November 15th.





2016년 9월 23일 금요일

Three Black & White Korean movies in 2016

One of the latest trend of Korean movie industry this year is producing film in black and white.
In this modern era of 3D, effects-laden movie spectacles, some of Korea’s adventurous directors are making a colorful splash into black-and-white.



"DongJu: The Portrait of A Poet" overcame the limitations of black and white film, and became sleeper hit on the Korean box office earlier this year, banking on the nostalgia of middle-aged moviegoers. The film, that centers around the real-life story of Korea's beloved poet Yoon Dong-ju and his lesser-known cousin and Korean independence activist Song Mong-gyu, attracted 1.16 million people, quite an achievement for a small-budget film.
Director Lee Joon-ik said "since we all remember Yoon Dong-Ju only in black-and-white photos, i shot this film in black and white format to preserve nostalgic image of him,"


"Han River Blues" which debuted on Sep,22 depicted Seoul and people who live in it in beautiful black and white screen.
Film is about a priest who lived for the sake of other people, trying to commit suicide because of a woman whom he loved. Along the way he meets a homeless man named Oh Jang-hyo, a runaway girl from home called Maria, and Choo-ja, a man turned woman.
Maria is the only girl in the family and has the innocence of a teen with a boldness at the same time.
Maria meets the turning point of her life as she lives with a homeless family and throws the message out to the public that life has to be lived no matter what the obstacle is. Meanwhile, Ki Tae-yeong plays the role of a priest.


Upcoming movie "A Quiet Dream" which will be released on Oct,13 was also produced in black and white.
This film will commence the 2016 Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), the largest film festival in Asia, which will be held in Busan.
"A Quiet Dream" is directed by Korean-Chinese filmmaker Zhang Lu.
The film humorously shows the story of a young woman who manages a bar and takes care of her unconscious, paralyzed father and the three men who are courting her.
It would be the first Korean opening movie of the BIFF after "Always," a romance movie by Song Il Gon five years ago.







2016년 8월 18일 목요일

tvN's List of Sexiest Korean Celebrities 2016


On 8th, tvN's TV show 'The List 2016'listed Top 8 fittest and sexiest Korean stars on its 126th episode.

tvN show highlighted After School's Nana's glamorous body shape who ranked 6th followed by Nam Joo Hyuk and Seolhyun.

In 2015 Nana have been chosen as the models for popular water park advertisements and showed off her model-like, healthy looking body.
She also ranked #1 for the second time in a row on TC Candler’s ‘Top 100 Most Beautiful Faces’ 2015.
Nana drinks more than 7L of water a day while adhere to the low-salt diet and said that she is continuing to put a lot of effort for her remarkable body of a 171cm 49kg.

Other stars who made on tvN's list of Korean celebrities with sexiest body 2016 is as follows


1) Gong Yoo

2) SISTAR (all members of group)

3) Kim Woo Bin

4) HyunA

5) Taecyeon (2PM member)

6) Nana (After School member)

7) Nam Joo Hyuk

8) Seolhyun (AOA member)

2016년 6월 26일 일요일

Overwatch And League of Legends are running neck and neck in South Korea


While Blizzard’s new first person shooter Overwatch's massive success has attracted many Korean players to PC cafes nationwide, Korean produced online games are now losing ground in domestic market amid foreign competition.

On June 17, Overwatch starting making a move to overtake League of Legends, the reigning PC bang (net cafe) king. Overwatch edged out LoL by a mere 0.19 percent for the most played games in Korea.
But League of Legends took first place again with 29.70 percent next day, while Overwatch comes in at close second with 29.55 percent.
Third place is major domestic FPS game, Sudden Attack at 9.2 %, its market share down, from usual 10% or higher recently.


Major domestic online game developer, NCSOFT's three major titles "Lineage", "Blade & Soul" and "Aion"'s combined market share did not exceed 5%.

It has been claimed recently that Korea is losing its reputation as an online game superpower, on account of an increasing number of domestic game companies turning to importing foreign game titles rather than developing their own games.





2016년 6월 23일 목요일

Four Upcoming Korean Summer Blockbusters 2016


Its that time of year again — the Summer movie season is upon us. And the four major domestic film distributors including Lotte Entertainment, Showbox, NEW, CJ Entertainment have gathered to compete at Korean box office this summer.


'Train to Busan,' which will be in theaters on July 20, is the start of a movie season that more than ever is held up by a forest of tentpoles.
Train to Busan is a film about an unknown virus that erupts in Seoul and causes aggression and violence in those it infects. A group of survivors board the KTX bullet train that is headed to Busan, the supposed only safe refuge available. However, their trip isn’t as easy as sitting back and taking the ride.
Directed by Yeon Sang-Ho, Train to Busan stars Gong Yoo, Ma Dong-Seok, and Jung Yu-Mi.
Premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival in the out of competition "Midnight Screenings" category, the apocalyptic zombie thriller received favorable responses for depicting terrified passengers fighting against zombies inside the limited space of a KTX.



Following the 'Train to Busan, "Operation Chromite," will debut in theaters a week later.
"Operation Chromite," starring actors Lee Jung-jae, Lee Beom-soo and Hollywood actor Liam Neeson is one of 2016’s most anticipated films .
The movie depicts the amphibious invasion and battle that resulted in a decisive victory for the United Nations Command and turned the tide in the 1950-53 Korean War.
Neeson plays General Douglas MacArthur, who commanded U.N. troops during the war. Lee Jung-jae is Jang Hak-soo, a South Korean navy lieutenant who helps MacArthur.
CJ Entertainment unveiled a teaser poster of the film in May.



New poster and the first teaser have been released recently for disaster film, "Tunnel,"
Tunnel features an all-star cast of heavyweight actors, certainly known to Korean cinephiles audiences: Bae Doo-na (Cloud Atlas, A Girl At My Door), Ha Jung-woo (The Yellow Sea, The Handmaiden), and Oh Dal-su (Veteran, Assassination).
A man is on his way home to his family, when the badly-constructed tunnel he is driving through collapses, leaving him trapped. With draining battery power and a rescue effort that might end before it locates him, he might be left to his own devices to find his way out.
While there might be some disaster-film plot devices familiar to audiences, there are also some strong connections to current Korean events, such as the Sewol ferry disaster (linked to corruption and poor construction/management).



The period film “The Last Princess” has wrapped up shooting, according to its distributor Lotte Entertainment.
Actresses Son Ye-jin and Ra Mi-ran as well as actors Park Hae-il and Yoon Je-moon are part of the film’s cast.
The film, based on the best-selling novel “Princess Deokhye,” centers on the last Joseon princess and the people who try to protect her. Son plays the role of the ill-fated Princess Deokhye.
“It is my second time working with director Hur Jin-ho(Dangerous Liaisons (2012),in 10 years. The film is based on a real person so I felt more responsible,” said actress Son, who worked with Hur in the film “April Snow” in 2005.








2016년 6월 19일 일요일

Netizen Put TVXQ's Yunho in the Spotlight after JYJ's Park Yoochun's Controversy


Now that JYJ's park yoochun causing uproar online over sexual assault scandal everyday in Korea, many netizens brought TVXQ’s Yunho, yoochun's former bandmate back into the spotlight.

There have been an increasing number of posts on the Korean internet community sites recently praising Yunho how he has been a great example of a public figure and inspiration to many of us leading a sober, hard working military life now and for good deeds he has done in the past.

Here are few admirable posts of Yunho on these topics.


In KBS 2TV 'Story Show Do Dream' aired in 2012, Yunho talked about an incident about how he accidentally drank super glue in 2006. He said, "I received orange juice from someone who I thought was a staff member, but suddenly I ended up coughing up blood and I vomited and passed out."
He continued, "I was angry at first but the anti-fan told me that she hated seeing me laugh on TV when she was going through hard times, so I realized that I could be a harmful influence on other people."
Yunho suffered panic disorder that resulted from the incident for long time but he forgave a twenty-year-old girl, attacker who was same age as Yunho at that time, recalling his sister and appealed to the police for leniency.



SBS talkshow interviewed his former 3rd year high school teacher, who revealed that Yunho visits his alma mater during his vacation period, and gives scholarships of 3,000,000 won ($2772.64) to five students at Kwangil High School, and to five students from Imgok Middle School. The teacher also revealed that Yunho has been steadily sponsoring his juniors for the past seven years.
His teacher also revealed that Yunho was not absent from school a single day during 3years of High School.


Yunho's devoted military service is also the talk of town.
On May 10, the army's official Twitter announced, "TVXQ's Yunho has been chosen as a special class soldier. PFC Jung Yunho has embraced a title that only those who achieve a score of over 90 in combat, physical, mentality, and shooting. The sight of a soldier doing his best is truly beautiful."



Yunho often shows his special affection towards friends and junior colleague.
Beast members said Yunho always have cheered them up from the bottom of his heart since the early days of their debut and showed gratitude towards Yunho in interview.

Actor Son Ho Joon who is hometown friend of Yunho has shared to viewers about his friendship with Yunho.
At KBS talk show, Son Ho Joon mentioned how Yunho has helped him make his broadcast debut, supported him as always while he was unknown actor for 10 years and could not be happier for his success as an actor.

Kyuhyun from Super Junior also confessed that he was very surprised when Yunho who was already star as TVXQ at that time bowed 90 degrees to him when he visited SM building as rookie student.




Yunho seems very focused and determined with his dream which is to build a welfare center for the people in need.
Yunho visited Ghana for his volunteer work there through the KBS volunteer program “2013 Road for Hope.” While there, he met up with 14-year-old Luke, who works at a cacao farm earning less than a dollar a day under very poor conditions. He also conversed and played with other Ghanaian children such as little girl who is suffering from skin cancer to ease her pain.
Yunho has opened up an education center in Ghana. He received much support from his fans in order to create the ‘U Know Yunho Center’ in Bongo, Ghana. With the generous donation from his fans, he was able to finish constructing the center.
Yunho's fan club has continuously donated to numerous charities and organizations. Donations have been distributed not only in the form of money but also charity work, rice, and other essentials.


Fans are cheering for TVXQ's Yunho and wishing for his safe return after his military duties.













South Korea to Make Remakes of American TV series


The long-running series like Criminal Minds, Good Wife and Entourage will be remade in Korea.

Emmy-winning drama The Good Wife will be the first scripted US television series to be remade in South Korea, after CBS Studios International licensed the format to TVN.
One of Korea’s biggest actress, Jeon Do-Yeon – who has won many awards in her career, including best actress at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival – in the femal lead role with male leads, with Yoo Ji Tae.
“Good Wife” is about a woman, confirmed to be played by Jeon Do Yeon, who assumes responsibility for her family after her husband, to be played by Yoo Ji Tae, is thrown into prison after a very public scandal.    It will premiere on July 8.


Recently Criminal Minds has been added to the sudden slew of American TV shows that are being adapted into Korean dramas.
Next Entertainment World (NEW) group and Taewon Entertainment group are collaborating to bring us a Korean drama remake of Criminal Minds.
NEW group has a history of producing great movies, from Miracle in Cell No. 7 to Roaring Currents. They recently delved into the drama world, and hit gold with the enormously successful Descended From the Sun. Taewon Entertainment group also has an impressive record, producing internationally-loved dramas like IRIS and movies like the Marrying the Mafia trilogy.

USA Network's Suits will be getting a South Korean remake as well.



“Entourage” is a another remake of the American drama of same title that ran for eight seasons from 2004 to 2011. starring Seo Kang-joon, Lee Kwang-soo, Sohee and Cho Jin-woong, the drama will revolve around the lives of Korean celebrities. Cho will portray the head of a management agency while Lee is set to play Cha Joon, an actor past his prime.
The broadcast date of the Korean version of “Entourage” has yet to be announced.









2016년 6월 18일 토요일

Two actresses in beautiful and unique dress at SBS' upcoming drama "Doctors" press conference


Actress Park Shin Hye and Lee Sung Kyung radiates charms that are different from each other with classic and office look respectively at the press conference of SBS drama 'Doctors' held in Seoul, Mok dong SBS hall on June 15.

Park Shin Hye wore a see-through dress from head to toe which was more classical and alluring rather than sexy.
Lace tights added a touch of sophistication to her dress and white open toe heels helped her to look better in proportion.




The patch detail was what made Lee Sung Kyung's dress shined on this day.
Glossy patch detail on the chest, waist, collar and sleeves of the vivid blue colored shirt added fun to her office look while pencil skirt with attached burgundy color patche added formal feel to her style. Strap heels which exposed ankle to toe make her overall look cooler as well.

The two are currently starring in the romantic medical drama series “Doctors,” set to premiere on June 20.







2016년 6월 17일 금요일

Daedong Yeojido, National Treasure of Korea will be put up for auction on June 28th.


On June 17th,  Daedong Yeojido, a map published in 1861 by Kim Jeong Ho, the most famous geographer in Korean history, was shown to public before the auction which it will be put up on 28th.

The map is a National Treasure of Korea (no. 850), it is 360 cm wide and 685cm high, with a scale of about 1:162 000.
Estimated sale price at auction is between KW 2.2 billion ~ 2.5 billion (about 2 million dollars).

Little is known about the cartographer, Kim Jeong Ho but he is said to have walked the entirety of the Korean peninsula in order to collect the information for his maps. The circumstances of his death remain uncertain. However, a popular hypothesis holds that he died in prison after being arrested for including politically sensitive details in his maps.

There is an anecdote that, in 1898, the Japanese occupation army, unaware of the existence of the Deadong Yeojido, ordered over 1000 Japanese technicians and 300 Koreans to create a map of the peninsula that would be used for the construction of the Seoul-Pusan train line. After learning about Kim Jeong Ho's work, they noticed that the map they had achieved with modern technology and over a thousand workers was no better than the one created by one man almost 40 years earlier.



2016년 6월 14일 화요일

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge ‘Injustice Edition’ frenzy in Korea : Who is benefiting?


Samsung Electronics has released a Batman-themed Galaxy S7 Edge called the ‘Injustice Edition’ in Korea on June 13th.
The 1,000 limited-edition models sold out just 10 minutes after they were released on Monday morning at 10 a.m. via Samsung’s online store.

While some devout Galaxy s fans are seeking the limited-edition phones for their own use, many of the people who bought the phone online tuned out to be scalpers seeking to profit off the new devices by reselling them at huge premium in Korea.

"Batman Phone Sale" posts were put up one after another on Korean online used marketplaces only within 30 minutes after batman phone was sold out at Samsung's official store.


The secondary market is offering between ₩1,650,000($1450) and ₩ 1.800,000($1600), against Samsung’s official selling price of ₩ 1,199,000($1000). Thus, a reseller can make up to 0,6 million won on a unit, a gain of more than 50 percent.

This is nothing new, as we have seen the same thing during Samsung’s previous ₩ 1,199,000 Galaxy S6 Edge Iron Man Edition launches last year in Korea.

Industry insiders said "limited edition galaxy series tend to be sold higher than official price oversea as well", "seeking to profit off the new devices by reselling them at huge premium is not against the law here but some seller's excessive sales gimmick can cause customers to raise an eyebrow."