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."






2016년 6월 13일 월요일

5 Korean Foods Foreigners Find Most Challenging in Korea


Cosmojin tour, travel agency specializing in tours for foreigners conducted survey about most difficult Korean food to eat on 782 foreign tourists who visited Korea during April to May.

Ganjang Gejang (raw crabs marinated in soy sauce, 65%)was Korean food which foreigners find most challenging followed by Cheonggukjang (fermented soybean paste soup, 19%), Snnakji (live octopus, 10%), Dotorimuk (acorn jelly salad, 4%) and Beondegi (steamed silkworm chrysalis, 2%)

One foreign tourist said "I wanted to try seasoned raw crab in soy sauce ever since i saw people eating it deliciously in Korean dramas and reality variety shows but it was hard for me to eat since black thing was too salty and red thing was too spicy with little bit of fishy smell."
"I loved the Bibimbap and Samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly) and Chimek (Korean style fried chicken with beer) was better than my expectation too." he added.