Kim Jong-jin (김종진)

2007/12/26 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

"Every move you make / Every step you take / I'll be watching you".
Lee Seung-sin, right, and her husband Kim Jong-jin will likely never listen to that classic by The Police the same way.
At a concert by Kim, the frontman of the popular band Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, a stalker assaulted Lee by hitting the musician's wife in the back of the head with a cell phone on Sunday in southern Seoul. Lee was taken to a hospital, where she received stitches.
The stalker was identified by the police only by her surname, Hong. She has been stalking Kim for the last 10 years, the 44-year-old musician said. Lee, 37, an actress starring in the cable TV drama "Two Faces of a Woman", is recovering from the shock of the incident, her agency said.
"It's a good thing that she did not get any scars on her face", Lee's agent said. "Lee is determined to get back on her feet and continue acting".
Kim said he is pursuing legal action against Hong, and police said that the assailant would face a yet-...

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2007/08/09 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

A remote village nestled near the heavily fortified border that divides South and North Korea is not a popular place. But "Mannamui Gwangjang (Meeting Square)" ("Underground Rendez-vous"), a film set in the 1980s and directed by Kim Jong-jin, attempts to make it at least a meaningful place where families gather together in a peculiar way.

In the film, Young-tan (Im Chang-jeong), who lives on an obscure island, has a big dream: becoming a teacher in a big city. Befitting his ambition, he cannot stand anybody near him committing an immoral act. He is, after all, a paragon of morality and virtue who sets high standards in society -- a core quality that he believes he needs to be a good teacher.

The trouble is that he fails to pass every exam he takes to become a teacher. Apparently, the state does not consider his virtuous life in screening good teachers. Undaunted, Young-tae moves to Seoul in the hopes of preparing for the exam more seriously, but the very moment he arrives at Seou...

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2007/08/09 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

With the two Korean leaders slated to meet for talks in late August, the release of the heartfelt drama "Underground Rendez-vous" is most timely. Free of political commentaries, the film celebrates universal values of love with a delightfully comical edge as it portrays a family forced to live under unnatural separation.

Set during the early 1980s, "Underground Rendez-vous" tells the hilarious story of Yeong-tan (Im Chang-jeong), an aspiring schoolteacher who, caught along a series of mishaps, ends up teaching children in a small mountainous village. Meanwhile, the "real" teacher (Ryoo Seung-bum) who was supposed to move into town is trapped in the middle of nowhere, unable to move his right foot after stepping on a landmine.

All seems swell for Yeong-tan, and he even falls in love with an angelic beauty, Seon-mi (Park Jin-hee), the sister in law of the town chief (Im Hyeon-sik). One day, Yeong-tan catches Seon-mi and the chief in an awkward mome...

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2007/02/17 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Recent movies out in theaters probably left you dumbfounded for a couple of good reasons. You gaped at Kwon Oh-joong's sleek kung fu moves. (Wasn't he the chubby dude in that silly sit-com about a gynecologist's family?) Your eyes opened wide when you found out Kim Ah-joong can sing. (She has a goddess-like figure and now she even sings?)
However stupefied, or scornful, you are, kudos to our celebrities who refuse to use understudies. But more kudos go out to the trainers who stayed behind the scenes coaching stars throughout the filming. Movieweek, a JoongAng film weekly, met with these hidden stars of recent films and the hidden-stars-to-be of blockbusters coming to theaters.

Kung fu master
Actor Kwon O-joong depended on Park Chan-dae, a kung fu master, for more than three months as he practiced his martial arts moves prior to the filming of the "Three Kims".
For up to five hours a day, five days a week, Mr. Park stayed with Kwon, transforming him into the heroic kung fu coach ...

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