Jang Mi-hee (장미희)

A backward glance for Mr. Bae

2008/05/27 | Source | Permalink |

Failures become most obvious in retrospect. The past allows you to see situations objectively. At least that's how life works for director Bae Chang-ho.

Currently, The Korean Association of Cinematheques is holding a "Retrospective on Bae Chang-ho" in Seoul Art Cinema in Jongno, central Seoul.

The featured films include Bae's debut work, "People in the Slum" (1982) and "Whale Hunting" (1984). The retrospective started last Tuesday and ends this Sunday.

"At first, opening a retrospective was a burden for me", Bae said. "On second thought, however, it was a chance to look back on my career from a third-person point of view".

Those films that Bae thought were failures based on audience attendance turned out to be significant for the lessons they taught him.

"Looking back relates to the future", the director said. "For future reference when making films, it's important to be in touch with what the public is interested in".

"Deep Blue Night" (1985), which plays tomorrow at...| More

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Actor Daniel Henney Caught in Academic Record Scandal

2007/09/02 | Source | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

Amid the escalating scandal over falsified or forged academic records of prominent social figures and celebrities, popular actor Daniel Henney finds himself caught in the wildfire alongside veteran actors like Choi Soo-jong and Jang Mi-hee.

"It was known to some people that Henney attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, but this is a false rumor", the star's agency was quoted as telling Yonhap News.

"Henney had attended Albion College, Alma College and Elgin College in Illinois. But family circumstances made it hard for him to continue his studies, he was not able to complete his college degree after starting his modeling career", the agency said.

The model-turned-actor immediately rose to stardom here from his appearance in the hit MBC TV series "My Name is Kim Sam-soon" (2005). He was since introduced here as having attended Albion College and transferring to the state university on a basketball scholarship.

Major portal Web sites...| More

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Celebrities easy target as scandal multiplies

2007/08/29 | Source | Permalink |

The social pressure to have a degree from a pedigree school is intense in Korea, even if it's unfair, superficial and outdated. Entertainers make easy targets.

Veteran actress Oh Mi-hee said she felt like she'd been in a car wreck when she received a call recently, asking for facts to verify her false academic record, which she'd left uncorrected for almost 30 years.
"I was shocked and bewildered", Oh said. "I didn't imagine this would be a problem after all these years".
Oh, 49, has enjoyed modest but steady popularity as an actress and radio D.J. since her debut in 1979. She was known as a graduate of Cheongju University, which was not true.
Oh audited classes there in 1979, but hadn't been admitted as a regular student. After taking classes in applied arts history for three semesters, Oh took a test at MBC-TV to select TV actors and stopped auditing classes.
"I wrote on my resume that I was 'studying at college', which was not entirely false", Oh said.
She's not the only one...| More

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Movie Star Jang Mi-hee Confesses to Bogus Resume

2007/08/20 | Source | Permalink |

Jang Mi-hee, 50, a leading screen star of the 1970 and 80s and now a theater and visual arts professor at Myongji College, is the latest high-profile Korean found to have lied about her educational background.

Jang, who is also a member of the Korean Film Council, claimed to have graduated from Dongguk University College of Buddhist Studies, Hawthorne University in the U.S. and Myongji University Graduate School of Education, according to the film council website and Internet portals like Naver.

But Dongguk University, responding to an inquiry by the Chosun Ilbo, said they had no record of any graduates by that name. Hawthorne University, meanwhile, was found to be an unaccredited school.

Reflecting on her 1978 visit to Stanford University in an essay published in 1998, the film star mentioned that she was a Dongguk University student. In a 2000 interview with Chosun weekly magazine, she said, "My Buddhism major was a philosophical choice, not a religious one".

Confronted b...| More

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Actress Jang May Lose Professorship

2007/08/17 | Source | Permalink |

By Lee Hwan-hee
Staff Reporter

Veteran actress Jang Mi-hee may lose her professorship at Myongji College if current allegations regarding her academic background are found to be true.

Jang, who ruled the silver screen during the 1970s and 1980s as one of a popular actress troika, claimed to be a Dongguk University graduate in her profile information and various interviews given over past decades. She has been teaching acting at Myongji College as an associate professor since 1998.

But amid snowballing scandals involving a series of academic record forgeries of prominent figures in the art and culture worlds, Dongguk University confirmed Friday that there is no record that she was ever accepted there.

The 50-year-old has also claimed to have Master's Degrees from Hawthorne University, a distance-learning school in the U.S., and Myongji University. Myongji University has confirmed that she received the degree but announced that it may be annulled if she lied about her academ...| More

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