Korean stars, seeking to protect their privacy, are turning to the online to speak their minds or clarify stances on certain issues.
By
Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter
As one of the most wired countries in the world, it is hard for anyone here to stay offline for long, and now even the busiest singers and actors manage to squeeze their time to communicate with fans and express themselves through the Web.
Many celebrities each have their personal blogs, mostly on the famous networking Web site Cyworld. More than 20 million Internet users have joined the site, and thanks to its easy-to-use features and popularity, it has become one of the easiest and effective ways for celebrities to openly express their thoughts.
It started with actors who wanted to show more of themselves as ordinary people, not as the fashionable stars they were presented as through the media.
Actors
Lee Hye-young, Hwang Ci-ne and singers Park Jun-hee and Ock Joo-hyun's blogs were some of the most popular, with phot...
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After a rash of entertainer suicides in 2008, Korea faces its second of 2009
Todd Thacker (todd)
Last year Korea's entertainment industry was hit by a rash of suicides, including four in just the month of October. These deaths shocked South Koreans and drew the spotlight on social pressures and stigma associated with seeking mental health treatment here.
So far in 2009, there have been two deaths. The most recent suicide was 26-year-old actress
Jang Ja-yeon, who had a role in the very popular TV drama "
Boys over Flowers".
She hanged herself in her home at the weekend.
Family and friends have told reporters Jang was "depressed" and having contract difficulties with her management company, in addition to being dissatisfied about her role's "slipp...
MoreA string of celebrity suicides in 2008 has sent shockwaves across the nation, gripping devout fans and raising fears of copycat suicides. The suicide of an iconic actress this year has also provoked political bickering over whether to penalize cyberspace libel.
A couple of high-profile rulings on mercy killing and adultery have also touched off heated national debates this year.
High-profile suicides
The most shocking of the suicide cases was the death of
Choi Jin-sil, Korea's long-beloved iconic actress.
On Oct. 2, Choi, 39, was found hanging in a shower stall at her residence in Seoul with a bandage tightened around her neck, ending her 20-year stellar career on the silver screen.
Her death came in the midst of internet rumors that she had lent billions of won to
Ahn Jae-hwan, a renowned actor, and then blackmailed him. Ahn also killed himself about a month before her death.
Choi had felt increasingly suicidal, with the persisting rumors deepening her depression and denting her confidence restored by a successful 2007 comeback in a tear jerking soap opera.
Her ugly divorce in 2004 with ex-husband, former pro baseball player Cho Sung-min, had tarnished her girlish pure image and led her to go on a hiatus.
Ahn was found dead on Sept. 8 in his minivan in Seoul, where he had locked himself in and burned two charcoal briquettes. He died from toxic fumes, according to police.
The actor had agonized over snowballing debts from a series of moribund businesses, which led him to desperately seek money, even from loan sharks, his close associates said.
Their deaths were followed by another string of high-profile suicides, including those by transgender actress Jang Chae-won, homosexual model Kim Ji-hu and former government official ...
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By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The suspected suicide of top actress
Choi Jin-sil has driven the nation into shock. Behind her ever-cheerful image and smile lies the dark side of a star who captured the hearts of Koreans for two decades.
Choi was the fifth icon of the entertainment industry to commit suicide since 2007. Singer Yuni, TV actress
Jeong Da-bin, actor
Yeo Jae-goo and
Ahn Jae-hwan also killed themselves. Their deaths highlight the darker side of the show biz world.
Dr. Hong Jin-pyo of Asan Medical Center assumed that there must have been multiple factors in Choi's suicide. "She may have been physically exhausted, couldn't stand t...
MoreBy Sandip Kumar Mishra
In recent years, there have been some significant reverberations of the Korean cultural wave, Hallyu, at India's doorsteps. In July 2006, the Korean Drama
Emperor of The Sea was for the first time introduced in India by the national broadcaster DD-1. In September 2006, another Korean drama Jewel in the Palace began to be aired on DD-1. These two Korean dramas have received a good response from Indian audiences so far. Furthermore, many Korean musical and theater troops have visited India in recent times and Korean cultural products have been gradually making their way into India.
However, the most striking and powerful manifestation of Hallyu could be seen in the Northeastern states of India, particularity in the state of Manipur. In the age of globalization and revolution in information and communication dispersal, Korean cultural products are a big hit in Manipur. These cultural products have been reaching Indian shores through Korean the satellite channel Arirang and Korean movies, dramas and music CDs. They have been responsible for a new form of youth culture in the Northeast Indian society.
If we say that rest of India has been more engulfed by the Korean economic wave, Manipur has got a special place in the process of spread of Hallyu in India. In Manipur, Korean cultural wave does not go along with economic presence of Korea necessarily. Rather the spread of the Korean cultural wave in Manipur more coincides with the Hallyu experience in other Asian countries such as China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan etc. The Korean movies such as
"The Classic", "
You are my Sunshine", "...
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