Kang Hye-jeong (강혜정)

The three-man group, Epik High (Tablo, Mithra Jin, DJ Tukutz), has experienced many changes over the past year. Tablo and DJ Tukutz married and DJ Tukutz was drafted into the army. They also left their agency, Ullim Entertainment, and established their own record label, "Map the Soul". However, they returned to Ullim Entertainment last December.

Epik High released the special album "Epilogue", and Tablo and Mithra were interviewed on March 9. DJ Tukutz is still in the military. They said they accumulated precious experience by forming their own label. Tablo said, "I don't think we failed in the business. We made a direct dealing with music fans on the Internet and introduced Korean music to the whole world through YouTube and iTunes. I realized the power of media and importance of different methods in order to meet music fans' expectations".

By their own estimation, they gained some positive results by announcing their music to the world. The group had concerts in Japan and the U.S. last year and opened a showcase at the International Media Music Exhib...More

Korean actress Kang Hye-jeong [photographed by Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

Kang Hye-jeong has experienced quite a curve during her career as a movie star. The unpredictability in her career shows how eventful the journey was from her starting point leading up to the present. Watching her play the role of Yuki in her debut film "The Butterfly" -- it was directed by Moon Seung-wook and showed Kang's potential as an actor -- makes it hard to think of anyone better for the part. The film "Old Boy", which implanted her name in peoples' minds, also falls into the masterpiece category. Her character Mido in "Old Boy" proclaimed that Kang cannot be fit into a stereotype that had been established by previous Korean actresses and Kang earned a name value of her own. She continuously used that value in her consequent movie roles -- as the beautiful wife of a kind-hearted filmmaker in "Three, Monster" and portraying the character Hong in the impossible-to-describe film "Rules of Dating". Kang Hye-jeong was an intense actor and her movies were like powerful punches on the hearts of moviegoers.

After the film "Welcome to Dongmakgol", however, Kang little by little started going off the predictable path that public expected her to take. She played the adorable and cute girl parts in "Love Phobia", "Herb" and "Kill Me" -- also something the public did not expect to see from her. And in the film "Girlfriends", she played the ordinary twenty-something woman who goes through growing pains at the age of twenty-nine. "I actually went through some things that other people have not experienced or need not experience pretty early in my life. And I was able to create an aggressive and independent character in my early twenties based on such experiences. I was a kid who either ignored pain or let it burst, like my characters in "Old Boy" and "Rules of Dating". But after a while, the ups and downs in my life started getting less frequent and less noisy"....More

Tablo has visited Kang Hye-jeong's movie VIP press meeting. "Girlfriends" cast has been there and Tablo congratulated his new bride with a sweet kiss and a bouquet of flowers!

What a cute couple....More

New bride Kang Hye-jeong is in  a new film, "Girlfriends" where she shows her shameless acting!

The writer of this comedy film about three women and one man acted by Bae Soo-bin has received the 31st Today's Writer Award! 

The main character Songy is Kang Hye-jeong who is not afraid of being embarrassed by approaching her ex boyfriend's girlfriends.

First girl that Songy approaches is the sexy party planner Jin act...More

Simultaneous production of drama and its theatrical version increases efficiency
Generalization of digital shooting breaks down barriers of human resources & technology
Respect of different ways of producing broadcast programs and movies brings higher efficiency

Combination of movie & TV drama continues to evolve. Exchange between Chungmuro, Korean equivalent to Hollywood, and Yeo-ui-do, hub of broadcasting networks, was born as filmmakers produced TV dramas and drama PDs made movies. The exchange has brought the boom of 'Cross Over' such as 'TV Movie' and 'Theatrical Version'. Recently, there is an increasing number of works whose two versions as TV drama and movie were simultaneously made even in the stage of planning. The film and broadcasting industries expect this kind of 'format convergence' to be a chance to increase efficiency and quality in each genre and call for thorough preparedness based on understanding of features that each medium has.

◇"IRIS"
◆Simultaneous Production of Movie and TV Drama= A movie-like drama, "IRIS" is enjoying popularity with its large scale, sophisticated image and fast development comparable to those of a movie. Therefore, it is not surprising why it receives such compliment given that talents of Chungmuro, Korean equivalent to Hollywood, participated in producing the drama which airs on Wednesdays and Thursdays (KBS 2). IRIS (director: Kim Kyoo-tae and Yang Yoon-ho) was produced by Taewon Entertainment, famous for movies such as "Marrying the Mafia" and 'Eye for an Eye'. About 80% of the staff came from the movie circle including director Yang Yoon-ho who produced 'Fighter in the Wind' and "Holiday".

Taewon Entertainment is considering releasing a movie version of "IRIS" after its 20 episodes are over. The movie version is currently in production ...More