Kim Hyung-joon (김형준)

From left, boy band SS501 members Park Jung-min, Kim Hyung-joon, Kim Hyun-joong, Heo Yeong-saeng and Kim Gyoo-jong pose during a press conference held ahead of giving an encore performance of their Asia tour "PERSONA" at the Olympic Park in Seoul, South Korea on February 27, 2010. [Park Sung-ki/Asia Economic Daily]

Korean idol group SS501 have announced that they will be releasing a new album in May.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday -- prior to their "PERSONA" encore concert at Seoul's Olympic Park Gymnastics Stadium -- the five members spoke about their plans to "meet fans with a fantastic album".

"We have to discuss with our agency about the new album but we are thinking about releasing it on May 1, which is '501 Day'", the group's leader Kim Hyun-joong was quoted as saying....More

Clockwise from top center, musician Seo Tai-ji, SS501 member Kim Hyung-joon, singer Lee Hyo-lee and Kim Hyun-joong's character Yoon Ji-hoo from KBS TV series "Boys over Flowers". [10Asia]

Kim Hyun-joong
Truth #1: He is a good-looking idol. He is a guy you would go out with regardless of his age. He is someone so pretty that he is likely to appear in a romance comic.
Truth #2: He was a runaway teenager who has experienced almost every part-time job out in the world. He is the most four-dimensional celebrity in Korea. He is a rock mania who body would squirm at the cheesy lines he had to say in hit TV series "Boys over Flowers".
Truth #3: He is a happy-go-lucky sort of person, unpredictable and hence, we become increasingly curious. Attracted.

Seo Tae-ji
Kim Hyun-joong's favorite musician. The first record Kim ever bought was Seo Taeji & Boys' second album. Kim had enjoyed his studies so much up till elementary school that he would wake up at 6 A.M. everyday to study but after listening to Seo Tae-ji's music, he gave up on his studies to become a bassist in a rock band. That is why Kim took a one year leave during his high school days, went to a new school and ran away from home because his parents were against him pursuing music. Up to this point, it may look like he walked the typical path many rockers take on in order to achieve their dreams. But Kim worked part-time at a fried chicken restaurant and did manual labor to buy his own guitar, then worked again for about a year after running away from his house a second time. He made about a total 100 million won working part-time jobs. "I taught myself (how to live in society) by making money earlier than others", Kim said of how important he considers this time period. This is why as soon as he debuted as a member of SS501, he believed "time is money".

SS501
The five-member group Kim is a member of. He passed his audition for the group after simply being asked his height, weight and address. It may be because of this but according to member Park Jung-min, Kim played hard to get, not being sure of whether being a member of an idol group was the path he should take. But Kim sets his heart on becoming part of the band after looking at the numerous fans looking forward to SS501's debut. Thereafter, the whole group appears in various reality shows and pursues a music career in Japan simultaneously. But they do not care about looking pretty and have promised to never receive expensive gifts from fans, making them the idols they are yet also the guys next door with good morals. They did not gain stardom instantaneously but continue to solidify their fanbase. On a side not, SS501 stands for the 'sun' and 'star', as well as 'five become one', but also a name intended to be typed easily on mobile phones and the computer....More

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

"No Mercy" opens the New Year box office with a slice of gruesome cadaver-cutting and a dash of heart-thumping chases. Obviously, this murder story is no firework event for families.

In the past, the normative formula for box office success had been period epics or action-packed stories highlighting the North-South Korean divide. But lately the focus has shifted to medium-budget, crafty crime thrillers featuring unexpected endings that slap you in the face.

Thrills once rooted in ruthless psychopathic terror lately began to take a more dramatic spin with sympathy-provoking homicides, throwing big moral questions into a murky gray zone. "No Mercy" takes the latter to extremes; this tale of revenge may not be as visionary as "Oldboy" but it certainly is a match in terms of shock factor.

Indeed, "it's so violent, it's tragic", just as described by first-time director ...More

The five-member boy band SS501, which has been holding its first Asia tour entitled "Persona" since its debut in 2005, will release a mini-album in Korea late this month. Entitled "Rebirth", it's the first album to feature all five members in a year and seven months.

After performing in Korea and Japan in August, SS501 finally visited Taiwan to perform at the Taipei Arena. Kim Hyun-joong, who came down with swine flu in September during his stay in Japan, said his swine flu symptoms included a fever of over 39.5℃, diarrhea six to seven times a day, and coughs of 4-5 times a minute. "It's like the worst degree of a cold. The most difficult part was being isolated. It's a very lonesome disease", said Kim, adding that he was scared to see other swine flu patients who were hospitalized on the same floor with him dying of the disease. "I believed that I would recover", said the singer.

Following the nice chat about his swine flu experience, Kim went on to discuss the group's popularity in Taiwan. SS501 received a very warm welcome from its Taiwanese fans. The group held its first fan meeting in Taiwan in June, but it is SS501's first concert in that country. Five albums from SS501 that were relea...More

An omnibus drama starring some 30 Korean Wave stars, including singer Jun Jin, will be produced. According to the production company Nemo Story on August 17, the cast will include Kim Hyung-joon of SS501, Jun Jin, Son Ho-young, Bae Seul-ki, Shim Eun-jin and ...More