Lee Soon-jae (이순재)

Meeting a star, especially one who is at the peak of their career, is exciting and thrilling even for reporters. Hence we at 10Asia also share our opinions on the celebrity we interview amongst ourselves, re-living the emotions we felt while exchanging dialogue with a top actor or artist. But the most exciting moment is when the star we all know, emerges as someone with distinctions of their own during the interview. An interview becomes not work, but a memory of an encounterance with someone when that celebrity turns from a star in the media to a person we are engaged in a conversation with. For the first time in a year, 10Asia reveals those memories with the public.

 

Shin Hye-sung

Singer Shin Hye-sung [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

The reason the interview with Shin Hye-sung could have seemed easy is solely because the conversation was not about him as a singer but concentrated on his then new album "Keep Leaves". "It's easy to make an album if you devote a lot of attention to the title track and the first few songs on an album, and then add on a few whatever songs to the end. But I just didn't want to do that. Because it's mine". Whether you call it his strong sense of identity as a musician or his stubbornness as an artist from the album generation, he had not released an album -- a double album to be precise -- 'just for the sake of it'. And the entire process moved in tune with his intention "to do the best job possible". An actor or musician becomes real when he or she focuses on the outcome and not their name value. That is why Shin Hye-sung is a real musician who is not consumed by the fact that he is a former idol group member.

 

Jeong Il-woo

Actor Jeong Il-woo [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

Three things you notice when you meet Jeong Il-woo in person: he is taller than you would expect him to be, he has a good voice and he has pretty facial features. He has matured much more than in 2007 when he was still shy after shooting to stardom through MBC sitcom "High Kick!"....More

Korean variety show host Yoo Jae-seok [Asia Economic Daily]

Korean entertainment show host Yoo Jae-seok won the grand prize at the MBC Entertainment Awards held last night.

Yoo won the year's top honor at the awards, held yesterday at Seoul's MBC Open Hall, for the first time since last winning the same title in 2006. This is his fifth win overall at MBC's annual event.

His rival Kang Ho-dong, who won the title at KBS Entertainment Awards on Saturday, did not win any awards at MBC but reportedly congratulated Yoo on his big win of the night....More

Comedian Yoo Jae-seok poses after receiving the Grand Prize for MBC's Entertainment Awards for the fifth straight year at the broadcaster's auditorium in Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday.
/ Courtesy of MBC

By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter

The Grand Prize for MBC's Entertainment Awards went to comedian and television host Yoo Jae-seok, Tuesday night.

The 37-year-old has now won the award for five consecutive years, including grand prizes from networks such as KBS and SBS, becoming the first Korean celebrity to do so.

"I am so grateful, but I am also very sorry. It's so easy to become boring when the program has been running for a long time, but I will strive to bring change and new items to the table", he said after receiving his award, mentioning his gratitude to fellow nominees Kang Ho-dong, Lee Gyung-gyu, Park Mi-seon and Lee Hwi-jae.

"I'm becoming a father next year and I hope I get to enjoy my programs with my child even through the year 2022", he added.

Yoo has long been one of the top television hosts in Korea, appearing in four shows: MBC's "Infinite Challenge" and "Come Over", SBS' "The Family is Out" and KBS' " Happy Together ". His modesty and sense of humor has grabbed the audience's attention, which also led him to earn the title, "MC of the Nation".

Yoo made his debut in 1991 through KBS' University Gag Contest, but failed to attract attention, while his buddies, such as comedians Kim Yong-man, Nam Hee-seok and Park Su-hong, became top entertainers. Several years passed, and Yoo finally made a name for himself with his witty comments and smooth hosting skills.

The annual event,...More

Actress Choi Jeong-won becomes a mom?

The new drama "Wish Upon a Star" stars Choi as the main character for which she took a funny poster with a baby on her back.

Choi is Red Jin who is the Financial Consultant at the JK Life Insurance Company who has to raise her younger siblings, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Violet. They all have rainbow color names! The parents are acted by Lee Yeong-beom and Yoo Ji-in.

She has the youngest Violet on her back in the poster with milk bottles a...More

By Lee Komeda
Staff Writer

"Good Morning President", the most recent film by writer and director Jang Jin ("Guns and talks", "Righteous Ties") may have been a safe choice as the opening film for the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) held last month: humorous and unthreatening. Tickets to the screening of the film at the largest international film festival in Asia were sold out within two minutes of their availability, possibly aided by the hallyu (Korean wave) powers of Jang Dong-gun.

The film skips stones across the domestic and foreign politics of Korea, without fully taking a plunge into the murky waters of ties between the two Koreas or the ethical dilemmas that politicians face during their tenure. Instead, we are left with a few great comedic moments in the movie that leave you feeling like you just witnessed a hybrid between Love Actually and a Korean sitcom.

The movie is vaguely divided into vignettes of three fictional Presidents. The first of these anecdotes is of President Kim Jong-ho, played by Lee Soon-jae, who unexpectedly wins a nation wide lotte...More