
Sports, TV and movie stars are the envy of many, and that has if anything increased with the revelations of their vast real estate holdings. Although such cases are limited to only the highest-paid stars, many stars show a keen interest in investing in real estate due to their lack of job security.
But industry experts say in case of athletes whose careers span no more than 15 years at most, the sums are not excessive. And celebrities' careers ebb and crest with their popularity, giving them little choice but to set aside investments whose returns they can live off for the rest of their lives.
Most of them own commercial real estate worth millions of dollars in the affluent Gangnam district of southern Seoul. What follows is a round-up of the real estate owned by celebrities.
Pop star Seo Tai-ji, who bought a building in Nonhyeon-dong in 2002, already made millions of dollars in profit. One estate agent said the building is presently valued at close to W20 billion (US$1=W1,134). Its value recently got a boost because a subway station on Line 9 was open...
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Performance Industry Meets the World
Among the various factors that constitute human life, culture has the greatest capacity to nurture connections and exchange. One culture quickly absorbs the advantages of another culture and develops to integrate naturally into a large wave.
The same applies to the performance industry.
While it is difficult to compare live performances with other genres as they are played out directly in front of an audience, they often borrow from the sources, forms and contents of different genres. In 2010 the performance industry will meet and interact with other genres.
Reinterpreting works from different genres
Recently, the Muk Company announced that the film "
JSA - Joint Security Area" will be produced as a musical.
"
JSA - Joint Security Area" is an example of one-source, multi-use in the publication, film and musical fields. Based on the 1996 novel DMZ written by Park Sang-yeon, the 2000 film "
JSA - Joint Security Area" was directed by Director
Park Chan-wook. It was a big hit with its star cast including
Lee Byeong-Heon, ...
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Korean celebrities
Cha In-pyo and
Sin Ae-ra made a donation of 100 million won to victims of the Haiti earthquake via Compassion Korea, the International Child Care Organization,
The couple said, "It's a tragedy that many people died and were injured due to the H...
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Korean celebrities are rolling up their sleeves to help the victims of earthquake-stricken Haiti.
Cha In-pyo, 43, and
Sin Ae-ra, 41, made a donation of 100 million won ($87,000) to victims of the quake via Compassion Korea, an international aid organization for children.
"We are making this donation in consideration of the urgency of the fact that so many of Haitians are dying of hunger and thirst at the moment", Cha said in a telephone...
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Actor
Cha In-pyo has formed a musical group, the "Compassion Band", comprised of more than 120 members to help poor children around the world.
By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter
While Hollywood's Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are busy saving the world through charity donations, Korea's famous stars are also opening their wallets and doling out their talents to help the needy.
Actor
Cha In-pyo and his wife, actress
Sin Ae-ra, have been supporting underprivileged children around the world for the past several years though Compassion International, a child support orgainzation. They have even formed a musical group, the "Compassion Band", comprised of more than 120 members.
With the help of fellow stars including singer Hwang Bo, celebrity couple
Jeong Hye-yeong...
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