Lee Byung Hun’s 20th Asia Fan Meeting Jeju (July 9-12) captures courtesy fan-sharing at laser5682, wing4u and Totorin, with thanks to veve111 for the highlight at EverythingLBH-soompi.com
This was first highlighted (last night) at allkpop.com for news mainly of Jaejoong with mentions of LBH, KTH and IRIS along the way. The Japanese online(?) survey of "Nikkansports Drama Grand Prix Voting on the Best Drama in this Spring" (日刊スポーツ・ドラマグランプリの春ドラマ投票 ) and here is the results.
Thanks to Ayu for the page highlight, follow-up at nikansports.com
Please note that captures are direct online translation and may not represent the accurate names particularly for the Japanese series & actors.
The Top 5 will be nominated in Nikkansports Drama Award 2010 in next March.
Jaejoong wins Best Supporting Actor award
by GHOSTWRITER on JULY 12, 2010 @ 11:19 AM
Original IMAGE credits as stated
Popular TVXQ / DBSK / Tohoshinki / JYJ member Jaejoong has a supporting role in the popular Fuji TV Japanese drama titled “Sunao ni Narenakute / 素直になれなくて / Hard To Say I Love You.” Although new to acting, Jaejoong has already won an award for his role.
Nikkan Sports holds a Drama Grand Prix (polling) where they have various drama categories being voted by the Nikkan Sports members. In this 14th edition of the Grand Prix, Jaejoong has won in the category of Best Supporting Actor with 7018 votes. The drama he participates in (Sunao ni Narenakute) also came in first for the category of Best Drama with 5578 votes.
Other Notable nominees include Korean Drama IRIS, which placed 3rd in the Best Drama category with 1320 votes. Actor Lee Byung Hun (IRIS) placing third in the Best Actor category with 2112 votes and actress Kim Tae Hee (IRIS) placing third in the Best Actress category with 2395 votes.
Thanks to yukichan for the tip.
Source: allkpop.com
Although the allkpop article above only mentioned Jaejoong, LBH, KTH and IRIS in their report, actress KSY is also placed at no.4 in the Best Supporting Actress category. A sweet surprise nonetheless considering how the Japanese IRIS promos were heavily focusing on LBH and KTH respectively.
Lee Byunghun testifies at Kang Byung-kyu trial
Editor : Jessica Kim
Actor Lee Byung-hun speaks to reporters after testifying at TV personality
Kang Byung-kyu's trial at the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office in South Korea
on July 14, 2010. [Han Youn-jong/Asia Economic Daily]
Top Korean actor Lee Byung-hun testified at TV personality Kang Byung-kyu's hearing today, the two confronting each other for the first time since being embroiled in a legal battle also involving Lee's former girlfriend.
The trial took place behind closed doors as requested in advance by Lee, commencing a little past 4 p.m. at the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office.
"I had kept quiet till now because I thought I had been set up in a ridiculous conspiracy," a calm-looking Lee told reporters after stepping out of court about an hour and a half later. "I thought this incident would be resolved quickly by taking legal action but it has somehow dragged on till now."
Lee also said he "gave an honest testimony about the facts the way they are," adding that the truth will soon be revealed.
Kang has been standing trial on two charges;' defaming and attempting blackmail against Lee, and his alleged involvement in an assault case on the set of last year's hit TV series "IRIS."
The case started seven months ago when Lee's ex-girlfriend identified by her last name Kwon lodged a complaint to court saying she was allured into having a sexual relationship with Lee on his false promises of marriage and demanded she be compensated for physical and psychological damage.
Lee then filed a suit against Kwon as well as Kang, who according to Lee's legal representatives, was behind those who had demanded for money in exchange for exposing details of the actor's personal life.
Prosecutors sided with Lee, indicting Kang in mid-March for defamation and attempted blackmail against the actor. An angered Kang had then countersued Lee for defamation but the court cleared the actor of any charges.
Kang was also indicted for his alleged involvement in assaulting crew members of "IRIS" -- then starring Lee -- which he visited in mid-December over talk that Chung Tae-won, chief of Taewon Entertainment and producer of the hit show, had spread false rumor that he was behind the feud between Lee and Kwon.
Repoter : Park Jong-kyu glory＠ Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@ <ⓒ10Asia All rights reserved> 10Asia
Actor Lee Byung-hun arrives at the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office in South Korea on July 14, 2010 to testify at TV personality Kang Byung-kyu's trial.
Actor Lee Byung-hun walks into the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office in South Korea on July 14, 2010 to testify at TV personality Kang Byung-kyu's trial.
The drama 'IRIS' is doing just as well over in Japan as it did in Korea. In fact, so well that according to Nikkan Sports on July 15th, many of the actors from the drama are officially contenders for awards at the 2010 14th Annual Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix.
15,814 votes came pouring in from June 29th to July 8th and after careful count,'IRIS' came in third place in terms of the number of the votes for the 'General Production Award' with 1,320. Main actor Lee Byung-hun also got 2,112 votes -- against third highest -- for 'Main Actor'. Female co-star and his character's love interest, Kim Tae-hee also scored 2,395 votes bringing her in third place as well for 'Main Actress.' Kim So-yeon, who played a North Korean spy, earned 1,804 votes for the Supporting Actress category which was enough to put her in fourth place.
Projects that make it into the top five of the given categories will be the finalists for the final annual vote held in March of next year.
Lee Byung-hun to advertise hair products in Japan
Reporter: Lynn Kim Editor: Jessica Kim
Top Korean actor Lee Byung-hun in a scene from the film "I Saw The Devil" [Showbox]
Hallyu star Lee Byung-hun will be taking on a new role in Japan as a spokesmodel for a global hair care brand, according to his agency BH Entertainment.
BH announced in a press release on Thursday that the actor has signed with Dove Hair Care, a beauty brand owned by Unilever Japan, to advertise their hair products.
"Lee has a powerful charm that captivates other people," an official at Dove was quoted as saying. "The everyday life [of consumers] will be able to shine brighter by feeling the overpowering presence, strength and beauty of Lee Byung-hun who made a successful entry into Hollywood and has become a global star."
The Korean actor had previously shot commercials in Japan for various products including jewelry, mobile phone and automobile brand.
Lee, who turned 40 on Monday, has long been considered one of the most popular actors in Korea with dozens of television dramas and films under his belt,
In last year's blockbuster TV series "IRIS", currently airing in Japan every Wednesday on TBS, he led a star-studded cast that included Kim Tae-hee, Jung Joon-ho, Kim Seung-woo, Kim So-yeon and TOP of idol group Big Bang.
The actor enjoyed a particularly successful year in 2009, making his Hollywood debut in action flick "GI Joe" and co-starring with Josh Hartnett and Takuya Kimura in the film "I Come With The Rain."
He will be returning to the big screen with "I Saw The Devil," directed by noted filmmaker Kim Ji-woon and co-starring top Korean actor Choi Min-sik.
Reporter: Lynn Kim lynn2878 @ Editor: Jessica Kim jesskim @ <Ⓒ 10Asia All rights reserved> 10Asia
JAN 4, 2010 By Tiffny Essential Actors: Lee Byung Hun
Lee Byung Hun is known as one of the top actors of his peers. He’s graced the screen in nearly 40 dramas and movies, and received countless awards for his talented portrayals. And although he’s been in as many productions as many years he’s been alive, his sharply accentuated looks can give any actor half his age a run for their money. Starting his career in 1991 at the age of 21, Lee Byung Hun made his debut to the Korean public in the KBS drama Asphalt My Hometown. Within the next three years, he received steady work in dramas for both KBS and SBS, two of the nations biggest stations.
His 1995 drama, Asphalt Man, was the first of its kind in Korea in that it was shot on film (not video), included heartracing car chases and also shot authentically on-location in the US (Nevada, Utah and Ohio). After filming only two dramas in 1995, Lee Byung Hun took a two year break from television and made his way to the big screen acting in three movies from ‘95 until ‘97 before making his way back to T.V. Dramas.
The first of his movies was a starring role in Who Drives Me Mad?, a movie about a man obsessed with marrying his girlfriend, but somehow manages to drive them apart with his incessant efforts to be her husband. The movie was fairly received but it wasn’t until 2000 when his role in the movie Joint Security Area did Lee Byung Hun really become a star to be watched.
Around this time, Hallyu was just beginning to quickly gain momentum in America, and with his convincing roles in following dramas Beautiful Days (2001) and All In (2003), audiences both Korean and foreign were swept away. His most talked about Kdrama performance is that of Kim In Ha in All In; a story inspired by the life of Jimmy Cha, a professional poker player. So convincing was his portrayal of the character In Ha, Lee won the Best Actor (Drama) at the 2003 Baek Sang Awards; bringing the total awards he’s won in the category of ‘Best Actor’ almost every year over his career at that point to an even ten. Talk about talent. The accolades kept coming in and in 2005 and 2006, he won Best Leading Actor at the Busan Cinema Critics Awards, Korean Film Awards and at the 42nd Baek Sang Awards for his role in the internationally-acclaimed movie, A Bittersweet Life.
Taking another hiatus in 2003 until 2009 to focus on acting in movies, Lee Byung Hun’s Hollywood debut in the movie G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra excited his fans worldwide as the character Storm Shadow. Lee starred in the movie alongside actors such as Dennis Quaid, Joseph-Gordon Levitt, Sienna Miller and Channing Tatum, which in the opinion of many Kdrama fans worldwide, this was an amazing opportunity for all Hallyu stars looking to cross over.
Also in 2009, Lee Byung Hun made his most awaited comeback in the smash hit drama IRIS. The action packed drama has been likened to the American series 24, for it’s thrilling storyline, action sequences, and compelling cast. The riveting drama has gained much buzz and it’s safe to say Lee Byung Hun will be gaining another ‘Best’ award come award season.
Lee Byung-hun pic "I Saw The Devil" to open August 11
Reporter: Lynn Kim
Official movie poster for "I Saw The Devil" [Showbox]
Official posters for film "I Saw The Devil" has been unveiled as the pic gears up for its summer box office debut next month.
Film's distributor Showbox announced in a press release on Wednesday that the Lee Byung-hun starrer will hit local theaters on August 11 and released two official movie posters featuring Lee and Choi Min-sik.
With two of the country's top actors in the lead roles, the thriller pic is being lauded as one of the year's most anticipated movies.
"Devil" is helmed by noted filmmaker Kim Ji-woon, who has directed both actors in his previous films; Choi in "The Quiet Family" (1998), and Lee in "A Bittersweet Life" (2005) and "The Good, The Bad, The Weird "(2008).
Lee, 40, has long been considered one of the most popular actors in Korea with dozens of television dramas and films under his belt.
The actor enjoyed a particularly successful year in 2009, making his Hollywood debut in action flick "GI Joe" and co-starring with Josh Hartnett and Takuya Kimura in the film "I Come With The Rain."
Choi, 48, has starred in numerous films, most notably "Swiri" (1999), "Oldboy" (2003) and "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" (2005).
Reporter: Lynn Kim lynn2878 @ <Ⓒ 10Asia All rights reserved> 10Asia
Drama IRIS to be published as graphic novel
by RAMENINMYBOWL
Ever-famous drama IRIS will now be remade into a series of graphic novels, guaranteed to satisfy your visual experience using plain illustrations and text.
Graphic novels are often described as “high-quality comics,” as each and every page composes of life-like drawings. As you could see in the excerpt above, the details in each drawing are very stunning.
Unlike the original plot, IRIS the graphic novel will narrate a story of HyunJun, who works as chef’s assistant at a restaurant. HyunJun will then get involved with a mysterious case of gang homicide.
Creek & River Korea revealed that IRIS graphic novel will be produced by Lee Hyun Sae, Yim Suk Nam, and Choi Sung Hyun.
It has continuously been pointed out that Hallyu stars who are actively performing overseas rarely arrange performances and events for Korean fans.
Hallyu stars reportedly consistently neglect Korean fans and usually do not have much contact with fans in Korea; on the other hand, they have adopted friendly images to the public overseas by holding large-scale fan meetings and releasing photo and music albums.
Hallyu star Kwon Sang Woo, who evoked criticism with a hit-and-run last month, has raised controversy because he delivered a message of apology on his official Japanese fan website before his Korean website. After the news on his hit-and-run was spread, he just made a brief apology in Korea on the following day, which was June 25, simply by using the press release that his agency had distributed, but he still had not personally expressed an apology officially in Korea for three weeks after the accident. On the contrary, his agency had urgently left apology messages on the board of his official website in Japan on the very next day, which was on June 25. There was another posting made by the agency on June 29 to apologize for the accident on the Japanese website.
When the fact that he already apologized personally in Japan became known in Korea, Kwon Sang Woo posted his own written apology on his Internet fan café in Korea on July 21. A spokesperson for his agency explained, “It is the result of a misunderstanding. We just made the press release to the Japanese agency, which was distributed on June 25, so the Japanese agency just posted the notice along with the apology on the website.”
But criticisms were continuously raised on the Internet, such as, “He regards Japanese fans as the 'source of money,’ and regards Korean fans as the 'sitting duck,’" and, "Why is he concerned about Japanese fans when he caused the hit-and-run in Korea?"
As Hallyu stars actively perform overseas, they can elevate the status of Korea, which is a positive result. Stars’ activities have actually contributed in large portion to attracting Japanese tourists to Korea. The Korea Tourism Organization produced an advertising commercial with star actor Lee Byung Hun last March. But, as he has concentrated on overseas activities, he is also not free from the criticism that he lacks consideration for Korean fans.
Hallyu stars also have many Korean fans, but their fan meetings held in Korea are usually really events for foreign fans because the fan meetings themselves are mostly held as the part of tour packages, so in actuality Korean fans cannot participate in those events. Actor Lee Byung Hun invited around 1,500 fans from Japan and countries in Southeast Asia and held large-scale fan meeting on Jeju Island from July 9 until July 11. Korean fans were not the target audience, so they naturally felt disappointed about it. In addition, Korean fans rarely have the opportunity to see stars except in dramas, movies, or TV commercials, but stars hold fan meetings in Japan and Southeast countries very often.
Last December, actors Lee Hyung Hun, Song Seung Hun, Won Bin, and Jang Dong Gun held a large fan meeting together in the Tokyo Dome in Japan. It is very difficult to see those four actors together in Korea, but they willingly flew to Tokyo to meet Japanese fans, and their fan meetings were held twice and ended with a flourish to the enthusiastic cheers of around 70,000 fans.
Star singers also tend to focus on overseas activities rather then performances in Korea. The truly pan-Asian star singer Boa performs in Japan for longer periods than Korea. Dong Bang Shin Ki also devoted themselves in activities in Japan after they advanced into the Japanese music industry. Korean fans often buy star singers’ special albums and special photo exhibitions, which they have released overseas, from agencies who buy them from foreign countries and sell in Korea. In addition, fans basically support stars’ overseas activities, but it is easy to find fans’ comments on the stars’ fan café sites expressing their disappointment. As stars advance overseas and become more focused on overseas activities, Koreans fans, who have actually made them stars in the first place, feel more neglect.
A person in the entertainment business said, “Overseas activities usually are so-called money-making opportunities, more so than here in Korea. More than that, to keep their popularity overseas, they have to have more chances to see their fans in foreign countries, so they cannot help focusing on overseas activities.”
Thanks to the fan-highlight at PlanetBH0712, courtesy CINE21
CINE21 Cover no.764
2010.07.27 – 08.03
I Saw a Devil will be released on August 11
July 23, 2010
Seoul, Korea – The movie I Saw a Devil, starring Lee Byung Hun and Choi Min Sik, will be released on August 11.
I Saw a Devil tells the story of a showdown between a psychopathic serial killer, Jung Kyung Chul (played by Choi Min Sik), and a secret agent, Soo Hyun (played by Lee Byung Hun), who lost his fiancée because of Jung Kyung Chul and decides to get revenge.
This is Lee Byung Hun’s third project with director Kim Ji Woon after A Bittersweet Life (2005) and The Good, The Bad, The Weird (2008). The production company has released two official posters featuring the confrontation between the two men.
I Saw a Devil was sold in advance to an international film distributor in the Cannes Film Market.
Source: JTN (Original article in Korean) Photo from JTN DB Translated by Sarah Lee / Korea.com
MISSHA Launches into Japan, Lee Byung Hun is their model
Seoul, Korea – Korean manufacturer and distributor of cosmetics brand Missha, Able C&C Inc. will launch into the Japanese cosmetics market spearheaded by their new model Lee Byung Hun.
Missha made an exclusive contract with the Korean actor, to model for the cosmetic brand in Japan, and is planning to take their brand overseas.
The Lee – Able C&C relationship is already a year old, where Lee modeled for their the male cosmetics brand “Missha Homme Urban Soul.” Sales had increased not only domestically, but markedly so in foreign markets as well, due to the “Lee Byung Hun Effect.” The brand will once again build on Lee’s professional image to market Missha’s concepts in entering the Japanese market.
Japan’s TBS is airing the Korean blockbuster series IRIS, on public and satellite channels, starring Lee Byung Hun.
Source: JTN NEWS (Original article in Korean) Translated by Abe Jung / Korea.com
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Post time 12-7-2010 11:29 PM
CINE21 Cover no.764
