Rain to be discharged from the military as scheduled on July 10

 In the midst of the investigation on celebrity soldiers, it has been revealed that Rain will be discharged as planned on July 10.

A Ministry of Defense rep stated, "Sergeant Jung is currently being reviewed as having committed no problematic acts that specific day. Sergeant Jung will be discharged as planned on the 10th."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense's investigation on the celebrity recruits, which was supposed to be completed on July 5, will take longer than expected with no new specified date as of yet.

So it seems we'll be seeing more of Rain, who recently signed with Cube Entertainment for his upcoming music activities, soon enough with his upcoming discharge taking place next week.

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YG Entertainment remains vague on the renewal status of Se7en's contract

 In light of the recent controversy surrounding celebrity soldiers, one of which includes Se7en, more attention is being shed on the status of the singer's contract with YG Entertainment.

As some fans may already know, Se7en's contract was actually said to have expired in April of 2013, a month or so after his enlistment. A music industry insider also confirmed, "Se7en has already finished his contract with YG Entertainment. He naturally ended his contract after the expiration of the contract term."

However, the singer is still looked upon as being part of the agency in the technical sense as his profile and artist listing is still up on the agency's homepage as well as in the singer's public profile.


With his enlistment, his contract renewal was left up in the air, most likely until he finished his service. However with the current situation, questions are being raised about if the contract will be renewed at all after this whole ordeal.

When contacted regarding the matter, most of the YG reps kept a firm silence on the issue, commenting, "We cannot say anything regarding this matter." However, there was one rep that spoke a bit more in length, saying, "Our contract with Se7en expired before his enlistment. Normally contracts end with enlistment, but we had delayed it until after he went into the military in Se7en's case. Realistically, Se7en is not part of YG since his enlistment." On the issue of renewing the contract, the same rep, like the others, kept things vague as he stated, "We'll have to see when it gets around to the time of his discharge."


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Vote for Your Favorite Dramas and Celebs to Win “Seoul International Drama Awards 2013”

Listen up, Soompiers! You’re in for a real treat!

Soompi is proud to present you the opportunity to vote for your favorite dramas and celebrities who are nominated to win an award at “Seoul International Drama Awards 2013” [henceforth, written as SDA 2013] right here. That’s right. Your vote will decide who will take home the crown in the respective categories and the competition looks pretty fierce with a lot of big names on the nomination list!

You’ll be able to vote from midnight (KST) on July 4 until July 31 for three categories: People’s Choice, Outstanding Korean Drama Prize and Outstanding Korean OST.

You can vote here!  http://www.soompi.com/seoul-international-drama-awards-2013/

People’s Choice

Some of the hottest stars representing Korea in this category are Lee Min Ho (“The Great Doctor”), Lee Jun Ki (“The Tale of Arang”) and Song Joong Ki (“The Innocent Man”). There are also nominees from China, Japan and Taiwan and a total of 166 actors have been nominated so if you have a favorite from any of the four countries, make sure to give them your full support!

Outstanding Korean Drama Prize

What dramas did you enjoy this year? Did you know that 70% of votes from Soompi along with 30% of votes from SDA Organizing Committee’s evaluation will decide on the winners? Don’t forget to cast your votes!

After a rigorous selection process which required exportation to more than fifteen countries or making more than $3 million through exports in the past year, a total of thirteen dramas have been selected to compete for the Drama category including “Big,” “The Gu Family Book,” and “That Winter, The Wind Blows.” Twelve actors and actresses have been nominated including Gong Yoo, Jo In Sung, Lee Min Jung, Suzy and Song Hye Gyo.

Outstanding Korean OST

For this category, you’ll be able to cast your vote through Daum’s music page. And like any other year, this year will be a close call with great songs that still linger in our minds. Some are anticipating close competition between JYJ’s Junsu’s “Love Is Like Snow” (“The Innocent Man”), Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon’s “And One” (“That Winter, The Wind Blows”) and Baek Ji Young’s “Spring Rain” (“The Gu Family Book”). But, who knows? Maybe there will be a different OST that will take home the prize.

All the winners for the three categories will be announced and honored at the awards ceremony live telecast via MBC TV on September 5.

Rally up your fandoms and get ready for a big showdown!

soompi

Who Are The Sexiest Idols? 'Dinosaur Face' Stars Top The List

Maybe it is just me, but recently it was suggested by a friend of mine that the sexiest men in the Korean entertainment industry are those with 'gong-ryong sang' or 'dinosaur faces.'
When I first heard this, I wasn't exactly sure what it meant, but after being given several examples, it makes total sense.
The below list of idols and actors are those whose appearances resemble dinosaurs, for lack of a better explanation.  While it is hard to describe what that means exactly, take a look at the images and see for yourselves.


And enjoy the eye-candy!

TOP (Big Bang)

Jonghyun (SHINee)

Donghae (Super Junior)

Yonghwa (CNBLUE)

Donghyun (Boyfriend)

Gong Yoo (actor)

Lee Min Ki (actor)

Kim Woo Bin (actor)

Makes sense, right?

kpopstarz

The Top Ten Most Viewed K-Pop MVs on YouTube for the First Half of 2013

No surprise here, PSY‘s “Gentleman” was the most globally viewed K-Pop music video for the first half of 2013. 
“Gentleman” was the highly anticipated follow up to the worldwide success that was “Gangnam Style.” It was the most watched video on the first day and reached over 100 thousand views in four days. The video currently has gathered 453 million views since it was released in April. 
The second most watched K-Pop video was actually from a sub group and not in Korean. Super Junior‘s mandarin subunit Super Junior-M promoted its song “Break Down” in the first week of the year and since then has received 13 million views. G-Dragon and Sistar19 are also sub unit groups (or solo) that made it to the this list with G-Dragon’s “Michi Go” as the fourth most watched and SISTAR19′s “Gone Not Around Any Longer” as the fifth.
4minute made their comeback in April and made it to 3rd with “What’s Your Name.” Along with Sistar19, they were the only two girl groups in the top ten. 
BoA costarred in the music video with SHINee‘s Taemin for “Disturbance,” getting in at number six. Taemin was also in two other top music music videos for SHINee’s “Dream Girl” (7th) and “Why So Serious?” (10th). 
The list also showed the power of rookie groups. B.A.P and EXO both debuted last year but managed to beat out more experienced artists with “One Shot” (8th) and “Wolf” (9th). 
This is only for the first half of 2013, but it’s hard to believe that any K-Pop video will be able to outdo “Gentleman.”
What was your favorite video among these ten? Vote below! 

ohkpop

The Top Ten Most Viewed K-Pop MVs on YouTube for the First Half of 2013

No surprise here, PSY‘s “Gentleman” was the most globally viewed K-Pop music video for the first half of 2013. 
“Gentleman” was the highly anticipated follow up to the worldwide success that was “Gangnam Style.” It was the most watched video on the first day and reached over 100 thousand views in four days. The video currently has gathered 453 million views since it was released in April. 
The second most watched K-Pop video was actually from a sub group and not in Korean. Super Junior‘s mandarin subunit Super Junior-M promoted its song “Break Down” in the first week of the year and since then has received 13 million views. G-Dragon and Sistar19 are also sub unit groups (or solo) that made it to the this list with G-Dragon’s “Michi Go” as the fourth most watched and SISTAR19′s “Gone Not Around Any Longer” as the fifth.
4minute made their comeback in April and made it to 3rd with “What’s Your Name.” Along with Sistar19, they were the only two girl groups in the top ten. 
BoA costarred in the music video with SHINee‘s Taemin for “Disturbance,” getting in at number six. Taemin was also in two other top music music videos for SHINee’s “Dream Girl” (7th) and “Why So Serious?” (10th). 
The list also showed the power of rookie groups. B.A.P and EXO both debuted last year but managed to beat out more experienced artists with “One Shot” (8th) and “Wolf” (9th). 
This is only for the first half of 2013, but it’s hard to believe that any K-Pop video will be able to outdo “Gentleman.”
What was your favorite video among these ten? Vote below! 

ohkpop

Girls' Generation members to sing the national anthem at Dodger Stadium for Dodgers vs. Reds game

 This time around, 3 members of Girls' Generation will grace Dodger Stadium for the LA Dodgers v. Cincinnati Reds game on the 28th.


Girls' Generation will sing the national anthem for the Korean players, Ryu Hyun Jin of the Dogders and Choo Shin Soo of the Reds, in honor of 'Korea Day' that both teams are commemorating. As this special event will be held for 'Korea Day', it's assumed that the girls will be singing the Korean national anthem.

SM Entertainment commented, "This was made possible due to an invitation from the Dodgers... All of the members won't be able to make it to the event due to their schedules so about 3 members will go."

Tiffany previously threw the first pitch at Dodger Stadium this past May so fans are anticipating to see which members will be making their way over to the States this time.

allkpop

Noh Min Woo and Girl's Day's Minah get close during the 'Holly' VIP premiere

 Noh Min Woo and Girl's Day's Minah sidled up close for a selca!

The photo was taken at the VIP premiere of Minah's movie 'Holly', which was held at the Seoul Konkuk University Lotte Cinema on the 2nd. Noh Min Woo has his arm wrapped around Minah's shoulders to bring her in close, and a lot of DAI5SYs are noting his bad "manner hands."

'Holly' portrays the inspiring story of a single mother (Shin Yi) who works as a dancer at a club in a military base camp and tries to steer her daughter away from her lifestyle. Her daughter, Wan Yi (Minah), who grew up getting teased and bullied, discovers her talent as a ballerina. Wan Yi meets the international ballerina Soo Jin (Jung Ae Yeon) by chance and goes on a journey to fulfill her dream.


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