G.na To Make Comeback On White Day

Solo singer G.na has been hinting at her comeback.

The sexy star released her first teaser photo, hooking fans' interest with her yet-to-be-released song "Oops". "Oops" will drop on March 14th or White Day, one of the most romantic days of the year.

In the photo, G.na can be seen with a short red hair-style. The overall theme seems to be red, being that she's also wearing red heels and a top with red hearts.

Cube Entertainment describes "Oops" as a song that fans will love for its beautiful tone and piano sound. The lyrics sing about a girl being in love with a younger man.

IU comes back with new KBS dram

The cast of "You’re the Best Lee Soon-shin" -- (from left to right) Lee Ji-hoon, IU, Kim Yun-seo and Cho Jung-seok, who play leading roles in the upcoming KBS drama pose for a photo call during a press conference in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap News)

Singer and actress IU poses for a photo call during a press conference for KBS’ new series "You’re the Best Lee Soon-shin" in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap News)

Actress Yoo In-na poses for a photo call during a press conference for KBS’ new series "You’re the Best Lee Soon-shin" in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap News)

Little Psy" To Make Official Music Debut

Hwang Min-woo made quite a splash after mimicking PSY in the viral music video for "Gangnam Style". Nicknamed the "Little Psy", Hwang has been busy making his rounds on various TV shows simply for having an uncanny resemblance and image to the singer.

However, now Hwang will be creating his own music! His agency Starzon Entertainment announced that Hwang will be releasing his first single "Show+Time" sometime this month. The song will be a dance track featuring electronic sounds and rapping.

The young talent shared that he hopes his song will receive love from Korea and beyond, similar to "Gangnam Style".

Hwang's showcase for his budding music career will be held at a wedding hall in Seoul on March 7th.

JYJ Makes Generous Donation As Ambassadors of KBEE 2012

The popular trio has once again displayed their generosity by donating a large sum to UNICEF.

The three were appointed as ambassadors for the Korea Brand & Entertainment Expo 2012 (or KBEE 2012), and have been doing a lot of good since then to use their fame for good. They've even recently received the Commendation of the Minister Award.

Member Jaejoong expressed that he hopes their donated profits will bring help to the underprivileged children.

Jaejoong will be representing all three members of JYJ at the UNICEF donation ceremony, set to take place on March 5th.

South Korea’s Newest YouTube Sensation: Singing Airmen

By Min Sun Lee

The movie version of “Les Miserables” is a huge in South Korea — and now so is a parody by some of the conscripts in the Korean Air Force.

The 13-minute movie, called “Les Militaribles,” was released Tuesday by the Media and Contents team of the Air Force and features a few dozen airmen and an amazing performance by the Air Force Band. In just two days, the video has racked up almost 300,000 hits on YouTube.

It opens with troops shoveling snow off a runway and singing “Dig down, dig down, raise your shovels high” in place of the “Look down, look down, don’t look them in the eye” that the slaves sing at the start of the musical version of Victor Hugo’s story.

Courtesy South Korea Air Force

A poster created by the Air Force for the parody of Les Miserables.

An airman named Jean Valjean, the same as the main character in Les Miserables, gets a visitor while shoveling. But his minder, a lieutenant named Javere, won’t allow Valjean extra time to meet with his girlfriend Cossette. Valjean is late for meeting and gets disciplinary punishment from Javere for being delayed in reporting back.

The video ends with the cast singing of the expectation for springtime, when the snow is gone.

“Do you hear the people sing? Say, do you hear the distant drums?” from the musical becomes “Do you hear the soldiers sing, singing the song of the fighter wing?”

And the triumphant final words “Tomorrow comes’ becomes “For spring will come!”

First Lt. Chung Da-hoon, director of the video, said, “When the movie Les Miserables became popular, we talked about it and, when there was series of heavy snows, we thought of connecting the two and making a video.”

He said the planning, writing, singing lessons and rehearsal took a month. The actually filming was done in three days.

Meanwhile, the movie “Les Miserables” through Sunday had grossed $39 million in the seven weeks it has been showing in South Korea, the biggest-selling movie of the moment, slightly ahead of the action thriller “The Tower,” which had grossed $35 million in five weeks, according to Box Office Mojo.com.

• Air Force, 
• South Korea culture, 
• South Korea military, 
• YouTube

Nation's Largest K-Pop Concert Hall to be Built in Seoul Suburb

Nation's Largest K-Pop Concert Hall to be Built in Seoul Suburb

The nation’s largest K-Pop concert hall will be constructed in the Seoul suburb of Goyang.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said on Friday that Hallyu World, a large-scale Korean pop culture entertainment facility in the region, has been selected as the site for “K-Pop Arena.”

K-Pop Arena, which will be completed by the end of 2016, will house a main concert hall with 18-thousand seats, a small concert hall with two-thousand seats, a pop music museum and other facilities. 

The ministry said site selection was based on scholars and experts’ evaluations on size, accessibility and economic feasibility.

Psy performs 'Gangnam Style' at Rio Carnival

Under a shower of confetti and with pulsating samba music, portly King Momo on Friday officially kicked off Rio's famed Carnival, a five-day fest that will climax in spectacular weekend parades of top samba schools.

Milton Rodrigues da Silva, the event's symbol of overweight excess, symbolically received a giant key to the city from Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes.

"The time has come to hand over my duties to magnificent King Momo so that the city may have fun under his rule," said Paes, wearing a white panama hat and a collar of blue flowers. "Let there be peace and joy."

"I declare the Rio Carnival open!" responded King Momo, who in real life is a 33-year-old bank teller.

He then hoisted the city key and wowed the crowd with a gracefully executed samba dance in spite of his 150 kilograms (330 pounds).

Flanked by his queen and two princesses, King Momo, resplendent in white suit and shoes, earlier arrived in a vintage Ford convertible at City Hall as a band played "Marvellous City," the official song of Rio.

"Long live the monarchy! Long live the king!," shouted members of his retinue, including a few elderly sambistas wearing their trademark lacquered shoes.

"King Momo represents the madness of the city he rules. Carnival means samba dancing and beer drinking galore, and of course lots of women. Without women, there is no carnival," said 80-year-old Anatalio Isidoro da Silva, a sprightly, lifelong sambista.

Last November, King Momo was crowned king for the fifth year in a row, pocketing $10,000.

His majesty, who says that he plans to keep his crown through 2016, has a punishing schedule.

He must hold court at private events, street parties, and most importantly at the sumptuous parades he will open at the Sambodrome -- the Samba parade ground designed by the late Oscar Niemeyer -- Sunday and Monday night.

The parades will feature Rio's top 12 samba schools competing on floats packed with dancers wearing huge headgear, feathers, sequins, body paint and little else.

Carnival is Brazil's most important festival and elaborate celebrations are staged across the country, including in cities like Sao Paulo, Salvador, Recife, Olinda, Manaus and Porto Alegre.

As is customary, Salvador -- Brazil's third largest city and the heart of the rich Afro-Brazilian culture -- led the way Thursday night, with hundreds of thousands of revelers pouring into the streets to dance and party.

On his arrival in the Bahia state capital, South Korea's "Gangnam Style" rapper Psy posted a picture of himself on Twitter with the message "Hello Salvador."

South Korean singer Psy smiles at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on February 9, 2013. (AFP)

He was due to perform later Friday with top Brazilian singers Claudia Leitte and Gilberto Gil at the start of the Salvador Carnival, which attracts two million annually and is often described as "the biggest street party in the world."

The Brazilian Carnival this year is paying a special tribute to Koreans to mark the 50th anniversary of their immigration to the country.

Samba schools in Rio and Sao Paulo will honor the contribution of the 50,000-strong Korean community has made to this vibrant and racially diverse country of 194 million people.

But not everybody was in a festive mood.

At Rio airport, feminist activists staged a topless protest against sexual tourism, chanting "Brazil is not a whorehouse" and "sex tourists go home" as tourists disembarked from a flight from Italy.

"We are protesting because during Carnival, sexual tourism goes up 30 percent," said 20-year-old Sara Winter, head of the Brazilian branch of Femen, a feminist movement founded in Ukraine in 2008 with the aim of combating machismo, sexual exploitation and sexual tourism.

Femen's Brazilian branch has 20 members, including eight in a newly-opened Rio office.

Authorities meanwhile said six million people, including more than 900,000 tourists, were expected to attend the five-day Rio extravaganza.

Some 12 elite samba schools are competing for the title of Rio Carnival champion in a dazzling contest watched with the same fervor as football matches in this soccer-mad nation.

One school will pay tribute to BossaNova composer Vinicius de Moraes, co-author of the classic hit "The Girl from Ipanema."

Korea’s first Buddhist rock band hits stage

The members of "Udumbara Band," the first Buddhist music band in Korea. (Yonhap)

“Udumbara Band” surprises many with its unique title as the first Korean Buddhist music band. 

Seven monks with musical talent passed an audition held last July and became members of Udumbara Band. They have been practicing for their debut since August 2012. 

Udumbara is a plant that flowers, according to Buddhist legend, once every 3,000 years. The band was named after this plant to celebrate the first Buddhist music band to be formed in Korean Buddhism’s long history.

The band is made up of qualified musicians. Ven. Hyejang, the band’s leader who came up with the idea for the group, has played music since he was a teenager. Saxophonist Ven. Daewon and contrabassist Ven. Jawoon majored in applied music in college. All members have been practicing their instruments for more than 20 years. 

Udumbara Band aims to actively communicate with Korean youth, who typically consider Buddhism an outdated religion. It plans to play various modern music genres, such as pop and jazz.

Udumbara Band will hold its inauguration ceremony in Daegu city in March. 

By Park Sui, Intern reporter

(suipark@heraldcorp.com)