Jung Il Woo to Inaugurate Official Fanclub in Japan

Jung Il Woo will be founding an official fanclub in Japan with the help of Japan’s Hakuhodo Casting & Entertainment, an ad casting company owned by the country’s biggest PR firm, Hakuhodo DY Group.

Hakuhodo Casting & Entertainment will be looking over the general management of the fanclub as well as the support of Jung Il Woo’s activities in Japan.



The company boasts a broad infrastructure and much experience in marketing and systems in Japan, and using these resources, it aims to help Jung Il Woo by satisfying his fanclub with systematic management and services.

Jung Il Woo recently stepped up as a hallyu star in Greater China after becoming the first Korean actor to attend China’s Huading Awards, and has become big in Japan through Flower Boy Ramen Shop, which aired on TBS.

The actor plans to continue concentrating his efforts on promoting in Japan.

SHINee’s Minho Shines as a Gold Medalist

While he′s not participating in the 2012 London Olympics, SHINee’s Minho received a gold medal in SBS’ upcoming drama To the Beautiful You

On July 31, released photos showed Minho, who is acting as Kang Tae Jun in To the Beautiful You, winning the gold after participating in the high jump event at the Junior World Championships.




For the filming that took place, Minho endured the sweltering heat and continued to showcase impressive jumps and athletic ability for his character.

Known for his incredibly competitive side, Minho rejoiced as if it was a real event every time he jumped over the pole.

A drama staff member said, “Minho is currently living as Kang Tae Jun,” and added “He’s doing his best to perfectly portray the high-jump athlete that Tae Jung is. Please look forward to Minho as he dreams to become the best high jump athlete in this drama.

To the Beautiful You will premiere on SBS on August 15.

B2ST To Become Super Heroes in Comic Book Series

The B2ST members are about to become animated.

On August 22, a new comic series starring the group B2ST will be released.

Titled, The Beast, the comic book series will focus on the friendship and adventures of the B2ST members and will be written by famed comic book writer Kim Hye Jin as well as drama scenario writer Kim Hak Boon. The action-fantasy series will feature the B2ST members as superheroes with supernatural powers.




The first volume will be released on August 22 with a total of six volumes planned for the series. The comic book series is also planned to be released abroad as well, with future plans to also create an animation series and game.

Wonder Girls Represents South Korea in Billboard’s Musician ‘Olympics’

The Wonder Girls are representing South Korea in Billboard’s musician ‘Olympics’.

On July 30, Billboard released a gallery titled ’40 Countries Top Musicians’ and wrote, “With all eyes on the 2012 Olympics, we′re celebrating the artists that have made their home nations most proud by winning gold (records) and making a lasting, global impact on the music world.”

With stars like Justin Bieber representing Canada and Rihanna representing the U.S., the Wonder Girls was selected as the representative musician for South Korea.




The article wrote on the Wonder Girls saying, “Since hitting U.S. shores on tour with the Jonas Brothers in 2011, South Korea′s Wonder Girls have become one of the biggest international K-pop acts, with a range of singles and albums in Asia, and a studio album due out in the States later this year. They first appeared on the U.S. charts in Oct. 2009, when "Nobody" entered the Hot 100 at No. 76.”

Lee Jong Hyuk Surprised on ‘A Gentleman’s Dignity’ Set On His Birthday

Lee Jong Hyuk celebrated his birthday with the cast and crew of his drama.

To commemorate actor Lee Jong Hyuk’s birthday, the production crew of A Gentleman’s Dignity planned a surprise birthday party for the actor. With shooting going well into the night, as soon as the clock struck midnight, the crew members brought out a cake and wished the actor a happy birthday.




With two separate teams shooting for the drama in different locations, not all of the other cast and crew members were present but the actor received a flood of congratulatory text messages on his phone from the other team′s members.

Lee Jong Hyuk thanked the production members for their well wishes and shared, “The best present I received for this birthday was being with all of you guys from A Gentleman’s Dignity.”

T-ara’s Ham Eun Jung Image Dropped From Daewoo Securities’ Advertisements

As the T-ara-Hwa Young scandal continues to brew, member Ham Eun Jung is arguably dealing with the brunt of the issue.

With businesses continuing to monitor the T-ara situation and contemplating their current endorsings by T-ara and its members, Daewoo Securities has responded to the controversy by dropping Ham Eun Jung’s images from their promotions.

Ham Eun Jung’s promotional images were quietly removed from Daewoo Securities operations and the company plans to not shoot any more television commercials featuring the T-ara member.




On the company’s reason for the dropping of Ham Eun Jung, the company stated, “There are some not so good stories about T-ara and so we decided to change our advertisement image.”

The company however, does not plan to cancel the contract with Ham Eun Jung which is slated to end in September.

T-ara’s Largest Fan Site Announces Its Closure

T-ara’s largest fan site has announced its closure.

On July 30, T-ara’s largest fan site, T-ara dot com, announced on its homepage it would cease operations.

Titled, ‘T-ara Dot Com Will End Operations,” the fan site’s operator wrote, “Hello, this is the administrator. The fan site will cease operations. As it was my first time overseeing a fan site, there was a lot of things I lacked and I want to thank all the members for their hard work. If it is destined, I hope we will meet again. Thank you. Site operation closure date: August 15.”





T-ara Dot Com is T-ara’s largest fan site and has accumulated over four million views so far. According to the site’s members, the operator of the site experienced a huge shock from the T-ara controversy and began feeling growing pessimism over the situation.

The shut down date of the site, August 15, comes one day after T-ara’s originally scheduled comeback date of August 14.