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B.A.P’s Schedule Since 2012

December 17, 2014 | 3644 Visits

B.A.P’s Schedule Since 2012

By Vocal & Visual & TIVOLI

April 01 2014 – Oct 30 2014

Members flew directly from US to Europe and finished one music video making without rest.

Planned Schedule: (Though schedule has been officially canceled by TS, the refunding of both tours has not finished till today.)

 

January 01 2014 – March 30 2014

 

Jan 01 2013 – Dec 31 2013

Jan 01 2012 – Dec 31 2012

— Joelle Halon.

On December 5, 2014, TS Entertainment finally released an official response regarding the lawsuit B.A.P filed against them for “slave contracts.” The statement released by TS states how they tried to contact B.A.P members and their families and discussed money issues, but completely ignored the main element of B.A.P’s lawsuit regarding their human rights.

 

TS Entertainment’s Statement

Hello, this is TS Entertainment.

First we would like to apologize for worrying those who have been watching us with care. We bow to you in apology.

TS Entertainment, since its launch in 2008, has produced groups such as Untouchable, Secret, and B.A.P and is nearing the launch of a new group as well. As K-Pop became an international phenomenon and proudly set in its foundations, we have made it our goal to introduce our artists to the world and grow alongside the rapidly growing [Hallyu] culture.

B.A.P was the first boy band we produced and our cherished project. We invested so much into the group that, investment-wise, we would not be lacking when compared to other companies. Thankfully, all six members were all hard working and talented. Also, because they worked so hard, B.A.P became a notable K-Pop group that has twice successfully gone on world tours.

In October, while we were working hard hand-in-hand, the members notified us through their chief manager that they wanted to take a break. We decided to respect their request and canceled their South American and Japanese tours to give them a long period of break. The members went back and forth from their dorm to their families and sometimes even outside of the country to regain their strength. While doing so, they kept in contact with the company. Recently, we had confirmed that they would agree to restart their activities starting with awards in January and began planning schedules for next year. This was in progress when we ran into a report on November 27th about the lawsuit filed against us.

Even on the day that the lawsuit was passed, we talked to the members like any other ordinary day, so it was even a huge shock to us on the 27th. We tried to contact the members through their chief manager but could not reach them. We then tried to contact their parents and then from those we were able to contact, we were able to confirm that the lawsuit was indeed real and the parents requested for us to them “talk through the lawyers.” We have been waiting for the official accusation statement to arrive in order to truly be able to grasp the situation.

Meanwhile, through a number of media sources, we witnessed many accusations grow against us. This caused us to be suspicious because B.A.P had passed their BEP (Break Even Point) and was on the verge of making steep profits, the gravity of the situation increased. Finally, we were able to gain credible news from certain sources that there is a party behind this who is trying to create an air of hostility between B.A.P and us in order to recruit them easily.

We plan to find this party and as soon as we are able. We will make sure they pay for not only playing against the rules of this business but defacing the K-Pop industry as a whole.

In truth, we still not have received an official statement of accusation because there was a mix-up in the stamping of the document, so the court has ordered it to be fixed. Although we have not yet received the official document, the company has requested to view the contents and wants to answer the topics of controversy at the moment.

Controversy 1) $10 million USD ->$ 17,800 USD

B.A.P reached their BEP at their two year mark. The payout for the second half of 2014 is expected to be $285,000 USD. But, if things had gone according to schedule, the expected payout would be approximately $600,000 USD.

The investment in B.A.P started when they were trainees and bigger investments started in late 2011 when Bang Yong Guk debuted with “I Remember” and when the unit BANG&ZELO, with the song “Never Give Up,” was created. As you can see from the chart above, up until 2013, the investment costs were bigger than the profit. This is because we prioritized “the invasion of the globe through music,” that is, the dream of B.A.P and the goal of TS Entertainment. Thus, we continued to invest, risking losses, and in the end, we were able to turn B.A.P into a solid next generation K-Pop artist. Additionally, it is a very impressive feat to pass their BEP in just 2 years in this industry.

As can be seen in the charts above, after the BEP was reached, the profit grew at a phenomenal rate. Even looking at late 2014 (July to December), if we had stayed on schedule with the South American and Japanese tours, we were expecting a total of $600,000 USD for the group. However, due to cancellation of the schedules, we expect the payout to be around $285,000 USD.

We had estimated, depending on the amount of activities in 2015, that the payout for early 2015 would have reached $1.8 million USD.

Controversy 2) 1:9 Profit Ratio

BAP 2

The expected average profit share through the contract was a ratio of 4(B.A.P):6(TS).

Before we discuss this, we would like to reveal how we calculate the settlements. We process the turnout every six months through this method. First we deduct the cost from the total sales from B.A.P and then we take the profit and categorize it into channels and venues through which the sales were made, before distributing the profits.

The reason we deduct costs from total sales is because there are things that are hard to classify, such as specific types of cost like as dorms, transportation, food, lessons, exercise, massages, hospital bills, T-Money, etc.

The reason the distribution for events and performance is a ratio of 5:5 and the distribution for album/audio files/merchandise is a ratio of 1:9 is because the former costs less in production than the latter. Also, the latter requires us to pay our employees after distribution, as well as pay for the venues of concerts and events, and we usually include the cost of labor in the production cost itself.

In early 2014, we focused more on albums, concerts, and music files because we wanted to increase B.AP’s prominence. Through everyone’s hard work, we successfully finished two world tours and we were shifting our focus onto activities that would turn the average distribution of profits to a ratio of 4(B.A.P):6(TS).

Controversy 3) Slave Contract?

Our contract is standard with the FTC (Fair Trade Commission) and has additional, simple elaborations in some parts of the contract.

All the facts mentioned through one media source are based on the “standard contract” according to the Fair Trade Commission and elaborates on certain parts.

On the issue of the length of the contract, according to the “standard contract,” it says if there are instances where “long overseas activities or contracts with overseas agencies” or other reasons that require contracts to be longer, one can extend the length of the contract through a written agreement.

When they signed their contracts, we set the length as “7 years from the release of an album (single, group, digital or official)” and the members each signed in March, June, or September of 2011. Since some members, such as Zelo and Yong Guk began activities earlier, the members all have different termination dates.

Controversy 4) Issue of Trust

Issue of communication [with family members]

Last July, even after the payout was completed, the B.A.P members had no problems and continued their schedules. But after mid-September they started acting odd. They disappeared and showed emotional fits to where their scheduled activities suffered. However, we apologized to the broadcasting people countless times in order to protect the members.

Since the B.A.P members showed no outward signs of dissatisfaction and continued to live in their dorm, visit the hospital and share meals together, we believed that they were preparing for their comeback and waited until they were ready. As we stated before, we were planning on a comeback in January when we heard this surprising news.

Then, we gained information from their management team and executive members of the company and tried to think of a solution for the emotional stress they were receiving. When they requested that they “wanted to rest,” we respected that and since October 13th, we agreed to “minimize official schedules” and canceled the South American and Japanese tours so that they could get enough rest until the end of the year.

These are our official responses to the controversy that is prevalent at the moment and we plan to reveal everything and prove the truth in front of the court, one by one. We can say with confidence that TS Entertainment did not break any laws and that we have never treated B.A.P wrongly or forced them into anything.

Our company policy is “Honesty, Hard work and Humility.” Perhaps our wish to create a better, more comfortable environment where their talents to be improved was communicated incorrectly. If we failed to recognize that we were hurting the members’ hearts, it is also our fault and the result of our inexperience.

Finally, TS Entertainment would like to talk to the members of B.A.P and discuss the goals we had talked about when they debuted and wish they would harden their resolves again. However, if they continue to disregard our attempts at communication, we will do as they wish and find the best way to solve this problem in court.

We would like to once again apologize to everyone we have worried with this incident and promise we will do our best to reach an amicable settlement on the issue. (Trans. Cr.: Koreaboo and Mae L., Purdue University)

B.A.P’s Side Responds, Dispatch Reveals More into B.A.P’s Situation

Soon after the release of TS Entertainment’s statement, people on B.A.P’s side fired back, including HAK Ssem, Daehyun’s former vocal coach, and Zelo’s brother[1].

[1] Zelo’s brother remains mostly anonymous, so out of respect for him, he is not named in the article.

BAP 3

On December 5, 2014, HAK Ssem took to Twitter like he did after TS’ initial statement to refute TS’ claims. In his tweets, HAK Ssem said:

You guys are seriously trying to hide the sky with your palms. After looking at your graphs, I have no words. Your expenses keep increasing? Did you raise the song prices, did you raise the ticket prices, did you raise the CD prices? Why are your expenses increasing? If you set a standard amount, would there be that much of a differences in expenses from their debut days? I guess the rest was your paycheck *patooie.*

I’m working right now so I don’t have time but I’ll make a post to organize everything! I don’t believe in the account books you guys made. I’ll believe in your tax invoices, your transaction deals, and the account books from the companies you had contracts with. And you wish you were the force. The fans who believe and cheer for them are the true force.

I’m angry so I may not be making much sense but please understand. Anyways, everyone don’t be scared and be strong! (Trans. Cr.: Nicole @baptrans)

[1] Zelo’s brother remains mostly anonymous, so out of respect for him, he is not named in the article.

 

Following TS Entertainment’s statement, Dispatch provided a further breakdown of TS’ claims against B.A.P members, and even pointed out some discrepancies.  The article included information regarding their grueling schedules (sidebar, right), concerns regarding their health, and how B.A.P does not care about the money per se, but more about accurate paperwork and fair treatment in regards to their human rights. Within the article, B.A.P’s representation hinted the members may look into a defamation case as well because of TS’ claims that a “force” is behind their decision to file suit.

BAP 4

Even Zelo’s notoriously anonymous brother came out of hiding to create a Facebook page and weigh in on the situation, revealing further some of the treatment B.A.P experienced. He wrote:

Spread the word please. I would like to speak about TS’s official statement on B.A.P’s lawsuit as an older brother of one of the members. We gave the artists a break in order to protect them? They threatened 3 of the members when they were barely conscious from exhaustion and forced them to carry on with their schedules by giving them IV lines. Only when the parents begged did they give them a break using the word indefinite hiatus. If anything you say is true, show us proof TS and don’t block out Naver real time search rankings.

Zelo’s brother suggests that TS has been working on blocking searches regarding B.A.P and the lawsuit on Korean fan sites. In the days following B.A.P’s lawsuit announcement, several fans and fan clubs came together to overwhelm Twitter, Daum, and Naver with #JusticeforBAP and other search terms related to B.A.P as a sign of support for B.A.P, but many noticed that ranking numbers quickly dwindled during the designated search hours indicating someone may have been resetting search ranks. If this is true, it did not stop fans from trying.

“Where are You? What are You Doing?”

Since the lawsuit announcement, B.A.P members have remained scarce which many feel may be due to orders from attorneys. Crucial Star, however, has posted pictures and video featuring him and Yongguk  in Prague, while friends of Zelo and Daehyun have shared selcas of both boys appearing looser and more relaxed. While a lawsuit is stressful, fans are taking comfort in knowing B.A.P members are engaging in normal, everyday activities.

On the fan side, many fan clubs have opted to go on semi-hiatus but remain vigilant in keeping up with the news. Whenever news breaks, Babyz will be on it and keeping the rest of the K-Pop world abreast.

 

— Joelle Halon.

Top 5 Korean Hobbies

Koreans enjoy a lot of things Americans are into. There is not much of a difference besides maybe one or two things. Koreans love to exercise, eat, and watch TV, just like anyone else in other countries. Out of these five lists, you probably aren’t familiar with the last two. Especially number four, because I don’t think there are any countries with a place called ‘PC Room’ where you can just go in and play a bunch of games with people around your age and order food and drinks while you’re there.

#1 Addicted to Smartphones. This is one of the main hobbies of a typical Korean person. They’re on their smart phones 24/7. I’m pretty sure people in other countries are like this too, but maybe not as much. Koreans seem to be a little too addicted to their cell phones. They can’t go a day without them and if you see people walking on the streets, the majority of the young people will be on their phones while walking. Nowadays everyone carries smartphones. You can literally do anything you want from such a small device. When you go to places like shopping malls, restaurants, or even ride the subway or a bus, you will notice that everyone’s head is down, including the older adults.

 Addicted to Smartphones

#2 Eating. They don’t just eat anything that pops into their head, but Koreans like to research for places to eat. Food is a very important part of their culture, so they spend their time on eating food at famous restaurants. If a celebrity on variety shows eats something, most people will want to try it. Instead of forgetting about what they saw on TV, they do a search about the place immediately and if it seems good, you can expect them to go to that restaurant within a month.

 Eating

#3 Health. Spending time on your healthy body is also important. Instead of going on a run in the neighborhood, people go to the gym to work out. The gym is a big center where it’s not only for workouts. It has swimming lessons, dance lessons, yoga, and can have many more things to participate in such as a sauna, hot tub, and a bike spinning.  If you become a member with one of these, you have the permission to use all the systems.

 Health

#4 PC Room. This is mainly for the guys. There’s a place called PC Room and at this place, it has hundreds of computers that you can use to play games, study, or whatever you want for a small amount of money. The place even serves food and drinks and a lot of young teens hang-out there. Most of them go to play games and to have fun from outside of school. Parents don’t let their kids play games on the computer, because they think it’s wasting time. Young adults go to PC Rooms so that their parents won’t find out about them playing games.  Therefore, PC Rooms are pretty much the only place they can rely on.

 PC Room

#5 TV.  TV plays a huge role in an average Korean home. Every night, the family likes to watch drama or variety shows together after having dinner. The shows usually start at night, so it’s a great bonding time with the family. If the family has children who are in middle school, up to high school, they usually don’t have the time to watch it together as a family, because the students are always busy with schoolwork and studying. It’s very common for Koreans to interact with neighbors in their apartments.  And, they like to invite each other to watch TV together while eating some snacks.

 TV

— Juyeon Oh

December is here, and that means the holidays are just days away! Throughout the year, the Asian music scene brings listeners’ bubbly sounds and memorable pop and rock hits, but what about during the holidays and winter months? Asian artists do provide fans with plenty of winter cheer and have had plenty of songs to create an entire winter playlist. As you prepare for the holidays, here are some essentials to add to your holiday playlist!

Ailee “My Grown Up Christmas List”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha3RwFjOg7Q

Ailee’s usually powerful vocals soften considerably for a song wishing for hope and peace. The tune provides a lot of calm and may cause a listener to reflect a bit on what he or she desires in life. While it is a Christmas song, it has a message in it for all people, not just those who celebrate Christmas.

AlphaBAT “Surprise Party”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky6c0EPi0ig

AlphaBAT showcase their sweet side in this upbeat, cute song. Listeners may find themselves bobbing along to the beat, and they may also be soothed by AlphaBAT’s harmonies. “Surprise Party” shows a different side of AlphaBAT because the vocals show their potential. Plus, the song is outside the traditional Christmas music many may be used to hearing by now.

Ariel Rivera “Sana Ngayong Pasko” (“I Hope This Christmas”)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLl7BtV0FJ4

The Philippines also have amazing artists, and they have many meaningful Christmas songs to boot! “Sana Ngayong Pasko” is a sad Christmas tune about wishing for someone who is no longer around. While it is sad, Ariel Rivera provides a lot of heart to make the song memorable.

BoA “Meri Kuri”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JLL2kwP6go

In BoA’s heyday, she had a mix of songs that listeners can dance to, and she had many that could touch the soul. “Meri Kuri” has BoA’s signature sweetness, and when a listener closes her eyes, the song can transport her to a lively snow globe of glitter and childlike wonder.

EXO “Miracles in December”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVLxRXoLaas

If any song shows off EXO’s abilities as a group, it’s “Miracles in December.” The live stages on the music shows last winter provided chills due to the beautifully haunting lyrics and sound. The song has melancholy tones, so be prepared to tear up at certain points.

EXO-M “The First Snow”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dByRcitne6Q

As a friend from China once said, it’s hard to come by Christmas songs in China, let alone full Christmas albums. EXO-M released their Christmas album in 2013 which made fans happy. “The First Snow” captivated many with its upbeat sound, making it a great tune to hear with a loved one.

Foxxi MisQ “Last Christmas”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1zArY7in1A

This version of last Christmas is a fun update to the Wham! version. It incorporates elements of the classic song with a mashup that makes Foxxi MisQ’s an interesting addition to any Christmas list.

Gackt “December Love”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9-3PAZlGhI

Gackt is known amongst many Otaku fans for his unusual voice. His take on Christmas music involves a sad song about longing for lost love. In many Asian countries, Christmas is a time for couples, so if you’re alone at Christmas, “December Love” may speak to you.

J-Rabbit “O Holy Night”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FzAajvx6l8

J-Rabbit’s “O Holy Night” lacks the power many other versions have, but her softness makes the song more peaceful: It’s like fresh Christmas snow glittering across an open field! Her English pronunciation is clear, but it also makes her version the cutest version of “O Holy Night.” Her Merry Christmas from J-Rabbit album also comes highly recommended!

Karashima Midori “Silent Eve”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edv3pdlO5wg

Released in 1990, “Silent Eve” stands the test of the time. Midori’s voice has a haunting quality that sticks with a listener. “Silent Eve” just proves that a lot of older Asian pop music ages like fine wine.

Lea Lin “Silent Night”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEmNWscxgPM

This isn’t a Chinese remake of the original “Silent Night.” Christmas is a holiday for lovers in China, and Lea dedicates this song to all the singles out there. Here’s to finding love on Christmas!

Masaharu Fukuyama “Heart of Xmas” and “Kissin’ in the Holy Night”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aITKBfyCk2c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVfecMXGDGA

Both songs came out in the mid-1990s, but they still maintain their relevancy today since many young people recommend them for the holiday season. Masaharu Fukuyama’s peaceful instrumentals to both songs help create the mood for these songs. Slow dance with a lover or decorate your tree to these classics!

Michael Wong “Christmas in the Year 2999”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AylzBycr5WQ

Continuing with “Christmas is for lovers,” Michael Wong’s song covers how love can stand the test of time if it’s meant to be. The upbeat song with sweet lyrics will be played over-and-over again.

Mika Nakashima “Yuki No Hana”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C9jGsbcGqg

“Snow Flower” is one of Mika Nakashima’s most memorable songs and one that often comes up as one of her greatest performances. Her emotion helps paint a warm picture of winter even in the coldest of months.

Mỹ Huyền “Hang Belem”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=degtctxzDM4

Vietnamese singer Mỹ Huyền’s “Manger in Bethlehem” may bring tears to a listener’s eyes, especially around the 55 second mark and at 1:55 where the choir joins in and Huyền works her way up the musical scale. No matter the language, the beauty of Christmas shines.

Park Ji Yoon “Snow Flower”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3jsM4N7xHY

Park Ji Yoon’s take on the Japanese classic has a nice husky sound, and her voice adds another layer to this well-known Japanese song.

Sarah Geronimo “Pasko Na Sinta Ko”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0DEmbxMjCY

Sarah’s voice always sounds angelic no matter what language she sings. “Pasko Na Sinta Ko” possesses her signature grace and beauty, making it a memorable song that touches the heart.

Tatsuro Yamashita “Christmas Eve”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deSgKSbkPRI

It’s hard to believe this song is 30 years old and 2014 is the first time it’s seen an MV! From 1988 to 1992, “Christmas Eve” appeared in Japanese railway commercials to celebrate couples on Christmas. Yamashita’s voice adds to the adorable appeal of the song.

Verni Gonzales “Pasko Anong Saya”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt9lRu76Jbo

Verni Gonzales’ “Pasko Anong Saya” just brims with happiness. Although it’s from the Philippines, the song pairs well with Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” to create a truly joyful affair!

Of course, this list contains only a handful of holiday songs from Asian artists. What are some of your favorites? Share with us on the comments, and be sure to check out our growing playlist of Christmas songs here!

—- Joelle Halon

Korea’s coffee industry is growing rapidly each day. The market has been incredibly high for the past few years. It’s no longer about business people drinking coffee in the morning from lack of sleep; now everyone, including students enjoy coffee. Now that there are varieties of flavors, more young people are gaining interest and so are the older people. The age varies from about 15 to 60 and coffee is one of the most purchased drink people buy besides water. Now that it’s winter, the number of people who buy coffee is increasing even more. Nothing is better than a nice warm cup of coffee in this kind of weather right? The following brands are the highest rated in South Korea and most of them are known around the world.

 

Caffebene is the largest coffee brand in Korea. It first opened in 2008, and the chain has grown to more than 800 locations and is widely shared throughout South Korea, the United States, China, and more. This place has the highest rating for coffee in Korea. Being such a big chain in different countries, this is the brand most people have heard about. It might not be as popular as Starbucks and other famous coffee shops, but many coffee enthusiasts sure know it.

 

Cafeebene

 

Hollys Coffee is also a big coffee brand. They plan to open 22 shops overseas in Asia and Middle East. After signing an agreement with a Saudi Arabia based company, they opened shops in Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. They also opened in Shenzhen, China and will be opening in Beijing. Hollys Coffee does have a few U.S. locations.

 

Hollys Coffee 1024x768

 

Angel-In-Us is one of the expanding brands in Asia. It is very popular especially among Koreans and Chinese. It first opened in China in 2008 and it currently has shops in China, Vietnam and Indonesia.

 

Angel In Us

 

Ediya opened just outside of Seoul and plans to expand more in the local cities. Because of much success, the company plans to launch around end of this month or next year. This company is focusing more towards expanding in Korea before anywhere else. They want to gain enough local support before they expand, so they’ll receive more attention later on.

 

Ediya 1024x769

 

Tom N Toms also focuses more on expanding the company in Korea. They are focusing on major cities and the chain plans to get bigger throughout the nation. Before moving on to other countries, their current focus is in Daejeon, Daegu, and Gangwon.

 

Tom N Toms

 

Starbucks is not only popular here in the United States, but it’s also popular in Korea. A lot of people purchase it for the famous name of the company but others buy it for the great taste. Because it’s such a widespread company, it is popular in every other country as well.

 

Starbucks Korea

 

Some years back when coffee wasn’t so popular, drinking tea or soda used to be one of the favorite drinks in Korea but now, more than half of the population would rather drink coffee over any other drinks. Right now, many students and young adults work in coffee shops, because they love coffee so much that they want to learn how to make the best coffee in the world and because it’s fun to make cool designs with cream. Coffee shops are one of the top places young people want to work.

Today, almost all buildings in Seoul, Korea have a coffee shop filled with people and the place is full throughout the entire day, even at night. This really shows how much the coffee industry has expanded in the last couple of years and it just continues to grow.

What would we do without all our beloved coffee?

 

— Juyeon Oh

He Jie (also known as Angel He) is a chinese mandopop singer, who became famous after the singing competition Super Girl, in 2005, placing in the 4th place. He Jie is signed under the record label, Huayei Media.  As of right now, the singer has a total of five studio-albuns, one EP and a few singles.

Due to her interest in music, she auditioned for the Super Girl show, which is one of the most viewed music shows in China.  After the TV show, He Jie released the cover album, ”Hands”, in September 2005, which contained mainly her own redenditions of old famous chinese hits.   In the spring of 2006, the singer released her first single, ”You Must Be Happy”.   She then released her first major label studio-album, ”Luminary”, in August of the same year, which was launched under the record label, EE Media. The CD included 11 original tracks except ”You Must Be Happy”.

After a label change, He Jie dropped, one year later, her second single, ”Flower’s Blossom”, in January 2007, through Avex Tawain.  A sophomore album followed after, ”Cleary Not An ANGEL” was out in November of the same year.  Just like her debut studio-album, her second one also featured 11 songs, including her duet cover with Wei Chen of the hit, ”Boys”, from the Italian singer/songwriter Sabrina Salerno. The album sold considerable well.

After three long years without activities in her country, He Jie made a comeback with her brand new CD, ”Want To Go Back He Jie”, in September 2010.  The album was promoted by the single, ”KO ME”, which was released in the summer of that year.  For this album, the singer changed her record label again, she was now signed under Huayei Media, which is still releasing her work still today.  One year after, she dropped her first EP, ”Lack of Love”, in October.  The EP was introduced by the single, ”How I Miss You”, which was out in July of that year.

Her lastest album was called ”Brave Love” and could be bought in stores from November of 2012. The album contained 10 new tracks for fans to enjoy.  Unfortunatly, there are no proper confirmations of a comeback by the singer right now.

He Jie2

On November 26, 2014, X-Sports News reported all six members of B.A.P filed a lawsuit against TS Entertainment. Many fans and the media were surprised, but the news was not shocking. Since May 2014, there were rumors B.A.P were working on a lawsuit after Segye Ilbo leaked clues in a vague post circulated among K-Netz and I-Netz on various social media platforms like Naver and Tumblr. These rumors were quickly dismissed as many fans felt TS Entertainment treated the group well.

Or so they thought.

Daehyun explains Himchan’s absence during a concert on Twitter/BAPTrans on Tumblr

BAP 2

As months went by and nothing came from the rumors, fans forgot it, but many noticed how the members’ health seemed to deteriorate: Daehyun grew increasingly more depressed; Yongguk’s weight fluctuated; and Himchan appeared more exhausted in August and September, even missing a performance for “personal reasons.”
Fans shared their concern with the boys on social media asking if they were okay. When Daehyun was down, fans even came together to create a day of positive messages just for him to show their love and support. No one knew what was wrong until the suit was filed at the Seoul Western District Court.

What We Know

B.A.P filed the suit against TS Entertainment to have what they deem as “slave contracts” nullified. They signed the contracts in March 2011 for seven years, but the contracts did not kick in until they debuted with “Warrior.” Contract length then became seven years and ten months. With this, B.A.P states their contracts go against what the Fair Trade Commission considers fair.

BAP 3

Dispatch shared information regarding contract terms a day after the lawsuit announcement. Some contract issues include:

Daehyun’s former vocal coach, HAK ssem, tweeted his support for B.A.P’s lawsuit November 27 and 29, further outlining B.A.P’s living conditions and some of what B.A.P went through since their debut. He tweeted:
I am tweeting in a really long time. Although this is coming from a third-party perspective, I think that what the 6 members probably need most right now is the fans’ strength. They must have gone through a really tough time and I hope that you stick with them until the end. Gain strength!

All of this content is what I certainly heard from keeping in touch with the members and their parents. I was also patient up until now and because I couldn’t just sit back and watch, I am posting this. To the fans that care about BAP like me, please trust and support them until the end.

First, Dispatch reports most of the information correctly, and throughout their promotions, I didn’t say a word to not cause damage to the team, but now I have to speak up. They [B.A.P] didn’t even request a financial statement last year, but only asked that the details of the financial statement be shown to them. Even then, it was not properly shown to them. The company only handed out the sum table and told them to only read it then so how can the parents look at that and accept it? They saw that the financial statement came out in the red without any proper explanation. So, of course from the parents’ perspective, it is a situation which cannot be understood.

They received an official break for the first time this year. Before that, all they did was get 1 or 2 days about 2 times when they were let out of the agency by the head of department and manager. What is really a shame about that official break itself is that when it was all about to fall apart with a clash with the parents this year, the agency stopped taking proper care of them to the point that one can only think that the company was trying to get them to slip up so that it would be advantageous to them if a lawsuit were to occur and waiting for them to get involved in a mishap that would be a violation of the kids’ contract by canceling their schedules and quickly grabbing [schedules] again… The same people who kept a close eye on them even when they were going to the convenience store in front of the agency headquarters sure have gotten nicer [sarcasm implied].

Even if they contact people through KakaoTalk or FaceTime on their iPads, just in case they might get caught during a device inspection, they would always delete their entries. They are kids who’ve memorized their friends, teachers, and parents’ numbers.

The company didn’t allow them to meet up with their parents at first, but later when they were in a meeting with the CEO, the CEO cursed out and yelled. But isn’t it only natural that the parents, who trusted the CEO and put their kids under his care, would be worried if the CEO is acting like that to their kids who they can’t see often?
For 3 years, the agency took away their cellphones to sever ties with the outside world. Even when they came to their hometowns for a fan meeting, they weren’t allowed to see their parents for more than 10 minutes even when it was obvious that they didn’t have any other schedules. But still, they wouldn’t allow them to see their parents who came from far away. And without not even one official break, they lived under the manager’s control.

The agency pressured the kid, who went to a hospital to receive treatment due to physical and mental exhaustion, to carry out his schedule. He [Daehyun] told me and his parents that the manager would coerce him, saying that if he runs away to his parents, they’ll file a damage suit. I read that the parents covered the hospital fees in an article. Not only did the parents cover the hospital fees, but since they don’t have an income, all of the expenses involving their personal things from their trainee period up until now were covered by the parents’ cards. Even when the parents said let’s talk to the agency multiple times, the members said to trust them and that they only need to work hard in doing music and stopped their parents, never complaining once and consistently carrying out their activities.

I don’t care if this post that I wrote gets moved to somewhere else. I actually wish that this spreads so that many people may know. I am determined to fight for and alongside Daehyun.

I can’t get in contact with the members currently, but I showed this to their parents first and posted it after receiving their permission,” and “Also, I did not post this lightheartedly. (Trans. Cr. Nicole at BAPTrans and Mae L., Purdue University)

Many in the media have reported the lawsuit has been in the works since May 2014 when B.A.P asked to see more information regarding their finances. Some outlets suggest they have evidence that the suit was in the works since 2013 when they initially asked to see reports of their finances. These reports also suggest TS Entertainment knew B.A.P planned on filing a lawsuit, which is what led to some compensation in July. However, in an official statement released to Newsen by TS November 27, 2014, the company suggests they were none the wiser and heard about the suit through the media:

Hello, this is TS Entertainment.
We are here to deliver our official position regarding B.A.P’s contract nullification lawsuit that has been reported this afternoon.

All this while, TS Entertainment has tried our best to support the various activities of our artist B.A.P and strived to meet our mutual goals. And like we revealed back on October 28, all their schedules had been cancelled to give them rest as we had made the protection of our artist our priority out of mutual consideration and trust.

And while in the midst of in talks about their future activities, we learned of the sudden lawsuit through news articles.

Currently TS Entertainment is in the process of trying to figure out the details and the truth of the matter. However, we wanted to make clear that there is no such thing as a ‘slave contract’ or ‘unfair contract conditions’ in our contracts, and we have never given them unfair, one-sided treatment.

We will take steps to confirm the matter regarding this lawsuit, and respond in an official manner.

We once again convey our sorry hearts for causing concern to all who love TS Entertainment and its artists.

Thank you. (Trans. Cr. AKP)

At the time of this writing, TS Entertainment reps have not been able to make contact with B.A.P members. On social media, B.A.P unfollowed everyone but the other members, signaling that they are cutting themselves off from TS Entertainment.

Social Media Hints

BAP 4BAP 5

While B.A.P toured for Live on Earth 2014 and for various music shows and festivals, they, for the most part, managed to remain professional and cheerful for the fans. Many fans hadn’t a clue of what was happening. However, B.A.P did leave hints along the way on their various social media accounts from cryptic, now-deleted tweets from Daehyun wishing he could return home, to Yongguk using art to speak for him.

BAP 6

Since news came out about the lawsuit, K-Babyz and I-Babyz have been scouring social media to see how they missed the now seemingly obvious clues indicating trouble.

Yongguk’s Instagram not only shows off his love for art, but fans now realize it may be a source of cryptic messages as indicated but some of the images over the past few months./via Bangstergram

Yongguk’s Twitter and Instagram pages seem to provide the biggest clues to issues. Starting in April 2014, seemingly darker art pieces appeared on his accounts starting with an emaciated child sitting in front of a faucet with someone clamping a hose, to an image of a boss yelling at his workers while a leader is below helping in a September post. Looking back, many felt it was Yongguk expressing his love for art, but now many fans have stated the depressing tone of many of the images now “make sense.”

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Daehyun’s Twitter had some quickly deleted posts in September around the time fans noticed how depressed he looked. One post that caught fans’ attention quickly went viral within the fandom as Babyz sent well wishes his direction, prompting him to repost a fan’s drawing depicting him leaning on a girl representing the fandom.

So What Does the Lawsuit Mean?

According to Dispatch, B.A.P wants fair compensation for three years of work. Nullifying their contract would mean they would be free to go to another company. Since the initial lawsuit announcement, little else has been released in terms of how that will be approached, and TS Entertainment has yet to release an official statement after they notified the media they found out about the suit through media reports. TS said they would have a response in about a week.

Sadly, fans can expect another drawn out case much like prior contract disputes and issues with other artists; this means B.A.P will float in limbo awhile.

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Is B.A.P Breaking Up?

No, the lawsuit does not mean B.A.P will break up. The members, especially Yongguk, have left clues along the way that they’re in this suit together. Not too long ago, Yongguk posted two images featuring all six members with a caption that said “6,” so fans can rest easy for now.

Another reassuring tidbit is the group waited to file the suit until Zelo was of age and finished his exams, so it seems they did not want to stress him out or leave him behind.

The only issue now is the waiting game and what will develop as the coming months unfold.

— Joelle Halon 

When trying Asian foods, some may gravitate toward sweets over the actual foods in order to work up some bravery before trying real meals. That’s okay; people have their quirks. If you’re a person who can relate, then Japan is the place to go if you want to experience something different when pleasing your sweet tooth.

If you like candy and pop (because here in the Midwest, it’s “pop,” not “soda”), the Lotte Mixed Soda candy may catch your fancy. Not only do you get hard candy, but you can also taste some of Japan’s pops. It’s a two-for-one deal!

Packaging

The candy bag is kawaii with the happy little pop bottles and bright colors. What’s shown on the package should be in the bag. A lot of people complained that what was shown wasn’t what they received. I received four of the five flavors shown. Instead of Bikkle, I received honey lemon water. Lotte needs to work on this in order to not misrepresent their candy.

The bag I received featured the following flavors:

While I received all the flavors to sample, there was a larger volume of Dakara water, so distribution does seem to be uneven. However, the clear window on the package will allow you to see what candy you have. If the candy is available in-store, you can see if you have a good mix before you buy.

For health conscious individuals, the package is written in Japanese, so you may not be able to tell what is in the candy. A former student of mine pointed out that the lemon and honey flavors have some vitamin content, but that doesn’t mean this is a healthy snack. If you want the ingredient list, you can find it on Amazon.com since many of the sellers include this information.

Review: The Flavors

Each of the five flavors provides different experiences although each candy, for the most part, tastes mostly citrusy. If they were piled—unwrapped—together, there’s really no way to tell the difference between each flavor since they all smell like cough drops and have similar coloring. With a few, you can only tell the difference through taste alone.
Dakavita C- The candy is a bright yellow, so it looks more like a lemon cough drop than candy. After popping it in my mouth, I definitely realize it’s not a cough drop! The candy, once it hits the tongue, begins to pop and fizz. It burns a little bit creating an interesting experience.

The flavor is very refreshing, like summer. If you’re a fan of Sprite, 50/50, Squirt, or Sierra Mist, Dakavita C is the perfect candy for you. This one was my favorite.

Honey Lemon- My first impression of the honey lemon flavor was that it tasted like a cough drop. Initially, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. As the candy began to melt down, the flavor got better and started to taste like watered-down lemonade. There wasn’t any effervescence which was disappointing. While the flavor improved, it was overall flat and needed something.

orange

C.C. Lemon- This flavor is light and mild and not overwhelmingly lemon. Even the scent wasn’t lemony, but it did smell like one of those Lysol wipes after it’s been left on the counter for an hour. I didn’t care because it was tasty.

Upon biting into the candy, there was a strong burst of lemon and hints of grapefruit. I noticed there was also a return of the carbonation that Dakavita had, although it is slightly less potent. The fizz and flavor combine to make C.C.

Lemon taste better than it smells, but it is still on the bland side even though it was good.

Natchan- Natchan is a nice, iridescent orange color. The flavor is extremely light, but it is delightful even though it lacks carbonation. It has a hint of Orange Crush, but not enough to truly call this a “pop-flavored” candy. To me, it didn’t taste any different than any other orange candy available, but it’s sweetness made it a go-to flavor.
I have to admit the smiley bottle made me feel bad for feeling disappointed in the candy. The package actually guilted me into liking the flavor more.

Dakara- Popping this one into my mouth was a terrible shock, like I was getting punished for some sin I committed. The flavor is so overwhelming, it was something other-worldly. The flavor even filled my nose to where it felt like I shoved one of those pine tree air-fresheners up it.

Dakara tastes strongly of grapefruit, but there’s a woody, piney taste as well. It’s just too overwhelmingly unpleasant for my taste buds. Looking up the ingredients, one of the candies does have pine as an ingredient, and I have a feeling it’s this one. There’s just something so off-putting about this flavor that it is shocking. At first I thought it was just that one piece, but a second piece yielded the same result.

However, another family member loved it and finished the bag.

Dakara is definitely an acquired taste.

Overall

Three out of five flavors tasted too similar. The Dakavita was the best of the bunch because it truly tasted like pop, but Dakara tasted like hard-candy punishment. Dakara aside, it’s a good candy to keep around, and the price isn’t bad either. Overall, I would recommend it.

—- Joelle Halon

Following a nearly five-year hiatus, MC Mong made his return November 3 with his full-length album Miss Me or Diss Me. Since its release, the title song earned wins on Music Core and Inkigayo, the latter win causing a weird silence to befall the hosts and fans. Even though time passed, his scandal is still a sore spot for many in Korea, and his reemergence isn’t necessarily viewed as a good thing despite how well “Miss Me or Diss Me” is doing or how good the album actually is.

The Scandal

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In Korea, men are required to fulfill two years mandatory military service since the country is still technically at war with North Korea. The Ministry of Defense has strict omissions that citizens need to meet in order to avoid service, but even then, some choose to still serve in some capacity like in the case of rapper Swings who has battled depression but will begin serving November 25, 2014.

Military service is a source of pride in Korea, so to not serve or to dodge service brings shame, especially if that person is a celebrity.

MC Mong announced as the winner on November 16’s edition of Inkigayo./SBS
Rewind to 2010. MC Mong has two teeth extracted instead of having them repaired, leading to an investigation.  The media has claims from a dentist that he received money from Mong to extract the teeth; Mong denied these claims.

The Seoul Central District Court filed charges against Mong on October 10, 2010 stating he was in violation of Korea’s military service laws, leading to four trials.

During the second trial in November 2010, his dentists provided evidence that his teeth were damaged and needed to be removed. The dentist who made the claims against Mong retracted his original statement and said the teeth were damaged due to poor care. This dentist also stated he did not receive money from Mong and the removal was not an evasion tactic.

Mong received a suspended six-month jail term, a year’s probation, and 120 hours of community service but was cleared of intentionally removing teeth on April 11, 2011. Courts found he deliberately delayed enlistment on false terms, though.

Because he was viewed as an evader, KBS and MBC banned him. In addition, military laws became stricter in a move known as the “MC Mong Effect.” Mong disappeared from the public eye for years before reappearing with Miss Me or Diss Me.

Miss Me or Diss Me Album

Despite KNet protests, MC Mong’s album is performing well on domestic charts. While the success may be angering for many, the album is a win with the controversies aside. What helps the album are the featuring artists including Jinsil (Mad Soul Child), Hyorin (Sistar), Ailee, Minah (Girl’s Day), Lyn, Bumkey, and Gary among others. The 13-track album is an emotional rollercoaster that provides a journey through happiness, anger, regret, and even ballsy-shamelessness to provide a song for any mood.

The opening song “The Happiest Time of My Life” enlists the help of Huh Gak. The song has a 1990s throwback feel and a layer of bright sweetness that only Huh Gak can provide. “The Happiest Time” has a certain charm to it. The piano has a wistful feel since it is slower than the rest of the song’s beat.

The one qualm I have with “The Happiest Time” is the similar chords to “I’ll Be Missing You,” Puff Daddy/P. Diddy’s 1997-hit “I’ll Be Missing You.” This is present in the first verse before shifting, but it is noticeable.

mc mong 3

“Miss Me or Diss Me” gets help from Mad Soul Child’s Jinsil. The song is gutsy and potentially angering since it does directly reference his time away (the MV does moreso in an abstract way). The beat suggests the song is a dance track, but the lyrics turn it into something heavier and provides one of K-Pop’s better, most meaningful songs of 2014.

Jinsil from Mad Soul Child./KBeat.net

Adding Jinsil to the chorus was genius, plain and simple. Her voice is one of the most unique in the industry which helps the song become a memorable hit. Her haunting melodies layer well the track and Mong’s emotional rap. If not for the controversies, this song had potential for heavy airplay. It’s a shame a great song will become lost because of the court of public opinion.

The third track, “Be Strong,” has Ailee providing her powerhouse vocals. Ailee’s power softens here to aid in the song’s mellow sound. The lyrics are, by far, some of the best on the album as they describe being strong in the face of adversity. The lyrics read more like an inspirational greeting card with lines like “The hidden sunlight will shine on you again.” Mong’s rap and Ailee’s vocals complement each other well to strengthen the hopeful message. While listening, I was reminded of Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” because the instrumentals for both assist in the aspiring message.

“New York” feels like it should be included on a drama OST. Baek Ji Young’s vocals feel very OST-ish. The 1970s US-TV-inspired instrumentals paint images of cheesy graphics, cool police cars, and the cast of Miami Vice coming forth for some action. Okay, that’s going a bit far, but that’s the image that comes to mind. Baek Ji-Young’s vocals add a sweet and savory sensation despite the song’s cheese-factor.

“Runaway” features Lyn, and like Jinsil, her voice provides a haunting quality. The song is one of many on the album that has a double meaning: It could reference running away from personal struggles or running away with a lover. Either way, the song can touch a listener’s heart.

The instrumentals stand out the most due to Lyn’s vocals. The subtle violins provide emotion and beauty. When combined, Mong seems to disappear because the rest of the song’s composition can carry a listener away.

Hyorin and LeesSang’s Gary help in “Faulty Fan.” The song is another inspiration-laced number of which Hyorin’s voice is well-suited. Gary’s rap carries the song well also. He has the right amount of magic to make the song stand out, and Hyorin’s high notes give “Faulty Fan” extra oomph. Mong is relegated to background, so he’s useless in his own song. If the song was just a Gary-Hyorin collaboration, it has hit-potential and is a perfect addition the K-Pop’s winter season.

“What Could I Do’s” R&B vibe is smooth and rich thanks to Bumkey. It has a smoky club-feel to it that adds some chill to the chorus and catchy beat. While Bumkey is a plus, “What Can I Do” is almost too simplistic. The song is nice to listen to, but it’s far from memorable.

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Featuring The Channels, “Scandal” continues the smooth, retro theme introduced in “What Can I Do” and “New York.” The 1970s are alive and well as Mong covers his lack of privacy. The disco-esque sound provides some fun, but The Channels (who I am convinced should collaborate with Phantom due to similar vocals) shines bright. The Channels makes Mong fade into the background. Given how people feel about him, this might not be a bad thing.

The doll girl from Sound Horizon’s “?????”: What I think the “0904” girls sounds like./YouTube
“0904” is just a weird inclusion. The song features a child singer which makes the song unnerving. The strange chatter, music box instrumentals, and soft percussion just add to the creepy factor. I was reminded of when Aramary was still with Sound Horizon and the song “?????” which features a creepy child doll. Some find children adorable, and this little girl might be a darling soul, but with the instrumentals, the song felt more suited for a horror film OST.

In any case, “0904” serves as a transition in “Sick to Death Pt. 2” featuring Sweden Laundry. Sweden Laundry’s vocals continue the chilly feel from “0904” since it’s clear she is supposed to be the adult version of the child. Mong’s presence returns; his rap sounds great with the track. The upbeat instrumentals help carry the song also, and it’s hard not to move the music.

Girl’s Day’s Minah lends her voice to the upbeat love song “Whatever.” Minah’s bright, bubbly personality sparkles as she and Mong shrug off haters. The song also has a summery vibe, so it’s perfect for being on the beach. It’s just a cute and enjoyable tune.

The joy shifts to a darker tone with “My Love.” An ode to an ex-lover, Mong and Sung Yoo Jin sing about moving on even if love still exists. The classical undertones in the instrumentals add twinges of regret and sadness. Mong’s rap carries a biting tone while Sung’s voice feels more hopeful. The differences help create a story full of desperation. Everything just falls into place nicely.

Finally, “E.R.” brings The Channels back to close the album. While listening, the song felt like One Republic let Mong sample part of “Apologize.” Mong’s rap is strong, but The Channels steals the show. The vocals just wash over and consume the listener like an emotional tidal wave. This song along with “Miss Me or Diss Me” earned the most playtime during this review. “E.R.” is just perfection and one of the top songs on the album.

Overall

Love him or hate him, MC Mong delivered one of 2014’s better albums. Miss Me or Diss Me provides many tracks that suit any mood or listener. There is a reason why the album is performing well on the charts: It’s a legit, solid album. It may not get the love the music deserves  because of the hate the artist receives. If a listener can separate the two, Miss Me or Diss Me is a hit.

Grade: A-

—- Joelle Halon

On a drizzly, dreary Saturday November 22, VIXX stopped by Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, Indiana for one of two U.S stops. For a month leading up to the concert, excited fans gathered on the Chicago VIXX!!!! Facebook fan page to discuss their biases, share information, and plan for an excellent evening. K-Pop coming to the Midwest is a rare event. VIXX joined B.A.P, who performed April 19, 2014, as the only K-Pop group to perform at Star Plaza. With high hopes in hand, the fans gathered to cheer for VIXX. Despite VIXX’s awesome performance, many fans were unhappy with the organization and how the concert was handled.

VIXXThe Concert

VIXX’s performance was set to begin at 7pm, but Limelight Entertainment (the event’s organizer) delayed until 7:30 and delayed again until 7:47pm. Because of the late start, the shortened show ended around 9pm. This was due to poor organization on Limelight’s part. Regardless, VIXX’s performance made fans happy.

“Error” started the show with a roar of cheers. The opening sequence left fans pumped as the members appeared on the screen then appeared on stage. Fans danced and chanted their way through the song. Which each new song, N, Ken, Leo, Ravi, Hyuk, and Hongbin got more into it. Even with the low turnout, VIXX fed off the loud chants making for a great night.

VIXX earns credit for their stage presence. After a 13-hour flight from Korea to Chicago, then immediately being whisked away to the theatre for a few hours of prep time, the boys showed no signs of exhaustion.

Performances pleased though some sections had mild lip-syncing. The majority of the show was without lip-syncing, so it was nice to hear them perform. Leo, Hongbin, Hyuk, Ken, and N have amazing vocals, especially in “On and On,” “Eternity,” and “G.R.8.U.” Ravi’s voice is actually raspier and slightly deeper than expected; recordings don’t do him justice!

VIXX's Chicago Showcase poster/via Limelight Entertainment

VIXX’s Chicago Showcase poster/via Limelight Entertainment

One of the best performances was “Light Up the Darkness.” VIXX gave 110 percent! Leo’s emotion gave the song so much power. Their sharp dancing proved that dancing hard isn’t an excuse for poor or lacking live vocals.

 “Only U” provided a great emotion. Even the slightest voice waver provided chills. Some fans started crying. The boys sat for this performance to allow vocals to shine. At times, Leo’s voice sounded strained, but that could have been due to a subpar sound system.

VIXX played off the fans well. When they perform on music shows, they seem reserved and businesslike; in-person, they are flirty and humorous. Celebrity Circle fans saw how much fun VIXX can be when they made eye-contact and laughed with who danced to songs like “Eternity” and “Rock Ur Body.” Even Dark Lord Leo shared many smiles.

This connection carried over to the Hi-Touch event. VIXX tried their best to make eye-contact with fans and remain charming and engaging. N, especially, worked hard to please fans.

VIXX’s professionalism should be commended most of all. During awkward moments, they kept their composure like when the “translator” only wanted to discuss herself and hug the boys. Instead of making the moment weird, they used it as a chance for audience interaction. Sadly, the boys had to do their best to keep their wits often because of Limelight’s poor execution.

Limelight the Lowlight

Everything leading up to the concert equaled disaster. One look at Limelight’s Facebook page offers a snippet of the issues concert-goers had. Those few comments don’t cover all the issues fans faced.

When the VIXX concert was announced in October, Limelight did well answering questions in a quick, friendly manner. Dealing with them provided humor and personality other companies’ lack. Limelight does know how to connect with fans.

The aforementioned aside, Limelight does not seem like it’s well-equipped to handle large-scale concerts. From the word “go” everything was a mess from miscommunication between them and Jellyfish Entertainment, VIXX’s agency, to poor information relayed to fans.

Cost

Ticket costs were high. Even on the day of the concert, many seats remained unsold, which is shameful since it sends an “I don’t care” message to VIXX. Celebrity Circle seats ranged from $220-$300; B.A.P’s tickets through Powerhouse were considerably less ($180 got me two main floor tickets a few rows behind Celebrity Circle). Granted, Celebrity Circle seats did come with a Hi-Touch, but that hardly made up for the show being out of many people’s price range. Besides, with the concert being so close to the holidays, money is tight for many. Plus, 2PM was in Chicago a few days prior leaving K-Pop fans with the choice of which group they wanted to see more.

Tickets also came with the Starlight Dream Package option which came with a snapback hat, hoodie, beanie, and light stick for $60 extra. On one hand, $60 is decent, but rolled into the cost of tickets, the price seemed outrageous. Originally, I had two Celebrity Circle seats with the dream package, so my tickets cost $620 for me and a guest. Because the cost was so high, I got refunded on the Dream Package, sold my Celebrity Circle seats, and downgraded to the $84 back-row balcony seats. The cost of Celebrity Circle tickets ate away at my soul and literally kept me awake every night because I could not justify the cost. Two tickets should not cost more than rent. However, for those who could justify the cost, thumbs up.

Lateness

VIXX is not to blame for delays.

 If a show’s start time is 7pm, then please start it at 7pm. A few minutes late? Okay, that is acceptable; but to move the time to 7:30pm then have it start around 8pm is inconsiderate. Furthermore, many fans found out the show may have been shortened to accommodate the late start so the Hi-Touch portion could be held. Compared to B.A.P’s two hour show, VIXX’s only lasted a little over an hour, and this is with the talks and breaks incorporated. For the cost of the show, this was not cool.

Miscommunication

Limelight needs to work on their communication skills if they want to be successful in concert organizing. Sure, they’re funny and relatable, but this is meaningless if everything else fails.

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Some fans managed to get cameras and phones inside, so there are photos and videos floating around. However, Limelight had security telling people to put their cameras away; some security even deliberately positioned themselves in front of fans to block their cameras. Some of the event staff seemed to not care, but those wearing the black suits looked like mafia lords and like they could ‘cap you if you pressed the issue further.

If cameras were not allowed, then it should have been stated from the beginning. When some fans asked Limelight why they said some cameras were allowed, they were told the Facebook post was hacked and that was why it was posted. If that was the case, common sense would say to fix the problem and post correct information.

Starlight Dream Package

As mentioned, the price of the Starlight Dream Package was rolled into ticket costs if fans purchased it. Fans had an option of what size and colors they wanted for their hoodies. A few fans were disappointed to learn Limelight didn’t have enough of certain sizes and colors in stock.

Limelight must have had a count of who-ordered-what because people ordered the package before the show. Therefore, they should have been prepared with enough merchandise in the right sizes to meet fan demands.

There were miscommunications with Hi-Touch holders also. Celebrity Circle fans were promised a longer experience, but they were rushed through because of the show’s late start. The same thing happened with non-Celebrity Circle fans but with a little more chaos. However, fans were happy just to see and touch VIXX; these issues seem mild compared to other problems.

The Translator

 Fans and VIXX were completely annoyed with her. A lot of us weren’t even sure she truly understood or spoke Korean. She sure did like to talk about herself though! She came across as unprofessional, especially when she stopped translating partway through to hug the members. Several times she didn’t finish translating. Leo and Ravi weren’t really amused, and N was caught giving her the stink-eye a few times. Limelight needs to consider hiring someone who can handle themselves professionally next time.

VIXX shared a photo on their @RealVIXX Twitter after the Chicago Showcase/via @RealVIXX

VIXX shared a photo on their @RealVIXX Twitter after the Chicago Showcase/via @RealVIXX

Overall

VIXX did an amazing job entertaining fans despite all the issues presented. What’s sad is VIXX took to Twitter to apologize to fans for some of the issues even though it was far from their fault. Performance-wise, VIXX was electrifying and it was clear they practiced hard in order to provide an amazing evening! The majority of fans agree VIXX was better than expected and many left happy they got to see their bias group.

Sadly, the job they did seems to be overshadowed by the pitiful actions of Limelight Entertainment. They should have been behind the scenes making sure everything went well; instead, their actions made for a stressful evening. Hopefully VIXX doesn’t think the concert organization is typical of US shows because it’s not! Hopefully, despite empty seats, VIXX doesn’t feel like the Chicago-area didn’t want to see them. Looking at the Chicago VIXX!!!! fan page definitely says otherwise, but the comments also suggest cost was a reason for low turnout.

 If VIXX comes back to the Chicago-area again (which we all hope they do!), let’s hope it’s with a different organizer so things will run smoothly.

 

Note: One fan did manage to get some excellent photos! Credit to EpsilonXX for sharing!

—-Joelle Halon

Weddings are meaningful and beautiful in many countries, but besides the dress and the party, the traditions are even lovelier. Korea has many wedding traditions that are sweet and meaningful (and maybe even a little bit stressful) that the bride and groom and their respective families engage in leading up to marital bliss.

It’s Not Just About the Couple

In Korea, a marriage is not just about the couple: Marriage is about the joining of two families. According to Seoulistic, in many traditional-type marriages, an engagement is not made official until both families meet during a formal dinner. The Knot suggests the engagement dinner is also not just about families meeting, but it is also an evening of fun with gifts and possibly karaoke!

Pre-Wedding Traditions

Before the wedding, there are many traditions a bride, groom, their families, and their wedding parties may engage in in order to celebrate and prepare for the upcoming nuptials. Leading up to the wedding, gifts may be exchanged between the families and bride and groom including:

Some of these practices may not be performed for every family, but they are still considered part of the wedding traditions. However, yedan and hamgap are the most important of the traditions and are still practiced today.

Another tradition many still incorporate is the exchange of a goose. Traditionally, the groom gave the bride’s mother a goose as a promise to stand beside his new wife for life since geese mate for life. Today, a live goose isn’t gifted, but a small wooden goose is given indicating the groom will take care of his wife for life.

While preparing the day of the wedding, unlike Western culture, it is not considered bad luck if the bride and groom see each other prior to the ceremony. In fact, many couples report getting ready for the ceremony together instead of apart!

Two Ceremonies?

Many Koreans choose to embrace modern times and tradition by holding a Western-style wedding and a traditional marriage.

Western-style marriages may take place in a church or a wedding hall. The bride may wear a white wedding gown, and the groom may wear a tux familiar to Western culture. Like Western practices, the groom will wait at the alter for his bride, who is escorted down the aisle by her father. A sermon about the sanctity of marriage, the couple exchanging vows and gifts, and bow to the guests wrap up the ceremony, then photos and food follow.

After the modern ceremony, the couple may hold a traditional ceremony for family. This ceremony, called the pyebaek, the couple will wear traditional hanbok. The bride may be adorned in fancy headdress and may have three red dots (chonji and gongji) on her face to ward off evil spirits and purify the bride.

The pyebaek ceremony begins with the couple bowing deeply to their families to symbolize unification. Then, the ceremony shifts to families sharing stories on how to build a strong marriage and some fun. The couple will serve families wine as they seek advice while the families throw chestnuts and dates at the bride and groom to symbolize children.

Gifts

When attending a Korean wedding, money is the typical gift to give the couple. It is expected that money will be placed in pristine white envelopes and brand new bills will be given to the new couple.

The amount of won given depends on the relationship to the bride and groom and their parents.  For example, Korea for Expats states that acquaintances and colleagues of the bride and groom or their parents may be expected to give up to 50,000 won; if the bride, groom, or a parent of either works for the guest’s company, has a close work relationship, or a parent ranks high in the company, upwards of 100,000 won or more may be expected.

Dress Code

While attending a wedding, close family members to the bride and groom may be seen wearing traditional Korean outfits. Guests, oftentimes, are expected to wear business attire.

A Beautiful Spectacle

While there are some differences between Eastern and Western-style weddings, they have a few things in common: Traditions are beautiful, family is meaningful, and ceremonies should be rich and lovely. Perhaps you will be able to experience a Korean wedding one day to see for yourself!

—- Joelle Halon

On November 6, Block B’s Zico released his solo single “Tough Cookie.”  The song and MV caused a rift between fans due to its polarizing rap. It’s catchy-though-over-processed bridge leads to a repetitive chorus, but the lyrics cover a lot of ground despite the offensive word and imagery. The latter element taken out of consideration, Zico’s solo throws a lot of punches, but the song is nothing more than a cookie crumb.

Song

Cockiness dominates “Tough Cookie” and given Block B’s issues with their former company and their rise to popularity, the song has the right to be cocky. The lyrics cover Block B’s issues before shifting to how larger companies scouted Zico while earning respect despite playing “a part in Hallyu.” Even though idol rappers tend to get criticism, many do consider Zico to be a legitimate rapper, so his lyrics do cover what many feel about him.

The one element of the rap that stands out is the part where Don Mills calls out people from his past. This section is the most relatable portion of the song many people would love to contact past friends, bosses, and teachers to tell them “See! I made it.”  Relatable content always makes a song better; kudos for these lines!

The bridge, too, is a nice touch.  Although synthesizers are used too much, the added distortion made the bridge cool and memorable. This was “Tough Cookie’s” best part.

As a whole, it was difficult to really “feel” the song, and this is coming from someone who is a Zico and Block B fan.  After the first verse, the “Tough Cookie” crumbles and becomes lyrically obnoxious. Zico comes across as full of himself (which is typical “rap-swag,” especially in many songs from the U.S.), leading to the controversial line that has many talking. It was here the song became fairly unlistenable.

Reading the title of the single, it’s clear Don Mills collaborated on it. But, is it necessary for him to name-drop himself five times? The single no longer becomes Zico’s.  Zico should be proud he gets to work with and be mentioned alongside some of the bigger names in the industry, but if names of others need to keep being inserted, the song becomes a cry for attention over a legitimate testament for how far one’s come.  This is where the song lost me.

Another off-putting element was the use of swearing. People swear, yes, and swearing is used frequently in music, especially hip-hop (see Epik High’s recent hit “Born Hater”), but it isn’t necessary to get a point across in most cases. In a way, the questionable content seems to be more for shock value, but it’s not really shocking. Adding it these days doesn’t make a song edgy or cool because it’s like every other “hardcore” rap song out there. With that said, “Tough Cookie” isn’t really anything special in the grand scheme of things. I expected more from Zico.

As a side note, if you listen to the song long enough, the chorus starts to sound like “TOP cooking.”

Zico 2

MV

Soloist Zico is different than Block B Zico. Besides bathing in cookies, given the nature of the lyrics, it would have been fitting to have some wild imagery to make the video memorable. The MV is far from memorable and is really no different than many Western-style rap and hip-hop videos over the years:

1)      Gambling

2)      Auto Garages/Chop Shops

3)      Twerking

4)      Grills

And that’s just the most cliché elements without the controversial ones mentioned. “Tough Cookie” is just a boring, run-of-the-mill MV. That’s not impressive. This one, along with many other K-Pop MVs the past few years will just simply be forgotten because there is nothing that screams “pay attention to me!” For this being a Zico video, I expected some more craziness than what was presented.

Zico 3Controversy

Immediately following the release, many International fans blew a collective gasket over the use of the word “faggot” and images of the Confederate Flag on Zico’s jacket.  Many fans on K-Pop news portals and forums have stated that Zico lost fans over the incident, even after Seven Seasons issued apologies for the use of derogatory language.

On one hand, the use of the flag and derogatory language sets K-Pop back since it is trying to appeal to a global audience. In one song and MV, in this now-very-PC world, several individuals could be offended given the context. For many, the Confederate Flag is a symbol of suppression, and the term “faggot” could reflect negatively toward the LGBT community given how it was used:

Rappers these days don’t have the skills so they all have a snap back fetish

You`re such a faggot bitch

In some circles, when used in this context, many could see the line as calling rappers non-masculine, which is why so many took issue to the phrasing. So, it is easy to understand why people would be mad.

On the other side of the coin, some from the LGBT community have come out to say they aren’t offended and realize the line is something in rap. The phrase is a stylistic choice, but was it the right word to use? Seven Seasons seems to feel it may have not been, thus the apology. As a whole, it is one of the many poor choices by K-Pop as a whole lately that can hinder its potential reach.

Overall

Controversy aside, “Tough Cookie” isn’t anything special. The song has a catchy bridge, but the repetitive chorus and unoriginal video makes it forgettable.  Zico’s cookie crumbled with his solo. Hopefully his next single will stand out and have some more of his goofy charms to help it be successful.

Grade: D

—- Joelle Halon

 

It’s been a while since these dramas were aired on TV. Most of them were aired 4-5 years ago and some even up to 10 years. As the number of years goes up, you can really see some major differences within the scenes and storylines. Back then love stories were more sweet and innocent and now days it’s a bit more opened to the viewers.

#1 overplayed dramas of all time: Coffee Prince

This is one of the most popular dramas of all time. Gong Yoo and Yoon Eun Hye plays the main role in this drama. It’s about a romance between a tomboyish woman (Yoon Eun Hye) who dresses like a boy to get to work. The guy (Gong Yoo) doesn’t know that it’s a girl dressing up like a man at first but soon he figures it out and that’s where the romance begins.

#2 Boys Over Flowers

Boys Over Flowers

Okay, if you know about Korean dramas, there’s no way you would have skipped this drama unless you’re a guy. Literally every single person who I’ve talked to who is familiar with Korean dramas has seen this one. The main characters are played by Gu Hye Sun, Lee Min Ho, Kim Hyun Joong, Kim Bum, Kim Joon, and Kim So Eun. This drama is based on a Japanese manga series written by Yoko Kamio. It’s about a poor girl who goes to an exclusive academy school who gets the attention of F4 who are the most rich, handsome, and popular at the school. They don’t start off too good with each other but things get better as the story goes on.

 #3 Secret Garden

Secret Garden

Again, another popular drama that most people are familiar with. The characters are played by Ha Ji Won and Hyun Bin. This story is about a stuntwoman who wants to become a stunt director and a CEO of a department store. Even though the two characters live in different worlds, they end up meeting by some kind of fate. The woman has been by herself since a young age and she gave her all to martial arts and became a stuntwoman. And that’s when the guy comes into the story; he doesn’t care about romance and all he wants is a marriage that will give advantages to him. He’s rich, good looking and insensitive and any woman will die to go on a date with him. It all begins when they end up switching bodies with each other.

#4 My Girlfriend is a Nine Tailed Fox

My girl friend is a nine tailed fox

The roles are played by Lee Seung Gi and Shin Min Ah. Daw Woong (Lee Seung Gi) is a normal student who is in college who wants to become a star. One day by accident, he released a gumiho (a legendary fox with 9 tails) who has been sealed away for a long time. He gets scared and starts running away, but he fell off of a cliff. He was about to die but the gumiho saved him by giving him her “fox bead”.  When he woke up, he sees a mysterious girl in front of him and he treats her like she was ill until finally realizing she was a gumiho.  According to myth, gumihos eat human livers and Dae Woong is scared. The gumiho takes advantage of this by sticking by his side. He buys her expensive meat to keep her happy so that she wouldn’t eat him. She doesn’t have any intention of hurting anyone though. She just wants to become human, so they make a deal with each other.

—- Juyeon Oh

MC Mong

It was about 5 years ago when the popular rapper/entertainer MC Mong pulled out eight (8) of his perfectly healthy teeth so that he wouldn’t have to join the military. At that time he was getting so much hate that when his trial was held at the court, he made a “promise” to the judge that he will do his service in military once his condition was better.  The judge didn’t give him too much of a punishment, it was mainly just hours of community service and he was free.  After this incident, he left the entertainment industry and people really thought that he realized what he did was wrong and that he would go serve in the military, but all of that was a show to make the hate go away.

It turns out that he has been releasing his songs by having other artists sing them. To make sure no one found out, he didn’t use his name he used his manager’s name to get the credit for making music. People had no idea about this until recently.  It was so shocking that he was making money all these years and he fooled everyone by having us think he left the industry for good.  He secretly released songs for 5 years while being away from the public, and when he reached the age of 35, he came back to release his album “Miss me or Diss me” which sounds very offensive.  The title of his album makes it sound like he doesn’t care about what he has done and to gain more attention, and to have more people buy his music, he cooperated with many popular artists so that their fans would also listen to his music.

In South Korea, when you reach the age of 35, you don’t have to serve in the military but if you’re under that age, it’s mandatory for everyone.  For him to make a comeback like nothing is wrong is just unbelievable.  He’s not the only person who doesn’t want to serve in the military but 99.9% of people do because for one, it’s mandatory, and two, they do it to protect the country so for MC Mong to get away from it just like that is very selfish.  He came back just in time so he wouldn’t be “forced” into serving for the country.  This just shows that he’s been shooting for this time all along.  He waited until he reached the age of 35 to make a comeback because then, the law can’t force him into serving.  I used to be one of his biggest fans because I thought he was hilarious when he did variety shows and he was also a good rapper. A lot of other people liked him back then too, there was very limited amount of hate comments about him back then because everyone liked him, but now, it’s such a shame that I liked him for so long.

He deserves all the hate he gets and I don’t understand why some people are still standing up for him. If he wasn’t a celebrity and was a normal person, it might have been possible for him to have gone to jail at that time. It just sucks that he gets special treatment just because he’s famous and when a normal person does the same thing, they receive a much greater punishment.  In my opinion, I think he should just leave the entertainment/music industry for good because it’s perfectly clear that people don’t want to see him on TV making money when he has done nothing good.

— Juyeon Oh

iKon

YG Entertainment has had a great year so far. It all started with 2NE1 in the beginning of the year that made a huge hit.   After that, Taeyang, AKMU, and Epik High all made it on the top charts. With having hits from all these artists, you can for sure say that YG has had one of the busiest and yet the most successful year. Many people are looking forward to who the next artist will be.

In January, 2015, YG has announced that a new boy group called IKON will debut. IKON has 7 members and out of the 7 members, 6 of them have been in a previous survival program called ‘WIN: Who Is Next’ as Team B along with Team A who is now known as Winner.

Team A and Team B had to win a certain amount of battles in order to debut. They competed against each other in singing and dancing and how the winning team was chosen was by 70% votes from the people (not only in South Korea but other countries like Japan, Singapore, United States, and etc., participated) and 30% of votes from the judges from YG Entertainment.  It was a very close battle where you had no clue as to who was going to win. Team B unfortunately lost the battle but another choice was given to them about a year later.

YG released another survival program and this time it was kind of different. The group name they will be debuting is IKON and there are only 7 spots. The show only had Team B who had 6 people, and 3 more members were added to make it more challenging. They all did their best to gain their spots and at the end, all 6 members of Team B made it into IKON and an additional member named Jung Chanwoo made it.  Most people are already familiar with the 6 members since they’ve already appeared on ‘WIN: Who Is Next’ but most don’t really know about Chanwoo because he’s new.  Even with the new member IKON is receiving so much attention already and they haven’t even officially debuted yet.  It’s crazy to see all the fans they gained just by being on the survival shows!  And to those of you who don’t know the members, I’ll introduce them to you.

B.I: Leader, known for his amazing rap skills, choreography, and making music.

Bobby: outstanding rapper who appeared on the show called ‘Show Me The Money’, which is a rapping contest show and he won against all his competitors.

Kim Jinhawn: has amazing vocal and dancing techniques, and he’s the oldest member.

Goo Junhoe: main vocal and is also a great dancer.

Song Yoonhyung: vocal, his singing improved a lot since the survival program against Team A.

Kim Donghyeok: vocal, has a very light toned voice and he also improved a lot since the survival program.

Jung Chanwoo: played as the actor’s Lee Minho’s younger version of character in the drama Boys Over Flowers.  Has a great voice and can dance well.

The next upcoming artist besides IKON is the new girl group. I don’t have too much information on this group yet because YG didn’t really make it clear.  They’ve been promoting the group for almost 2 years now saying they’ll be debuting soon but no one really knows when this will happen.  Two years ago, they were supposed to debut in the fall, but they kept moving the date, so who knows when.  I’m guessing sometime next year though since they don’t have any other girl groups besides 2NE1 and 2NE1 already released an album the beginning of this year.

—Juyeon Oh

Running Man

First aired on July 11, 2010. The show is considered as urban action variety and there hadn’t been a show like this before so the idea was very unique and it instantly became a hit. The members and guests have to complete missions to win the race and the winner is usually given a small amount of gold as a reward. It is mainly focused on playing games against each others teams. Yoo Jae Suk is the main MC of this program who is also one of the main members. This show is also popular in other parts of Asia and some European countries. It became so popular that the fans are making subtitles for a number of languages.

 We Got Married

We got married

This is a Sunday night program. It was first broadcasted in 2008 and the show is about pairing up celebrities to show what it would be like if they were married. Every week the couples are assigned to missions that they have to complete and it also shows interviews of the casts to reveal their feelings and thoughts.

This show is now at season 4 and the couples include: Nam Goong Min & Hong Jin Young, Hong Jong Hyun & Kim Yura, and Song Jae Rim & Kim So Eun.

Infinite Challenge

Infinite Challenge

It was first aired back in 2005 and this is their 9th year of broadcasting it. About 13% to 17% of people watch this program every Saturday night.  It’s the most viewed variety show in Korea.  This show was called the nation’s top variety and Korea’s fist variety show for being successful for over 9 years.  Just like other TV shows, they sometimes invite celebrity guests to join them.

Roommate Season 2

Roomate Season 2

Roommate is back with Season 2.  Season 1 has received a lot of negative feedback due to the editing not being clean and showing content that was not necessary. Many thought Season 2 was going to be the same, but it turns out it wasn’t.  It actually became a huge hit with all the new members.  The new members are: Bae Jong Ok, Jackson from GOT7, Park Joon Hyung from g.o.d., Sunny from Girls Generation, Heo Young Ji from KARA, Otani Ryohei, and Lee Gook Joo.

One Night and Two Days

One Night and Two Days

This show has some really good ratings and fans love the new season.  The new members are Kim Joo Hyuk, Defconn, Kim Jun Ho, and Jung Joon Young along with the old members Cha Tae Hyun, and Kim Jong Min. The members seem to be getting a long really well together and they’re a great combination. Each of their personalities is different so it’s very entertaining to watch them deal with each other sometimes.  And, watching their morning missions never gets old where they travel to the most random places.

Kpop Star Season 4

Kpop Star Season 4

Along with their success with Seasons 1, 2, and 3, they are back with Season 4.  This year is supposed to be the biggest season they’ve had so far.  There are a lot more talented contestants and the viewers can’t wait to see it on TV.  This is the most popular audition program.  While other audition programs seem to be losing viewers and ratings, this one just keeps on going.  I guess more people are interested by the fact that the head of the companies are the judges.  Other programs just have good artists come in to be the judge, but this one is different.  If they show enough talent but end up getting eliminated, if one of the judges likes you, they will give you a contract after the show is over, which is why so many people audition for this show.  And “almost” all the people who were on this show and got into companies gain a lot of attention and are now living their dreams.

—- Juyeon Oh

With people’s thirst for K-Pop and K-Dramas comes a need to want to learn Korean. Besides recruiting the help of native Korean speakers, perhaps the best way to learn is through being forced to do it by living in Korea. Many of us Koreaboos may not have the time and money to travel to and spend time in Korea, so language learning has to be done using other means. Thankfully, with the rise of Hallyu, more sources have become available to help with Korean learning. Perhaps you may find some of these sources helpful!

Online Learning

If you prefer to learn language using the Web, there are several Korean learning websites available that can help build speaking and writing confidence through the use of videos, quizzes, and digital flashcards. Through online learning, you can learn some useful phrases and hear pronunciation, something a textbook cannot do unless it has a DVD.

Talk to Me in Korean

talk to me in koreanLaunched in 2009, TTMIK provides many sources for Korean learning.

If you are an audio and visual learner, the site has many YouTube videos that can take you through vocabulary and word pronunciation to help with language development. The TTMIK team, Hyunwoo Sun, Stephanie Morris, Hyojin An, Kyeong-Eun Choi, Seokjin Jin, and Kyung-Hwa Sun, provide easy-to-understand videos with clear instruction that will help anyone from absolute beginners to advance learners.

The site has many other perks besides videos. TTMIK also has audio books for vocabulary, verbs, and basic sentences and character writing that can help get learners started. Some other special features include:

TTMIK also offers paid memberships to certain services. For example, Haru Korean provides daily exercises through your smartphone or tablet, and you can go here to see corrections for your writing via one-on-one sessions. You can also sign up for live one-on-one sessions with TTMIK staff to help you learn how to speak.

The benefits of TTMIK are plentiful, though one of the downfalls is the erratic updates. Some content hasn’t been updated in years while others haven’t been updated in weeks or months. Since it’s a learning site, this shouldn’t be too much of an issue, but with special sections like learning with dramas and music and culture, times and subjects do change, and the group is behind the eight-ball here.

Visit Korea

Imagine you korea visitVisit Korea is the official site for Korean tourism. The section titled “Let’s Learn Korean” has links to KBS’ “Let’s Learn Korean” pages.

There are 30 chapters listed on the Visit Korea page that can help with basic phrases if you travel to Korea such as what to use when navigating the airport, subway, or taxi. There are also basic phrases about holidays, introductions, and making appointments. The lessons are simple, so anyone may find them helpful.

For beginners, one of the advantages “Let’s Learn Korean” has is that phrases are written in Hangeul with the Romanization underneath, a helpful tool for anyone learning characters and how they sound.

The page is pretty basic, but it’s effective. However, it does have some drawbacks. For some features to work, users would have to have Windows Media Player installed to hear “Dialogue on Demand.” Users will also need an updated version of Adobe Flash for interactive content.

LOECSEN

The free language lessons on LOECSEN provide some useful phrases and content that will get language learners heading in the right direction. Plus, the cute stick-figure images may make learners feel more at ease with learning since content feels more accessible.

Like Visit Korea’s content, LOECSEN focuses on simple phrases that can help you get by in Korea. There are different categories like “Essentials” that can help you speak politely to the people you meet to even learning color names.

As you go through and learn the basics provided, you can quiz yourself by listening to the words and clicking on the corresponding phrase. The quizzes are a nice touch in helping to reinforce what you learn.

There is an option to download the audio and learning tools, but these have a fee payable by PayPal or credit card. However, since the quizzes and audio are already available, this may not be necessary.

Apps

If your preferred mode of technology is a mobile device, there are some apps available to help you on your language-learning journey.

Hangeul 101

101Ubik Technology’s free version of Hangeul 101 is a nice source for learning Korean characters and how they sound. The app provides Romanized forms of the characters so you can see what they say, and there is audio so you can hear how the characters sound. Users also have access to 28 quizzes that can help with memorization.

The pay version of the app has ads removed, audio for 140-characters, syllable quizzes, and a Korean keyboard for further practice.

The app is really only good for practicing Korean characters, which is good if it’s an area of which help is needed. The app is easy to use, though audio sounds muddled at times. There are times when characters sound alike, so it’s hard to differentiate between different sounds depending on which character family you’re listening to at the time. But, it is worth a shot.

Books

If you’re a traditional learner who prefers workbooks and CDs over Internet sources and apps, there are plenty of workbooks available in bookstores and online retailers that may be worth your while.

korean for beginnersKorean for Beginners: Mastering Conversational Korean

This workbook does well with making Korean accessible to learners. From teaching Hangeul writing and speaking and Korean phrases to the helpful CD-ROM featuring native Korean speakers, the workbook makes it simple for a learner to approach the language at their own pace.

The book does well explaining grammar rules and adapts these rules so they’re easy to understand by an English speaker. The content isn’t dry either, which makes the workbook engaging and fun to use. The cultural tips and tricks and humor sprinkled in make learning fun, so it can be engaging for many.

Living Language Korean, Complete Edition

living language koreanLiving Language packs a punch because it comes with a lot of tools to help with learning. The complete edition comes with three course books, a reading and writing guide, nine CDs, and access to the online classroom. Each provides learners with vocabulary-building exercises, flashcards, games, writing and speaking exercises that are designed for different stages of learning. If you’re a beginner, the whole series will be useful for building and reinforcing what you need to be a successful Korean speaker; for those in more advanced stages, Living Language can serve as a way to “brush up” on past learning.

For Living Language to work, you will need to dedicate a lot of time to studying because each lesson builds upon each other. If you don’t have time to keep practicing, this may not be the series for you, but an app or website learning system might be. It all depends on your time and patience levels!

Create Friendships

Workbooks and online content provide an opportunity to read on the subject and practice writing skills, but how characters sound may not translate well. CDs and online programs can only go so far in terms of usefulness, so it may be helpful to recruit the help of a friend or a native Korean speaker to help you through the content.

If you’re lucky, local universities may have students from Korea who are interested in learning English as you are in learning Korean! Setting up a language exchange can be beneficial for everyone involved as you learn about each other and your cultures while forging a new friendship!

With so many sources available, there’s no excuse to not learn Korean! Let’s learn together starting today! Hwaiting!

— Joelle Halon

If you’re ever planning to visit Korea – you’re likely to come through Incheon International Airport if you’re travelling from outside Asia.  In this article, I provide info on the best rated airport in the world, why and when the Incheon International Airport was constructed and what it can offer to its passengers and users.

Incheon International Airport is the largest of the eight International airports in South Korea and one of the largest airports in the world in terms of scale and its workforce.  Incheon International Airport ranks eighth as Asia’s busiest airport, the world’s fourth busiest airport by cargo traffic and the world’s ninth busiest airport in terms of international passengers according to a 2013 report.

The Seoul Olympics was held in 1988, which resulted in the rise of air traffic, so during the ‘90s the Gimpo Airport needed an alternative due to the fact it could not manage the increased number of passengers.   The construction of the Incheon airport began in November, in the year of 1992 and after nearly a decade of construction and preparation the airport was officially open in March of 2001.  Just in time before the 2002 World Cup was held in Korea.

Even though Incheon is not within Seoul, the airport is located and built so that travelling to Seoul and other cities in Korea can be done easily.  The Incheon International Airport Railroad, plus the Airport subway line connect to Seoul Station. The regular trains, which stops at all stations takes about 50 minutes to reach Seoul Station.

Other than the airport service, the airport provides a golf course, spa, private sleeping rooms, an ice skating rink, a casino and a Museum of Korean Culture.  (Some sources say that this airport is said to be quite comfortable and super safe to sleep in as well)

The Incheon International Airport is known for its efficiency since it holds record for being one of the fastest for custom processing.  The average departure and arrival takes only 19 minutes (The world-wide industry’s average is 60 mins) and 12 minutes (45 mins) respectively, which is considerably faster than the airports in other countries.  The airport is also proud to state; it has only a 0.0001% rate of baggage mishandling, making it great news for passengers making Incheon International Airport not only a highly efficient, but a trustworthy airport.

From the year of 2005 to present; Incheon International airport was voted as the best airport worldwide by Airports Council International.  Its duty-free stores have been rated the world’s top for the last three years consecutively rated by Business Traveller.

The secret of the airport’s success and good evaluation is probably due to the fact that the airport is very organized, clean and very proficiently managed and most of all, the International Airport is highly considerate of the passengers’ needs, offers many diverse experiences and services for them.

Find out for yourselves if the Incheon International Airport’s service deserves to have its title for the best ranking airport in the world.

 

Incheon International Airport 1

Incheon International Airport 2

Incheon International Airport 3.jp_

 

— J. Chung

China and Hong Kong have a rich history of ghost stories that have been around for centuries. Even today, some of these stories live on and others have been added. Today, many in China have claimed to experience some paranormal occurrences while others thrive in traditional yarns. Here are some past-meets-present tales that are sure to make you want to explore China’s ghostly history.

Tuen Mun Road (Hong Kong)

road

Drivers on Tuen Mun Road have reported visions of ghosts wandering the highway. Unsuspecting drivers cruising along the road may find spirits appearing seemingly out of nowhere or running in front of other vehicles, causing drivers to swerve and get into accidents. The apparitions people see may be the spirits of accident victims who may be looking for others to join their party.

The Ghost Bride
Many Chinese ghost stories show that the spirits may have ill intentions toward the living. The story of the “Maiden in White” is one such example.

Dating back to the 9th Century A.D., follows a young scholar as he falls immediately in love with a young woman walking the halls of the temple he resided. She told him she came from a town near the mountains, and even though the scholar knew this wasn’t the case, he did not question her. The two talked all night, and he fell deeply in love. The pair married immediately.

Depending on which translation you read, there are different accounts of when the couple wed: Some suggest they married within a week, while others state they married the night they met. Either way, they really didn’t get to know each other that well.

Some after their marriage, the young woman wanted to return home and told her new husband not to follow as she worried her family would not approve of their marriage. Before she left, he gave her a white jade ring so she would not forget him. As she walked away, her husband watched as she disappeared from sight. He ran toward her location to see where she went only to find hundreds of white lilies basking in the moonlight.

Knowing he married a ghost, he picked the lilies and brought them back to room where he noticed his jade ring. Within a course of ten days, he fell ill and passed away.

The ending of the story has different translations as well with some suggesting he died of a broken heart and he joined his young lover in the afterlife. Other translations state his young bride was a toxic lover who wanted to kill the young man. It seems the interpretation depends on how much of a romantic the reader is and how they feel about ghosts.

All Aboard the Midnight Bus

In Beijing, the story of the Midnight Bus is fairly well-known. But are you a visitor willing to find out what bus is the bus of doom?

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According to the urban legend, an older gentleman and a young man boarded a bus. The old man sat in the front while the young man rode in the back. The bus picked up two more passengers at another stop. As the bus continued its route, the old man grew angry and accused the young man of theft. As they argued, the old man told his younger counterpart to come with him to the police station to clear the matter up. As the two got off the bus and it sped away, the old man said he saved both their lives as he noticed the other two passengers had no feet and were floating; the two other passengers were ghosts.

After the bus’ journey, it turned up missing. When found several days later away from its route, the bus driver was dead and badly decomposed, and the bus ran on blood. How’s that for a creepy ride?

tsutseng

Tsung Tsai Yuen (Hong Kong)
In 1955, a picnic in Tsung Tsai Yuen turned deadly when a sudden downpour caused a mudslide that killed several children and teachers from St. James Primary School. Since then, passersby and drivers often see ash and mud-covered children wandering the Mang Gui Kiu Bridge. Some say they see white shadows darting around and the outlines of children playing in the fields.

Since the incident, a placard was erected to appease the spirits, but to this day, some may see the children play.

What are some of your favorite ghost stories and urban legends from China? Share with us because we love a good haunt!

 

— Joelle Halon

Like Japan, Korea also has its share of tales of things that go bump in the night.  Whether you’re studying for an exam or taking a soothing dip, you better always keep an eye out for some ghosts and spirits because some may intend to kill!

Mul Gwishin

 

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If you’re swimming during the summer, maybe you should panic if you feel something grabbing at your ankles because a mul gwishin may be dragging you to your death!

Mul gwishin are the lonely souls of drowning victims who do not want to swim the cold waters alone and want someone to keep them company. Their actions have led to the phrase “mul gwishin tactics” in Korea which is a take on “misery loves company.” If you are burdened with something, you may pull a mul gwishin tactic to drag someone into your misery like suggesting someone is willing to help you on a project to your teacher or boss even though that person may not want to do so: “If you go down, you’re going down with me!”

 

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Beware, the Gumiho
One of the most popular legends in Korea involves Gumiho or nine-tailed foxes. According to lore, Gumiho are foxes who have lived for 1,000 years. These foxes have shape-shifting abilities, but mostly they take the form of a beautiful young woman who then causes a young man to fall in love with her just so she can one day eat his liver to gain human form.

But, the aforementioned is just one of the many accounts of the Gumiho tale. Other narratives include:

Has your date been acting weird lately? Maybe that person is hiding a Gumiho identity.

The Cheonyeo and Chonggak Gwishin

 

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The Cheonyeo gwishin is said to be a young woman from traditional Korea who did not completely fulfill her womanly duties of serving her father, husband, and sons. A woman who dies as a virgin ghost led a meaningless life.Because of this, her spirit is not allowed to depart this world. Since her spirit cannot leave, people often see the virgin ghost wandering in her traditional sobok, her long black hair flowing free.

Although rare in Korean lore, there is a male counterpart for the Cheonyeo gwishin called the Chonggak gwishin. Like the Cheonyeo, he did not fulfill his duties as a man and cannot depart this world.

In order to help the souls pass, shamans may hold soul weddings for a Cheonyeo-Chonggak couple so they may find peace. Other ways to appease their souls include phallic sculptures and annual food offerings to the souls.

Nighttime Study Periods are Killer!

 

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Schools are not a safe place during exam time, especially when you have to stay for late night study sessions. There may be dark hallways and classrooms that creak and moan sending shivers down your spine while you diligently hit the books.

There are many stories about school hauntings from children sitting in the dark reading to high school girls who’ve committed suicide beckoning to the living to join them. Statues and paintings seemingly come alive as the night wears on adding to the fear factor.

One such story involves a painting of Ryu Gwansun, a student from Ewha Womans University. She is known as being a martyr during the 1919 March 1st Movement where she and her family actively protested the Japanese occupation of Korea.  She was arrested during the protests and sentenced to jail time where she was beaten and tortured, but she stood by Korea’s need for independence until she died in prison.

Students say that if you stare at her picture and say her name, her portrait will move. Some say her statue walks around every March 1 shouting for Korean independence. Others say that certain ways you look at her portrait, you can see the scars of her torture.

No matter where you go, schools have interesting stories of hauntings. Are any schools safe?

What Korean ghost stories have you heard? Share with us! We enjoy a good scare!

— Joelle Halon

Halloween is here again, and most countries have urban legends or ghost stories that may spook those who are weak at heart. Over the years, Japan has been known for their haunts and horrors, and the world knows them best for their spooktacular movies! Many of the films are based on stories that have been around for years. Here are some that may provide some chills!

snake

The Lady in the Water
Originating in Kyudu but with sightings in Fukushima and Niigata, the nure-onna or “wet woman” haunts the shores thirsting for blood.

The serpent woman gets her name from her wet appearance, but her forked-tongue, serpent eyes, and snake-like body may distract you from her wetness as she uses her trickery to harness her prey.

As the legend goes, nure-onna appears to be in distress either by looking like she’s drowning or appealing for help with what appears to be a baby bundled in a blanket. Her distress attracts a passerby who agrees to assist her. As the person comes forward, she wraps him with her tail or hands him the “infant”; the infant becomes heavy, immobilizing the victim as nure-onna drains the blood from his body with her tongue.

When in Japan, stay away from the water because if you run into a young woman who wants to hand you her child, you might become nure-onna’s next victim!

crawl

 “Are you there, Hanako-san?”
According to this urban legend, if you’re in an elementary school washroom, you can summon the child Hanako.

If you’re courageous enough to call upon Hanako, step inside the school bathroom and go to the third stall, knock three times, and politely ask “Are you there, Hanako-san?” If she responds with “Yes, I am here,” you may push open the door to reveal a little girl sporting a bob cut and a red World War II-era school uniform. If you keep your fear in check, she’ll disappear and let you go, otherwise, you risk being pulled into the toilet to join her in death!

There are other stories involving toilets including the tale of Kashima Reiko where a female ghost without legs asks for her legs.

Another story involves Aoi Manto. He asks bathroom users if they want a red cup or a blue cup. If a person says “red cup,” he or she will be slashed in the neck and back. If someone says blue cup, they will be killed by hanging.

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“Am I pretty?”
If you’re a child walking alone at night and you come across a young woman in a surgical mask, you better hope she’s not Kuchisake-onna, or the “slit-mouth woman.” If she approaches you and asks if she’s pretty, you better think of an escape plan… or can you escape?

As the story goes, Kuchisake approaches children to ask if they think she’s pretty. If the child says “no,” Kuchisake stabs him to death with scissors. If the child says “yes,” she removes her mask to reveal her slashed mouth and asks “am I pretty even now?” If the child says “no,” Kuchisake chops her in half. If the answer is “yes,” the child’s mouth is slashed from ear-to-ear before Kuchisake disappears into the night.

No matter what, you’re doomed.

And don’t bother running before you answer her questions because she will follow you!
However, some versions of the tale suggest if you ask her if she thinks you’re pretty or tell her she’s average-looking, it will confuse her, giving you an opportunity to flee.

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Cut in Two
If you hear a distinct scratching sound while wandering around at night, run and don’t question why you are running!
The beautiful young ghost Teke Teke is named for the scratching sound that accompanies her as she uses her hands to drag herself toward an unsuspecting victim. If you cannot outrun her, prepare to be sliced in half and become a Teke

Teke ghost too!

Why is she so cranky? The young lady was walking home one night and fell on the railroad tracks. As she fell, a train came and cut her in half. Now she wanders around looking for revenge.

cow

Keep Moo-ving

According to urban folklore, the cow head story is so scary, no one really knows what the story’s about! Anyone who tries to tell the story either dies or suffers from strange illnesses or loses their memory.

One story that’s been passed around involves a bus full of children listening to their teacher tell the cow head story.

As he continued, he became entranced and more emphatic. Then, the next thing anyone knew, the bus crashed and the children were lying around twitching and foaming at the mouth. Rescuers were able to snap them out of their trance, but no one remembers what happened or anything about the story.

Apparently, cow heads possess strange powers.

What other strange urban legends and ghost stories have you heard from Japan? Share with us in the comments!

 

— Joelle Halon

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