YouTube opens Korean site, but has competition

Will YouTube and Google prevail over the current dominant local players who already have a hold on the market? Maybe. Either way though it will be a good fight and offer more options for Korean video addicts.

It is a belated arrival for YouTube in Korea, considering it is already operating localized services in 18 other nations. Google, which owns YouTube, has been cautious about expanding in Korea knowing that many other globally popular Web services of YouTube's caliber have failed to win over the Korean market.

Since the early days of the Internet boom in the late 1990s, Korean Internet users have shown a strong favor for locally grown sites. For example, Google and Yahoo respectively have less than 5 percent of the search-engine market share, while Korean search engines Naver, Daum, and Nate continue to prosper. Social-networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace have even weaker presences here though the latter hopes to open a Korean site in the first half of the year.

Read more down at The Korea Times.

The musical instrument Manwuyan

If you wondered what exactly a Manwuyan was, you weren't alone - not by a long shot - but apparently it is the oldest (or claims to be) playable instrument in the world and is permitted by the Chinese Cultural Heritage Administration to be played only five times a year, with its first, last, and only tour of Seoul to be held from Nov. 11-15 of this year before it gets designated as a national treasure:

Here's a snippet from The Korea Times on the instrument as well as the Seoul tour:

Those interested in a novel musical ― and historical ― experience will have a chance to hear the Nanzhao Classical Music Ensemble revive an ancient sound at Coste Hall in Myeong-dong Cathedral's Cultural Center, central Seoul. This is a truly unprecedented occasion, for the relic has rarely traveled within China.

When it was unearthed in 1998 in Yinnan Province, the manwuyan was in almost immaculate condition, being immediately playable despite minor damages by rodents. Several string instruments have been excavated so far, but none of them functioned. Verified as originating from the late 12th century, the manwuyan is the world's oldest playable instrument.

Korean star Rain joins with MTV to help campaign against human trafficking

If ever there was a good cause to spotlight and campaign against - it would be human trafficking - and half of all the people trafficked are from Asian countries, so its great to see someone as influential as Korean star Rain working with MTV to help in the cause. Here’s some more information:

MTV, one of the world’s largest and influential television network, has launched “End Exploitation and Trafficking” (EXIT), a global campaign to raise awareness about human trafficking. Along with Thai star Tata Young, Korea’s pop singer Rain has joined in the action as the front man for the Asia Pacific region.

Read more here.

Michael Kang’s “West 32nd Street” gets set to open at the Pusan International Film Festival

This week at the Pusan International Film Festival, Michael Kang - of the movie The Motel - will be there with many of the cast and crew as the film West 32nd is shown. The movie features John Cho, Jun Kim, Grace Park, and Jane Kim.

Watch the movie trailer

Check more out on the movie from the official site.

North Korea agrees to disable nuclear facilities

While already in the works this just came in from the NY Times:

The agreement sets out a timetable for North Korea to disclose all its nuclear programs and disable all facilities in return for 950,000 metric tons of fuel oil or its equivalent in economic aid.

Negotiators reached agreement on a draft plan in Beijing on Sunday after four days of six-nation talks. The United States had said on Tuesday that it endorsed the plan but was waiting for approval from other nations involved in the negotiations.

Take a break with some Korean Fusion

From the Korean fusion band Clazziquai’s first album Instant Pig - already a classic - take a break with the MV for Sweety:

You can also check out their MySpaceTV page for more videos.

Bong Joon-ho, “Tokyo”, Ayako Fujitani, and Steven Seagal

Ayako Fujitani. Image from Off Screen

According to reports from MTV.com, the director of the ever popular Korean monster movie The Host, Bong Joon-ho will be working on a movie called “Tokyo” where directors will give their spin on the city in much the same way as the movie Paris Je T’aime.

From those same reports as well, the French director Michel Gondry will be working with Ayako Fujitani - who is the daughter of U.S. actor/director Steven Seagal.

From Wikipedia:

A writer and actress, she is the daughter of Steven Seagal from his first wife, aikido master Miyako Fujitani.

While still relatively unknown in America, she was recently featured in the French film Sansa (2003) and is best known for her role in the Heisei Gamera (1995-1999) series directed by Shusuke Kaneko. She worked again with him on an episode of Ultraman Max, whom he directed.

Fujitani wrote the short novella Shiki-Jitsu based on personal reflections of her difficulties as a multiracial child growing up in Japan and later, the unwanted attention after her father’s sudden rise to stardom.

The story was adapted into film by writer and director Hideaki Anno and stars Fujitani in the title role.

See the Off Screen movie site for more information on Shiki-Jitsu.

Protesters demonstrate, South Korean President gets set to walk across into North Korea for summit

Protesters of the summit (Lee Jin-man)

A historic event, President Roh Moo Hyun of South Korea will meet with Kim Jong Il in North Korea. This will be only the second time that both a South and North Korean President will have met in a summit - and will be the first time that a South Korean president will actually walk across the border.

More news on the South Korean President’s visit:

• President Roh Moo Hyun of South Korea to meet with Kim Jong Il in North (IHT)


• Roh to Visit Gaeseong Industrial Park (Korean Times)


• Summit Highlights Korean Economic Gap (Associated Press)

Not everyone is happy though about the summit:

Mixed feelings over Korea’s summit

Close to the heavily fortified border that divides the Korean peninsular, a small group of South Koreans are taking it in turns to bow deeply towards the barbed wire.

A few hundred, many of them now very elderly, gather here every year to offer prayers to loved ones from whom they have been separated for more than half a century.

Profile on director Lee Chang-dong

Here’s a quick link to an NY Times article on SK director Lee Chang-dong:

THE South Korean director Lee Chang-dong occupies a unique, somewhat contradictory position in his country’s film scene. As the first filmmaker to serve as South Korean minister of culture (from 2003 to 2004) and a longtime advocate of the quota system that obliges his nation’s theaters to show a minimum number of local films, he has played a central role in the resurgence of Korean cinema.

Nip/Tuck it in South Korea

South Korea has been in the news more lately as their emerging plastic surgery business grows:

South Korea is fast becoming known as the plastic surgery capital of Asia. Now its doctors are looking to China as the next frontier of the cosmetic surgery market. In order to look like this, some Chinese women are turning to surgery. The strength of the beauty industry in South Korea gives them confidence in the surgical procedures. 42-year-old Grace Chen said, "I understand that more than 20 or 30 percent, or even a larger percentage of South Koreans have had plastic surgery. So their doctors should have a lot of experience compared to doctors from other regions or countries."

Here's another article titled Chae Rim's Eyes, Nose Make Korea the Place for Asia Double Lids.

For those eager K-pop and J-pop fans - the new BoA maxi single/cd/dvd hits stores officially in two days on September 26 from places like YesAsia.com.

Don't know BoA?

She's one of the biggest Korean music stars winning awards like Best Hallyu (Korean Wave) Star (2 years in a row) and MTV Asia's Most Influential Asian Artist - as well as taking over not just Korea but countries like Japan and Taiwan as well (she speaks Korean, Japanese, and conversational English)

• BoA on Wikipedia


• BoA official site (Korean)


• BoA-Nation (fan site)

Music Interlude: Amerie’s Gotta Work

Enjoy a break with a music video from Amerie:

From a recent article in Singapore’s The Electric New Paper about Amerie who is 1/2 Korean & 1/2 African American:

In keeping up with her Asian heritage, Amerie, whose mother is Korean and father is African-American, has joined hands with Korean heart-throw Se7en.

Se7en is featured on Amerie’s single Take Control which can be found on the Asian edition of her latest album, Because I Love It.

She takes pride in being half Asian.

‘There aren’t a lot of people in this industry who are of Asian descent,’ she said.

‘I have a lot of Asian-American fans and I’m proud to represent them. Being in Asia now, is something very special for me.’

Her foray into the Korean market doesn’t end here.

‘It would be great if I could collaborate with other Korean singers like Rain and Uhm Jung Hwa in the future.

‘I would love to sing in Korean or even be in a Korean movie,’ said the charismatic singer who can converse in basic Korean.

And she has something in common with Singaporeans - a soft spot for Korean TV dramas.

She added with a laugh: ‘As much as I love Korean dramas like 1942, I can’t watch them all the time. They’re too depressing. Someone’s always crying and yelling. It gets too dramatic sometimes.’