Choi Jin Young, 39, was found dead at his home in Southern Seoul on Sunday, according to The Korea Times. The singer and actor was discovered hanging from the ceiling of his apartment by Seoul police who noticed red markings around his neck. A full autopsy report is currently undergoing to find the full cause of the star’s death.

Choi, the younger sibling of the late Choi Jin Shil–S. Korea’s sweetheart–died almost two years after his sister hung herself on Oct. 2, 2008. Both were 39-years-old.

Known for his charm and humor in dramas like 2007′s “It’s Okay To Be Loved,” and his chart-topping hits from his records as his stage-name, SKY, Choi was adored by fans for his resemblance to his older and more famous sibling.

The star was said to be going through deep depression after his sister’s death, and even attempted suicide on his sister’s birthday last year. He was undergoing treatment and was determined to make a comeback later this year.

The tragedy of this story lies around Choi Jin Shil and her life as an abused wife who was brutally chided by netizens and also linked to a financial scandal with fellow actor, Ahn Jae-hwan, who was said to have had millions in debts. The latter actor also took his own life in 2008.

For the 2NE1 fans who have been waiting countless months for the group’s next video to debut, here it finally is! Having debuted the song about a month ago in a Samsung Corby commercial, the new song is saturated with auto-tune infused voices stuffed with synthesizers and electronic beats in the background. Call it a ‘Fire’ pt II if you will, the new joint is indeed catchy, but is nothing new or trendsetting–I’ll even dare to say the song and video is too ‘safe.’ But in true 2NE1 style, it’s cutesy without being too nauseous, and fierce without being too affected. And let’s not forget the ridiculous amount of outfits! From Minzy’s signature bold razor-sharp peaked shouldered jackets, to Dara in Darth Vader-inspired hip hop gear, to CL suspiciously sporting Lady Gaga-like wear not only once or twice–thrice!–to splashes of blaxploitation notes in-between this is definitely an epically sartorial video indeed!

Click to see the crazy clothes!

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The five-members who compose the quirky if not awkward girl group called 4 Minute, are proving that they have more staying power than we initially thought. The leader undeniable is ex-Wonder Girls leader, Hyuna, who recently had some minor success on her own solo career. As for the other minions we felt that no one had any ounce of talent–or ferocity–other than their own answer to 2NE1′s CL, Jiyoon.

The band has been doing surprisingly well, with Universal Music even backing their endeavors. With a newly announced Japanese album on the way, tours throughout Asia, and a cameo on U.S. singer, Amerie’s “Heard Em All,” the girls are trying to prove that they’re worth more than the 4 Minutes anyone else has been giving them.

This is the last post in the three part series. See Part I and Part II.

Historically, YG has never been one of the top record labels. True, they have been in the top three for the past decade but never seemed to have had the extra umph to trump SM and JYP in terms of having a roster of all-around megastar acts. Because of their heavy focus on hip hop, a niche genre, they have had difficulty appealing to the mainstream. Enter Big Bang and 2NE1. Two groups that have soared past the pop stratosphere and became overnight sensations. With Big Bang’s members also venturing off into very successful solo careers, and 2NE1 just whetting the appetites of Korean fans, does 2010 seem full of promise? You know the drill! Below, we score the former Seo Taiji Band star’s label.

In 2009:

-Big Bang scores high in Japan and receives the rookie award. +10

-2NE1′s debut becomes one of the hyped and successful in Korean pop history. +10

-Don’t know what’s more embarrassing for G-Dragon: the act of copyrighting in itself, or having had copied a song like Flo Rida’s “Right Round.” -9

-Big Bang’s members have extreme success with their solo activities with television hosting gigs, movie roles, solo music careers, and this. +8

-2NE1 sets off a national craze with “I Don’t Care” eh eh eh eh are. +8

-…And the same song is also sued for copyrighting infringement from Lionel Richie. -8

-The Dragon is going straight to jail. Er, maybe. -5

- Negative five points to 2NE1 just for my fear of lead singer, Park Bom’s collagen-filled lips — ticking time bomb just waiting to burst.-5

- We get that you like girls, Se7en, but do you have to bang it on the head that indeed, you like them girls? -9

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=depOL5JsTXk[/youtube] Continue Reading »

By David Yi
As we have written before, there has been a smorgasbord of awesomely good musical acts throughout the past decade–one with too many instances of gayo goodness, graciously sprinkled with enough saccharine pop to give even Fat Tiffany the biggest of hypoglycemic comas. And that’s saying something.

But with so many hit tracks that came out of the small Asian peninsula comes the age-old adage of whether Korean music has evolved into something fantastic or something really elastic (er, bad). [Warning: long-winded sentence ahead!]Since there’s no way to really gauge if it has gotten better, as we can’t look to album sales for any type of indication (Korea’s top selling album of 2009, Super Junior’s ‘Sorry, Sorry,’ barely missed the 120k mark, the equivalent of general first week album sales in the U.S.), and being that musical taste is highly subjective, what we can do is look at this past year alone (one that’s labeled the ‘golden year for Korean music’) to determine just how K-Pop fared.

To do so, we’ll allocate points accordingly to Korea’s big three labels: JYP, SM, and YG, as to how well they performed in the last year of the decade. And since 2009 had so many successful musical acts who debuted outside of these behemoths, we’ll lump all of them in a separate category as ‘other.’ Below, we highlight the good, the bad, and the mot nan (fugly) of the past year. At the end of the report, we’ll give you a final grade on how well each fared and what the future holds for Korean pop in 2010!

In 2009:

-The Wondergirls officially sign under the Jonas Brothers’ music group after touring with them across the country. Young girls across the nation are still puzzled by their unbeweavably retro bobs. +10

-A Billboard.biz report comes out ranking The Wondergirls #1 on their year end chart– which probably means zilch when singles like Mimi’s awful “Obsessed” is right behind at #3 and the equally absurd “Stanky Legg” at a solid #5. You do the math. -2 Continue Reading »

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