by Christine Kim

Actress Han Ye Seul returned to Korea yesterday, less than 48 hours after leaving the country.

The young actress expressed her remorse for stirring much chaos and distress but remains adamant that she did the right thing.

“I realized nothing would improve unless I took the action I did, so I would like to believe I did the right thing,” Han said, according to soompi.com. “I made the decision amid extreme stress and fear, and I’m sure there are people who would understand my position. I expect to take a lot of heat and criticism for my decision, but I do hope the people in this industry would take this chance to look back at themselves.”

Han arrived on the filming site of Spy Myung Wol on Thursday morning and apologized to each cast and staff member. Although tension initially filled the air, especially between co-star Eric and Han, the actress and crew reconciled their differences during lunch. Han reportedly kneeled on the ground, seeking their forgiveness.

“There were some difficulties in filming that made me feel sad. However, I later found out that it was all a misunderstanding. After causing this incident, I am thankful that I was welcomed warmly when I returned. Even if I opened my heart to everyone, it wouldn’t be enough. I’ll use all the strength I drew from these difficulties to film my parts,“ apologized a tearful Han.

Accepting her back with open arms and bright faces, the staff encouraged her to work harder. Even Eric supported Han with a “Fighting!” Later, the Shinhwa star tweeted on Twitter, asking everyone to do the same.

Now that filming has resumed, dedicated fans can expect to see the show following its normal schedule and Episode 13 on air.

by Christine Kim

Korean American actress Han Ye Seul said she would return to the set of drama “Spy Myung Wol,” ending a wild sequence of events in which the Southern California native abruptly left the show and hopped on a plane to Los Angeles.

Han, known in the United States as Leslie Han Kim, left the production crew in a state of panic when she unexpectedly fled to the United States. Apparently, Han had grown upset with the poor working environment and subsequently decided not to appear for the scheduled filming on Aug. 14.

Yesterday, KBS and the studio held an emergency meeting and considered replacing Han’s character with a new protagonist. Due to the lack of Continue Reading »

Happy Birthday, David Chang! A Look Back at His Biggest Culinary Moments and Controversies
yumsugar

Here’s a slideshow of Momofuku chef David Chang.

‘The Dark Knight Rises’ to Film Scene With Pittsburgh Steelers
The Hollywood Reporter

Hines Ward and members of the Pittsburgh Steelers will appear in the upcoming ‘Batman’ movie.

Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, is adding some professional athletes to its cast.

Members of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers team will be filming a scene in the Warner Bros. film this weekend playing football players at Heinz Field. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and a dozen of his teammates, including Hines Ward, Willie Colon and Maurkice Pouncey, are expected to participate during Saturday’s filming. Thousands of extras will be on hand to play fans.

KBS receives harsh criticisms for airing Korea’s first lesbian drama
allkpop

A new KBS drama called ‘Daughters of Club Bilitis‘ had viewers up in arms over the fact that it contained content relating to same-sex couples.

Moon Bloodgood on ‘Falling Skies’
Crave Online

Here’s a short Q&A with Moon Bloodgood, one of the stars of TNT’s “Falling Skies,” a sci-fi hourlong drama which concluded its first season yesterday.

Crave Online: What brought you to “Falling Skies”?

Moon Bloodgood: Well certainly when you get handed a script and they tell you it’s Bob Rodat and Steven Spielberg, you’re immediately drawn to it. It’s got your attention. I was a little cautious about wanting to do science fiction again. But it was more of a drama story, more of a family story. I liked that and I wanted to work with Spielberg. I liked the idea of playing a doctor and deviating from something I had done already. And I just love the story, the family. It was simple. It wasn’t trying to hard.

Select Korean-Americans to be allowed to exchange letters with their families in N. Korea
Yonhap News

North Korea has agreed to allow 10 Korean-Americans to exchange letters with their families in the communist country whom they have not seen since the Korean War more than a half century ago, a South Korean Red Cross official Saturday.

Margaret Cho ‘Cho Dependent’ Review
The Guardian (U.K.)

From innocence to experience, the cast of last year’s series of the US reality show Dancing with the Stars ran the full gamut. In one corner, sexual abstinence campaigner Bristol Palin. In the other, Margaret Cho, the Korean-American comedian who is to sexual abstinence what Caligula was to good governance. “I want to get f–ked into assisted living,” says Cho, whose Edinburgh show hymns her carnal voracity and her war against the Palinification of the US. Even as her tales of cunnilingus and geriatric sex strain for gaudy effect, it’s a cosy, congratulatory – and enjoyable – affair.

Postwar dreams in a changing Korea
Miami Herald

The Miami Herald reviews Samuel Park’s new novel “This Burns My Heart.”

An assistant English professor at Chicago’s Columbia College and author of the one-act play turned novella turned short film Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Samuel Park displays an affinity for stage and screen in his atmospheric and exuberantly filmic new novel.

Inspired by his mother’s memories, This Burns My Heart cuts a chunky swath of postwar South Korea from 1960 through the ’70s funneled through the life arc of sprightly but initially superficial Soo-Ja Choi. Each scene unfolds visually — in darkened stone interiors, busy hotels and coffee houses — with domineering mothers, maniacal fathers, familiar themes of filial piety and cultural obligation, the inevitably unhappy marriage that was never what it appeared. But since the story is centered on Soo-Ja, she is most sharply in focus and not always sympathetically.

Frenchman Who Teaches Korean Language at SNU
Chosun Ilbo

Marc Duval jokes that his love of the spicy Korean stew kimchi jjigae made him a professor of Korean language at the prestigious Seoul National University.

World-class athletes to gather in Daegu for int’l event
The Korea Herald

Usain Bolt, Yelena Isinbayeva, Asafa Powell and other world-class athletes will gather in Daegu next month to take part in the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Championships.

Free Hank Conger!
ESPN.com

After moving Joel Pineiro to the bullpen, there’s only one obvious move left for the Angels to make. They must free Hank Conger.

As bad as the Angels’ offense has been, it’s their catching that has been especially atrocious in 2011.

Greg Pak’s Epic Run to Conclude with INCREDIBLE HULKS #635
The Daily Blam!

Comic book writer Greg Pak is ending his five-year run as writer of The Incredible Hulks.

Marvel Comics has released advance preview pages for The Incredible Hulk​s #635, the final issue of writer Greg Pak​’s run. The issue hits stores August 31, 2011.

Oldest foreign school in Seoul kicks off its centennial
Yonhap News

Here’s a feature story on the oldest international school in South Korea.

Seoul’s oldest foreign school is turning 100 years old next year, and the school is ready to celebrate the occasion by opening itself up to show how its pioneering academics have shaped 100 years of educating Seoul’s foreign population.

The Arms Race Intrudes on Paradise [OPINION]
New York Times

Gloria Steinem writes an op-ed piece for the Times regarding Jeju Island.

Jeju isn’t called the most beautiful place on earth for nothing. Ancient volcanoes have become snow-covered peaks with pure mountain streams running down to volcanic beaches and reefs of soft coral. In between are green hills covered with wildflowers, mandarin orange groves, nutmeg forests, tea plantations and rare orchids growing wild; all existing at peace with farms, resorts and small cities. Unesco, the United Nation’s educational, scientific and cultural organization, has designated Jeju Island a world natural heritage site.

Now, a naval base is about to destroy a crucial stretch of the coast of Jeju, and will do this to dock and service destroyers with sophisticated ballistic missile defense systems and space war applications. China and South Korea have positive relations at the moment. But this naval base is not only an environmental disaster on an island less than two-thirds the size of Rhode Island, it may be a globally dangerous provocation besides.

U.S. ignores Koreans’ protest in naming sea between Korea, Japan
Yonhap News

Despite a growing furor among Koreans, the U.S. government formally confirmed a policy Monday of calling the waters between Korea and Japan the Sea of Japan.

It’s voting time! Thanks so much to all of you who submitted videos. We were blown away by your talent and humor. We laughed, we cried (OK, we mostly just laughed) — and now we’re so excited to share these clips with the world.

Please vote for your three favorite videos by this Monday, Nov. 16 at 11:59 p.m. PST. You can vote once every 24 hours. The three finalists — two who receive the highest number of votes and one Editors’ Pick — will be announced later that week. We know it’s not a whole lot of time so you gotta get moving. VOTE, VOTE, VOTE! And spread the word!

“Phones before Flowers – 꽃보다 핸”
Writer and director: Roy Choi
DP & Editor: Si Joon Lee
Cast: Paul “PK” Kim, Janet Choi, Roy Choi
Production Assistants: Christine Kim, Rina Lee

“Stairway to Autumn Sonata – Episode 1″
Director & Editor: Ngoc Le
Cast : Peter Lee, Ngoc Le, John Kim, Jacqueline Lum, Alex Lee

“Stairway to Autumn Sonata – Episode 2″
Director & Editor: Ngoc Le
Cast : Peter Lee, Ngoc Le, John Kim, Jacqueline Lum, Alex Lee

“Kim Sam Soon Parody”

Director: Esther Yoo
Editor: Soo Hyun Lee
Cast: Esna Yoon, Paul Ahn

“GOCHU (고추) Trailer”
Director: Andrew Oh
Writer: Shane Yoon
Producers: Annie Kim, Andrew Oh
Associate Producer: Eugene Choi
Cast: Jun Kim, Shane Yoon, Mina Yoo, David Lee Kane, Ben Chang, John Park, David Rhee, Eugene Choi, Juliana Park
Fight Coordinator: Ben Chang
Set Photographer: John Park (www.johnparkphoto.com)
Special thanks to: Eddie Kim, Soobin Kang, Sunny Hong

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14Ejvus6q0M[/youtube]

“Soulmate”
Director: Esther Yoo
Editor: Soo Hyun Lee
Cast: Soo Hyun Lee, Vivian Lee
“C’mon Through” performed by: Lasse Lindh

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvhllXr-MZk[/youtube]

“Omma Dearest 1 – Omma Raci$t?”
Director: Chil Kong
Writer: Charles Kim
Cast: Charles Kim, Jully Lee, Dom Magwili

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8GUTOumv64[/youtube]

“Omma Dearest 2 – Harvard?”
Director: Chil Kong
Writer: Charles Kim
Cast: Charles Kim, Lanny Joon

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG4js1cxtM0[/youtube]

“Omma Dearest 3 – Harvard? Part 2″
Director: Chil Kong
Writer: Charles Kim
Cast: Charles Kim, Lanny Joon, Rick Steadman, Ryun Yu, Erin Quill, Jennifer Holloway, Elpidio Ebuen, Bobby Choy

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqyb3Yp2nZU[/youtube]

“The Fight for Love (scene 7)”
Writer, director, editor: Girard Tecson

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgZfEpnuMf4[/youtube]

“Summer Sonata”
Director: Richard Choi
Producer: Hahn Cho
Editor: Dino DeLorenzo
Cast: Vivian Bang, Randall Park, Hahn Cho

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pt04EC4mRc[/youtube]

“Nocturne of the Stars part 1″
Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer: Ang Xie
Cast: Karen Pan, Czharcus Jones, Leon Horn, Sean Kao

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTDUOXBjM_0[/youtube]

“Nocturne of the Stars part 2″
Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer: Ang Xie
Cast: Karen Pan, Czharcus Jones, Leon Horn, Sean Kao

CONTEST DESCRIPTION

Lust. Envy. Deceit. Amnesia. It must be Korean drama time!

To celebrate the launch of iamKoreAm.com, Verizon Wireless and Asiana Airlines are sponsoring a video contest starring you! Your mission: To create your own K-drama scene.

We want it all—mobsters, catfights, mistaken identities, fatal illnesses, and of course, plenty of over-the-top sobbing. Let your imagination run wild.

So write a script, cast your friends, turn on the video camera and get moving! Clips must be no longer than three minutes and submitted by Nov. 8.

That week, we’ll post the top 10 videos for readers to vote on.

Submit your entry by uploading a video response to this vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0L5xMXcN-M

Three finalists (two that receive that the most votes and one that editors pick) will win two tickets to KoreAm’s exclusive celebrity-studded gala “Unforgettable” in Los Angeles (a $500 value), where their videos will be screened. Attendees will vote for their favorite scene via text messaging. The winner will take home one round-trip ticket to Korea from Asiana Airlines and a Verizon Wireless phone.

The rules and details:

• Scenes must be in English, or subtitled in English.
• You can remake a scene from an existing Korean drama, but try to avoid using the original audio. Dubbing in your own lines is part of the fun!
• Submissions must be original creations. The video must not have been previously submitted, distributed or aired.
• No profanity or sexually-explicit content.
• Videos will be judged on originality, humor and overall impressiveness.

Sponsored by:

JOIN KOREAM