Yang Wins S.Korea's 1st Olympic Gold in Gymnastics

Yang Hak-seon has won South Korea's first ever Olympic gold in gymnastics in the men's vault event at the London Olympics on Monday local time.

In the final of the men's vault event held at the North Greenwich Arena 1, the 19-year-old Yang performed last out of the eight finalists and took the gold with a score of 16-point-533 points.

In his first try out of the two vault attempts, Yang showcased his technically advanced signature move named after him called "The Yang Hak-seon," which is a triple-twisting handspring front somersault.

Korea has competed in gymnastics events since the 1984 LA Olympics but has only won silver and not one gold medal yet.

Russia's Denis Ablyazin took the silver with an average of 16-point-399 points followed by Igor Radivilov of Ukraine at 16-point-316.

Protecting the environment or Protecting the nation

The construction of jeju navy base has still remained as a controversial issue for several years in Korea. Yesterday, IUCN(International Union for Conservation of Nature and Nature Resources) appraised that jeju navy base is inevitable for Korea. 

Korea has pushed forward this project to enhance navy force and to protect territorial sea from Chinese' illegal fishing and secure their sea routes since 2007. jeju navy base is being built as a beautiful harbor to vitalize the economy of jeju island but some environmental and religious organizations and left wing parties have strongly opposed to this project. 

Korean government has had a difficult time pushing it on. I think most of Korean left parties have an intention to use it to destabilize current government and they want to take the advantageous position in the presidential election this year. 

Personally, I support IUCN's opinion and I think jeju navy base should be completed for Korean. Korean don't need to take care of unnecessary and unrelated issues raised by impure protesters. 

Taetiseo's 'Twinkle' Soars Up Charts as Girls' Generation Branches Out

Taetiseo, the unit group of Girls' Generation, on Monday released the music video for "Twinkle," the title track of their first mini-album. The group, comprising Tae-yeon, Tiffany and Seo-hyun, will perform for the first time on cable music channel Mnet on May 3.

Earlier last Friday, the group revealed teaser images of Tae-yeon on YouTube, followed by clips of the other two members -- which garnered 11.47 million total hits as of Monday.

Upon its release Sunday, "Twinkle" immediately jumped to 4th place on U.S. iTunes' album charts, marking the first time a Korean album has achieved the feat. It also drew enthusiastic responses from domestic fans and topped many Korean music sites.

As the size of Asian idol groups swells, so-called unit groups made up of several members of the original band are sprouting up to focus the attention of fans on two or three core members whose exemplary talents may be obscured by the larger outfit.

SM Entertainment, the girl group's agency, said the three members were picked because they possessed outstanding vocal abilities and their voices best fit the song.

"Idol groups are producing unit groups to reveal new sides and charms of their members, free from the fixed image of the original group," said a music industry insider.

SM Entertaiment said, "Tae-yeon, Tiffany, and Seo-hyun are expected to display their vocal abilities and musical talents to the full through the activities of Taetiseo," adding that various unit groups will be formed with other members of Girls' Generation in the future.

Big Bang's GD&TOP, made up of G-Dragon and Top, and After School's Orange Caramel, comprised of Lizzy, Nana and Raina, are other notable examples of Korean unit groups that have achieved success recently.

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/05/01/2012050100720.html

Teenage Girl Becomes Youngest Winner of 'K-Pop Star'

Park Ji-min, a 15-year-old middle school student, won SBS' "K-Pop Star" audition on Sunday to emerge as the youngest winner -- and first female victor -- of any of the nation's recent TV audition shows. Park beat fellow teenager Lee Ha-yi in the final episode that was broadcast live after capturing the attention of world news media and Hollywood celebrities.

She captivated judges immediately with her stage manner and excellent singing skills. When she performed "Rolling in The Deep" by British singer Adele in a preliminary event, two of the three judges -- BoA and Park Jin-young -- hurrahed, an event that even featured of CNN's coverage. Actor Ashton Kutcher also posted the footage on his Twitter account, and the CBS talk show "The Talk" asked Park to appear on the show. When she was picked as the winner, she said she felt like all her hard work had paid off.

Born in Daejeon, Park emigrated to Thailand with her family at the age of five. She seems to have inherited her talent from her parents, who were singers either in popular or Christian music genres.

"We heard that Park's parents like music, so they wanted their daughter to become a good singer as she grew up. They devoted themselves to her education. And Park learned swimming, ballet and golf from her childhood. The family came back to Korea so she could get a good education in music," SBS said.

Park received prize money of W300 million and a luxury car (US$1=W1,135). She will also get the opportunity to release an album through one of the nation's three major management agencies -- SM, YG or JYP. 






Personally, I like Lee hi's performance more than Park ji min's in the final. Lee showed more complete stage than Park did. Park, her high voice is attractive but i felt she squeezed out high voice when she reached a climax.


 the judges admitted that she made some mistakes but they awarded high grades to Park. I felt one of the judges "Park jin young" judged Lee's singing more strictly than Park's. That's unfair. Watching K-POP star, I felt high voice became the most important thing to be a good singer. That doesn't make sense.


 I hope K-POP star season 2 can change their current system to pick out lots of people who have distinctive musical talents. It needs to be a chance for people to appeal their good talents and passion for music and not to be a battle field with music. 

Korean sculptors mesmerized Europe

About 50 Korean sculptors will held an exhibition in Italia Pietrasanta-the sculptors mecca of the world. As you know, Pietrasanta is one of the fantastic resorts for millionaires and the city of the sculptors. Marino Marini ,Henry moore,Fernando Botero, Isamu noguchi those who are representive sculptors working in Pietrasanta. 

Korean sculptors are going to held their own huge exhibition named "K-sculpture to the world" this exhibition will cover lots of Planar and three-dimensional sculptures and people can enjoy a variety of art works of distinctive sculptors. I hope this exhibition can make a chance for artists and audience to communicate the arts actively. 

Korean Denies Marriage to Putin's Daughter Again

A Korean man has once again denied rumors that he is to marry the youngest daughter of Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin.

The rumors, which were widely reported in the press, "are false," Yoon Joon-won (28) told TV Chosun in an interview on Friday. 

Yoon has previously spoken about dating Yekaterina Putin for around 10 years. "But we stopped seeing each other a year and a half ago when the press first reported rumors of our impending marriage," Yoon said. "These days we speak to each other once in a while." 

Some websites on Friday cited intelligence sources here as saying Yoon, the son of a former Korean Navy admiral, was scheduled to marry Putin (26) next month. "I don't know why these rumors keep surfacing even tough I’ve clearly stated they are not true," Yoon said. "I'm in Korea on business and not to prepare for my marriage."

Yoon used to work at the Russian branch of Samsung Electronics but resigned when the story first broke. He is reportedly working for a Russian state-run company now. 

Meanwhile, Yekatarina Putin recently visited Korea and left on Friday, according to some news reports.


http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/04/23/2012042301077.html

Europe's Hot Item-"Korean style dung scoop for pets"

Lately, Scooper that is a paper paddle to clean up dog excrement has been popular in Europe. Every week Scooper comes up in Denmark's TV talk show "Weekend Weekend" and it's become the most popular item among European pet lovers. Scooper looks like a dustpan. So people can clean it up easily without touching. Not only in Denmark but also in other countries it's been well received. Scooper company's been swamped with inquiries and its sales have been increased significantly. Lim jia(the inventor of Scooper) didn't miss inconvenience when people dispose of pets excrement. I hope she can make lots of good stuff like this.

Scooper

 

   Lim jia(the inventor of Scooper)

NKorea military warns of 'special actions' soon

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) - North Korea's military says it will launch "special actions" soon meant to wipe out conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's administration.

The army statement carried by state media Monday said the actions will last 3 to 4 minutes and be carried out "by unprecedented peculiar means and methods of our own style." It gave no more details.

North Korea has issued a steady stream of harsh criticism against Lee and his government. Pyongyang says Lee insulted the North's recent celebrations of the birth centennial of national founder Kim Il Sung.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Korean Drama Wins U.S. TV Festival Award

Korean Drama Wins U.S. TV Festival Award

KBS 2TV drama "Sungkyunkwan Scandal" won the Bronze Award at 2012 New York TV Festival in Las Vegas on Tuesday (local time).

The series follows a woman played by Park Min-young who disguises herself as a man to enter the prestigious Sungkyunkwan national Confucian academy, the Chosun kingdom's highest educational institute, where no women were allowed.

At the award ceremony, producer Kwak Ki-won said, "I hope [the show's] winning the prize will help the Korean Wave, currently sweeping across Asia, spread worldwide."

      

Military unveils strategic missiles

Deployed indigenous missiles can cover all targets in North Korea The South Korean military on Thursday unveiled two indigenous strategic missiles in a show of force against North Korea, which has increased its military threats through its ongoing pursuit of long-range missiles and nuclear weapons. In a 40-second video clip, it showed the successful flight and intercepting performance of a cruise missile and a ballistic missile, but did not elaborate on their names and technical specifications, citing security policies. The video presentation came after the communist state’s botched rocket launch last Friday and its display of a new intercontinental ballistic missile last Sunday during a ceremony marking the centennial of the birth of its national founder Kim Il-sung. “Now, our military has indigenously developed and deployed a cruise missile with the world’s top precision and striking capabilities that is capable of hitting all areas of North Korea in promptly,” Major Gen. Shin Won-sik, the Defense Ministry’s policy planning director general, said during a press conference. “With the missile capabilities, our military will maintain the robust preparedness and sternly retaliate should the North launch another reckless provocation.”

The Defense Ministry unveils two indigenous strategic missiles, ballistic       (left photo) and cruise, through a video clip at its main building in seoul on Thursday. (MND)

The military has completed all filed tests of the two missiles successfully, Shin stressed.

“We unveiled the clip and revealed the fact that we have deployed them because we want to show our strong resolve not to be swayed by North Korea’s missile threats and other provocative schemes,” he said.

Highlighting its precision attack capability, Shin explained that the cruise missile can hit a window hundreds of kilometers away, and that it can cover all areas in the North with the capability to “hit the right target at the right time with the desired level of lethality.”

South Korea’s military is said to have deployed two Hyunmoo-series cruise missiles ― Hyunmoo-3A with a range of 500 kilometers and Hyunmoo-3B with a range of 1,000 km. It has also been developing Hyunmoo-3C missile with a range of some 1,500 km.

Observers say that the cruise missile appears to have a range of more than 1,000 km to bring all core targets in the North in striking range.

The video clip also showed that the ballistic missile with a range of 300 kilometers accurately hit a ground target. Shin explained that it is capable of devastating an area tens of times larger than a soccer field.

“The ballistic missile is fired from a mobile vehicle. It is stronger than the U.S.-made ATACMS guided missiles” he said.

The ATACMS missile with a range of 300 kilometers is capable of destroying an area about four times larger than a soccer field.

President Lee Myung-bak also watched the clip as he visited the state-run Agency for Defense Development for policy briefing earlier in the day. Observers said that his visit to the agency sends a warning message to the North, which has hinted in recent weeks at the possibility of a third nuclear test.

“Korea is the only divided country in the world and faces the most bellicose force. Whatever North Korea says, our people believe that we surpass them in various aspects,” Lee told ADD officials.

“When we have strength, we can deter the enemy’s provocations. Then, (North Korea) can not behave thoughtlessly (towards the South).”

The North has continuously hardened its bellicose rhetoric. Its military’s supreme command issued a statement on Wednesday, threatening to “blow away everything in Seoul.”

The statement was in response to South Korea’s conservative group’s recent performance in which it satirized Pyongyang’s hereditary power succession and the recent rocket launch.

Pyongyang’s unveiling on Sunday of its new ICMB also led to more calls for revising the bilateral missile pact between South Korea and the U.S. The allies are currently discussing the revision.

Under a 2001 revision to the initial agreement, signed in 1979, Seoul is banned from developing ballistic missiles with a range of more than 300 kilometers. It also stipulates that a payload must weigh no more than 500 kilograms, apparently to prevent the development of nuclear warheads.

With the ballistic missile ban, Seoul has instead focused on cruise missiles such as Hyunmoo-3C missiles with a range of 1,500 km. But cruise missiles are less powerful than ballistic ones and easily intercepted due to their slow speed.

Experts believe that the new North Korean ICBM appears to have a similar or longer range than its Taepodong-2 missile ― presumed to have a range of more than 6,700 kilometers, long enough to hit parts of Alaska, but still short of reaching the U.S. mainland.

South Korea needs to have a good missile to cover the whole area of North Korea and these new missiles will be helpful to protect people and its territories from North Korea's provocations. North Korea has shown off its military power and looked down on South Korea's military force. As South Korea unveiled its new progressed missiles, It would be difficult for North Korea to try to attack straightly. 

UN Security Council Expands N.Korea Sanctions

The UN Security Council has "strongly condemned" North Korea's failed rocket launch and unanimously agreed to expand sanctions against the increasingly isolated nation. 

On Friday, the council issued a brief condemnation of the rocket launch that lasted a few minutes and ended in embarrassment for Pyongyang when the missile burst into pieces and rained down over the West Sea. But the Security Council warned that it was not done addressing the matter.

Early Monday, the most powerful UN body convened and adopted what is known as a presidential statement, which has the backing of all 15 members, including North Korea's ally, China.

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, who heads the council this month, told reporters that if North Korea chooses to again defy the international community, the Security Council will act accordingly.

"The swift and unanimous adoption of this strong presidential statement shows that the international community is united in sending a clear message to North Korea that such provocations are serious and totally unacceptable. Critically, the Security Council made clear that there that will be consequences for any future North Korean launch or nuclear test," stated Rice.

She said the council will impose additional sanctions as a result of Pyongyang's failure to comply with existing Security Council resolutions.

"To ensure that there is a consequence for North Korea's launch, this PRST [presidential statement] also provides for new sanctions. The Security Council directed its North Korea sanctions committee to designate additional North Korean entities, including companies, to be subject to an asset freeze, as well as to identify additional proliferation-sensitive technology to be banned for transfer to and from North Korea," said Rice. "The committee will also take several other actions to improve enforcement of existing sanctions."

Ambassador Rice said the United States would be among countries proposing a "robust package" of new designations to the sanctions committee in the coming days.

But a UN analyst with the Century Foundation, Jeffrey Laurenti, does not think the modest tightening of sanctions alone would significantly change North Korea's behavior. 

"The one hope against hope, is that in this crucial moment in North Korea's own internal political transition, that a signal that even China is aboard a tightening of the screws could lead the newly-ratified Kim Jong Un to reassess whether reliance on the militarist side of the regime is his best long term strategy for survival," noted Laurenti.

The council also called on North Korea to immediately comply fully with existing council resolutions, including that it abandon all nuclear weapons and existing programs in a "complete, verifiable and irreversible manner." The council demanded that North Korea not conduct any further launches that use ballistic missile technology, conduct any nuclear tests or carry out any "further provocation."

In 2006 and 2009, North Korea followed rocket launches with nuclear tests.

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/04/17/2012041700398.html

China did a good job. I think China will offer a tepid response to this problem as always.
It would be difficult to change North Korea by imposing tightened sanctions on their provocations. Because China always takes North Korea's part and hardly give a hand to punish North Korea with other countries. the harsher North Korea's actions are, the darker its future is.

Kim Jong-un Makes 1st Public Speech

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivered his first public speech on Sunday after a massive military parade marking the centenary of nation founder Kim Il-sung. Kim read monotonously for 20 minutes in front of a crowd of more than 100,000 people.

The speech was peppered with references to his father Kim Jong-il's "songun" or military-first doctrine. He said the time when nuclear arms could be used to threaten his country was "forever gone" and called for strengthening the songun doctrine by placing the "first, second and third" priority on military might. "The self-reliance of the nation is more valuable" than peace, he added.

A government official here said Kim Jong-un appeared to be emulating his grandfather Kim Jong-il, who used to deliver a speech to North Koreans every New Year’s Day. Kim Jong-il, by contrast, rarely spoke publicly.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (right) salutes a mass military parade in Pyongyang's Kim Il-sung Square to the centenary of his grandfather and North Korean founder Kim Il-sung on Sunday. /AP-Newsis

Various props were mobilized during the parade to conjure up images of the Kim Il-sung era, which was a comparative heyday for the impoverished country. Top brass were decked out in white uniforms reminiscent of the nation founder's attire in the 1950, and the columns of troops and mounted cavalry were dressed in uniforms worn during partisan combat against Japanese colonial forces. 

The military-first ideology was symbolized by an intercontinental ballistic missile that was unveiled for the first time at the parade. 

Kim began his speech with the words, "Bold soldiers of the People's Army, Navy, Air Force and Strategic Rocket forces." It was the first time the expression "strategic rocket forces" has cropped up, showing, according to a South Korean intelligence official said, that North Korea created a fourth military branch that handles nuclear weapons and missiles. "Kim Jong-un is likely to focus even more on developing nuclear weapons and missiles than his father did," the official added.

Kim jung un just imitated his grandfather Kim il sung and he looked so immature as a leader. His voice had no power and he had shacked his body side to side. During his speech, he just looked down and stared at the script. It seems like that he'll remain as a trouble maker like his father. He may have planned another provocation to show off his power and North Korea's military force to the world. However, except for China and Russia, Most of countries are sick of that way to solve their own problems resulted from dictatorship and communism.

North Korea's launching was a humiliation

North Korean rocket launch failed

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- Defying international concerns, North Korea fired a long-range rocket early Friday, but it appears to have fallen into the sea, splintering moments after takeoff, South Korean and U.S. officials said.

The liftoff took place at 7:39 a.m. (2139 GMT Thursday) from the west coast launch pad in the hamlet of Tongchang-ri, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said, citing South Korean and U.S. intelligence.

The two countries as well as many others had warned against the launch, calling it a provocation and a cover to test missile technology. North Korea had insisted it would not back down, and said the rocket would only carry a satellite, touting it as a major technological achievement to mark the 100th birth anniversary of the country's founder, Kim Il Sung, on Sunday.

Still, if the U.S. report of a failure, backed by Japan and South Korea, is true, it would be a major embarrassment for Pyongyang, which has invited dozens of international journalists to observe the rocket launch and other celebrations.

It has staked its pride on the satellite launch seen as a show of strength amid persistent economic hardship as Kim Il Sung's grandson, Kim Jong Un, solidifies power following the death of his father, longtime leader Kim Jong Il, four months ago.

``It blows a big hole in the birthday party,'' said Victor Cha, former director for Asia policy in the U.S. National Security Council, contacted in Washington. ``It's terribly embarrassing for the North.''

He said the next step would be to watch whether North Korea would conduct a nuclear test, as has been speculated by the South Korean intelligence community. North Korea is reportedly making preparations for such a test soon.

``We have to watch very carefully what they are doing now at the nuclear test site and how they explain this with all those foreign journalists in the country,'' Cha said.

In Pyongyang, there was no word about a launch, and at the time, state television was broadcasting video of popular folk tunes. North Korean officials said they would make an announcement about the launch ``soon.''

It had earlier said that the rocket would be fired any day between April 12 and April 16. The daily window was supposed to be 9 a.m. to noon.

South Korea's Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said the rocket launch was confirmed a ``failure.'' He provided no details.

But earlier, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters the rocket splintered into pieces moments after takeoff.

North Korea fired a long-range rocket early Friday, April 13, 2012, South Korean defense officials said, defying international warnings against a launch widely seen as a provocation. (Yonhap Photo)

In Washington, a U.S. official also said the launch appeared to have failed. The official offered no further details and would not discuss the source of the U.S. information.

``We suspect the North Korean missile has fallen as it divided into pieces minutes after liftoff,'' Tokyo, which was prepared to shoot down any rocket flying over its territory, also confirmed a launch from North Korea.

``We have confirmed that a certain flying object has been launched and fell after flying for just over a minute,'' Japan's Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka said. He said there was no impact on Japanese territory.

North Korean space officials said the Unha-3 rocket is meant to send a satellite into orbit to study crops and weather patterns _ its third bid to launch a satellite since 1998. Officials took foreign journalists to the west coast site to see the rocket and the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite Sunday in a bid to show its transparency amid accusations of defiance.

``For all their advanced technology, these rockets are fairly fragile things,'' said Brian Weeden, a technical adviser at Secure World Foundation who is a former Air Force officer at the U.S. Space Command. ``You're looking at a metal cylinder that has fairly thin walls that contains a lot of high pressure liquid.''

Weeden said the launch appeared to be a failure of both space and missile objectives.

``The earlier it breaks up, the less data you've collected, so the less useful that test is likely to be,'' he said. ``It's very likely that the U.S. and its allies probably gathered more info about this test than the North Koreans have.''

He said U.S. and other nations had been poised to keep close watch on the launch to gather intelligence about the state of North Korea's rocket program.

The United States, Britain, Japan and others have called such a launch a violation of U.N. resolutions prohibiting North Korea from nuclear and ballistic missile activity.

Experts say the Unha-3 carrier is the same type of rocket that would be used to launch a long-range missile aimed at the U.S. and other targets. North Korea has tested two atomic devices but is not believed to have mastered the technology needed to mount a nuclear warhead on a long-range missile.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking for the Group of Eight nations after their foreign ministers met in Washington, said Thursday that all the members of the bloc agreed to be prepared to take further action against North Korea in the Security Council if the launch went ahead.

``Pyongyang has a clear choice: It can pursue peace and reap the benefits of closer ties with the international community, including the United States; or it can continue to face pressure and isolation,'' Clinton said.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak was convening an emergency security meeting, officials said.


http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20120413000172

What an awesome humiliation it is!  I'm sure that will be the most hilarious thing in this year. I think North Korea just launched it to take their anger out on the whole of countries because they haven't received food aid recently and most of countries have turned their back on North Korea. So, launching the rocket was a show to threat and draw the notice of other countries. Due to the reckless launching, North Korea's future is getting dark.

is this video a parody?

Gymnast Son Yeon-jae Becomes Cover Girl for French Magazine

      Son Yeon-jae appears as a cover model for the April edition of 
                                           Le Gymnaste. 


Rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae has appeared as a cover model for this month's edition of an officially sanctioned French gymnastics magazine.

"Son was selected as the model for the cover of the April edition of Le Gymnaste, a monthly magazine in France published by the French Gymnastics Federation [FFG]," her management agency IB Sports said on Monday.

The magazine allotted four pages to Son's pictures and interview as it reported in detail on the recent developments of the Korean star.

An official from the magazine said, "We were very impressed by a gymnast who only finished 32nd in the World Championships in Moscow in 2010, but who won a ticket to the London Olympics at the next worlds one year later. We chose Son as our cover model as we thought she has great potential."

Son finished 11th in the individual all-around at the 2011 World Championships in Montpellier, France, last September to book her berth at this year's Summer Games. The top 15 finishers automatically qualified for the Olympics.

Meanwhile, at the 2012 Grand Prix in Thiais, France, which ended on Monday, Son advanced to the finals in three disciplines but failed to grab a medal. She ranked fourth in the ball routine with 27.525 points, eighth in hoop with 26.875 points, and ninth in ribbon with 27.200 points to finish 11th in the individual all-around.

At the previous Grand Prix in Moscow in February, Son won the bronze medal in hoop, becoming the first Korean to medal in an individual event final at an international competition.

The Thiais GP is administered by the FFG but is not recognized by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). However, most of the world’s top gymnastics, including Russian stars Yevgeniya Kanayeva and Daria Kondakova, participated this year in the run-up to the Olympics.

Let's see her beautiful performance. Her capability grows fast every year. She is loved by people as much as Korean figure star Kim yu na. She is noticed as a rising gymnast to win the medal in the world competition. I'm looking forward to her next performance.

Big Bang and 2NE1 release albums in Japan

                                                                                                    2NE1

       Big Bang

Pop groups Big Bang and 2NE1 released their new albums in Japan on Wednesday.

Big Bang’s latest album, “Alive,” includes “Feeling,” a collaborative effort among Big Bang’s G-Dragon, Top and world-famous German artist Boys Noize,“ that has been selected as the opening theme song for Japanese TV animation series ”Transformers:Prime.“

2NE1’s first regular album in Japan, ”Collection,“ features 12 songs including a reinterpretation of Madonna’s ”Like a Virgin“ and a remix of Japanese electronic artist M-flo’s ”She’s So (Outta Control),“ and ”Scream.“

M-flo member Verbal was involved in the making of both ”Alive“ and ”Collection,“ writing Japanese lyrics for Big Bang’s ”Fantastic Baby“ and 2NE1’s ”Scream,“ according to YG Entertainment.

Big Bang and 2NE1 are scheduled to perform at Spring Groove, a music festival in Kobe on March 31 and Chiba on April 1, joining world-famous artists such as LMFAO and David Guetta.

Big Bang is scheduled to hold concerts in Nagoya, Yokohama, Osaka, Saitama and Fukuoka in May as part of its ”2012 Big Bang Alive Tour in Japan.“

I really like big bang and 2ne1!  l love their songs and styles. They 're something different with other KPOP groups. They're so creative and outstanding in music and fashion etc. Recently i have listened to Big Bang's songs. Fantastic Baby became my favorite song. I don't  understand lyrics fully. but i  can  enjoy the song itself.  

Stop missile tests or we will end food aid, Obama tells North Korea

U.S. President Obama has stopped the plan of supplying food aid to North Korea in exchange for their ceasing missile testing. According to diplomatic reports in the Tokyo news source Shimun, the launch is imminent.


Korea has moved the rocket to a launch pad in Tongchang-ri in the northwest and has begun injecting it with liquid fuel in anticipation of an April 12 or 13 launch.
The report came after North Korea insisted on Tuesday it would go ahead with what it says is a satellite launch, disregarding a call from President Barack ObamaBarack Obama to drop the plan and accusing him of a "confrontational mindset."


The US has suspended plans to send food aid to North Korea, saying it has broken a promise to halt missile launches and cannot be trusted to give the help to those who need it, a Pentagon official said yesterday.


The launch is viewed by the West and Asian neighbors like Japan as a preliminary to testing ballistic missile technology.
South Korea is reporting on the issue as well, as President Obama met with the South Korean President. “North Korea will put itself into deeper isolation, make promised American food aid unlikely and face possible international sanctions if it goes ahead with a long-range rocket launch.”


The threatened liftoff, if pressed ahead, will "only deepen North Korea's isolation, damage further relations with its neighbors and seriously undermine prospects of future negotiations," Obama said during a joint news conference after summit talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

"I'll simply say North Korea will achieve nothing by threats or by provocations," President Obama said, according to Yonhap news agency.


I support what obama said, North Korea is totally wrong. No country believes that it is a satellite. I heard that North Korea took the same technology to make missiles into it. North Korea just wants to test ICBM not a satellite. As far as i know, North Korea had tested fake satellite several times and those were turn out to be missiles. North Korea should stop talking lies and try to make positive changes. 

World Banker "Kim yong"

Lately, Kim young-Dartmouth university principal nominated as the president of World Bank has been highly noticed. He is a Korean who overcame adversities and achieved American Dream. The world's media and many countires have a common view that he is able to enhance the position of World Bank. 

Since he assumed the presidency in Dartmouth college, he has led the innovation of the college bringing in his diverse experiences. For instance, he led the campaign to fight Tuberculosis of South America and was in charge of AIDS in WHO for leading the growth of developing countries. I think he isn't very outstanding but he is a considerate and devoted person to lead World Bank well. I hope he can achieve good results in the position. 

Why doesn't Japan apologize for historic brutalities?

Japan has claimed Dokdo belongs to itself and published three more high school textbooks including this assertion. I think Japan's thoughtless remarks reached its peak. According to International law, Korea has dominated Dokdo and it obviously belong to Korea historically and geographically. However, Japan has said that Dokdo is in dispute with Korea on the textbooks for teaching young students distorted historical facts. More shocking point is that Japan strongly insults China when China declares the sovereignty about Diaoyudao which is actually ruled by Japan.

"Mine is Mine and Yours is also Mine" is this Japanese style? What the hell this? I heard that many japanese is preparing for the movement Busan, Korea to live without any worries about earthquakes and radioactivity. It is very unconscionable. Japan should stop claiming about Dokdo and look back on its shameful past as a leader country.