Culture

20120820_seoulbeats_bigbang_top

Smokin’ Hot or Smokin’ Not: Idols on Their Not-so-Best Behavior

The harsh policies idols and actors abide to keep their clean image leave sometimes little room for their less popular behavior. In this context, the ...

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20120820_seoulbeats_snsd_jessica

Korean Through K-pop 101: Don’t Call My Name

If you read my last treatise on the various intricacies and idiosyncrasies surrounding speech formality in the Korean language, congratulations! You’re practically guaranteed to not insult your ...

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Return to the Mainstream: Kang Ho-dong’s Resurrection

Variety shows and programs are indeed one of the ways in which we can get in touch with our favourite K-pop idols and artists. In ...

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South Korea Liberation Day

Gwangbokjeol and K-Politics in Japan

 August 15th marks in the Korean calendar Gwangbokjeol, or Liberation Day, which commemorates the ending of the Japanese colonial rule and the creation of the ...

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20120816_seoulbeats_haha_byul

The Many Surprises of K-pop Weddings

I’ve been to quite a few weddings in my lifetime, and they’ve always been beautiful and emotionally momentous events. However news of a wedding has sometimes ...

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A Diva Is A Female Version Of…?

My fellow writer Natalie recently wrote about the divas of K-pop: idols who were bold, witty, snarky and bloody good dancers. These qualities were all ...

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About G.NA’s Malnutrition and Fans’ Hypocrisy

Idols promote themselves as attractive just as much as they claim to be talented. Completely unsurprisingly, sometimes their work to maintain their figure goes that ...

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20120809_seoulbeats_taejinah

Trot: The Original K-pop

By now, there probably aren’t many diehard K-pop fans who haven’t heard 2NE1‘s latest single, “I Love You.”   As with many 2NE1 releases, it blends ...

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The Best Things About K-pop Fans

If there’s one thing I’m guilty of, it’s being overly critical of K-pop fans. I’ve harped on their terrible YouTube etiquette, their obsession with idols’ ...

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20120806_seoulbeats_mysassygirl

Korean through K-pop 101: Navigating Speech Formality

In my daily perusal of all things related to Korean entertainment, I recently chanced upon an article stating that the Korean Communications Standards Commission (KCSC), ...

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