After 85 days of ‘he said/she said/they said’ allegations, accuser “A” dropped her case of sexual assault against actor Park Shi-hoo and his hoobae. He had gone from the top of his field with successful performances in hit consecutive K-dramas The Prosecutor Princess, The Princess’ Man, and Cheondam-dong Alice to the lows of being a suspected rapist. Making no assumptions as to who was lying or not, I would have to say that the handling of the case was terrible with so much information leaked to the media making a circus out of a serious charge.
Park Shi-hoo has in turn dropped his counter suit against ‘A’ and is trying to settle all the other suits that came up during the case with his former agency (who he suspected of colluding with his accuser) and “A”s friend “B” who turned from vocal supporter of “A” to vocal opponent as “B” claimed that she was lied to by “A.” We’ll probably never know the truth about what really happened, if the victim was really “A” or Park Shi-hoo, but one thing is certain–Park Shi-hoo’s reputation has suffered a tremendous blow no matter what. (Hankooki, OBSNews)
And now, on to more news in the K-popiverse.
In Fandom:
- Will Smith and son, Jaden, were in South Korea to promote their movie After Earth at a red carpet event on the 7th for the movie that will premiere in Korea on the 30th. At their request, Jay Park participated in singing the ending title song for the OST “I Like to Party.” Will Smith’s brother-in-law’s wife is Korean and she recommended a few artists from which Jay was selected for the song. Before the big event, they found their way to YG Entertainment for a visit as Jaden is a fan of G-Dragon, Big Bang and 2NE1. (SportsWorld, The Star)
- In other YG Entertainment news, 2NE1 released a series of mysterious teaser videos called 2NE1Loves which some are guessing might be a collaboration with Chrome Hearts. YG also released a mysterious teaser image (they must be the mysterious company) on YG Life labeled Who’s Next, alluding to the come back or debut of Taeyang, 2NE1, Kang Seung-yoon, CL, or a new YG Artist on May 28, 2013.
In K-pop:
- Making comebacks this week: N-SONIC with “Lie,” the Nine Muses went “Wild,” Yoo Seung-woo greeted fans with “Hello,” 4Men get romantic with the “Propose Song,” As One sang of “Awkward Love” and B1A4 made an impressive come back with a fun MV for “What’s Happening.”
- Undoubtedly one of K-pop’s royalty, Lee Hyori returned after a three year hiatus following the plagiarism controversy surrounding her last release H-Logic. She pre-released “Miss Korea,” which she composed herself, as a precursor to her 5th studio album Monochrome which will be released on May 21st.
- BEG‘s Jea sang a “Secret Note” for the OST of When a Man Loves, miss A‘s Suzy released “Don’t Forget Me” for the Gu Family Book OST and Lena Park released “My Everything” for the OST of We Got Married‘s Global Edition.
- Teasing were Shinhwa with “This Love” from their upcoming release The Classic and rookie boy band Attack teased with “Hello Hello.“
- 2PM‘s Taecyeon released a song, “The Wait” onto 2PM’s official fan cafe as a thanks to fans for waiting for their comeback.
- Nega Network‘s new boy band, LC9, released their debut song “MaMa Beat” featuring BEG‘s Ga-in. The MV got a 19+ rating for it’s Fight Club-esque concept which might not have been the best idea because we all know what the first rule of Fight Club is and that doesn’t go well with a debuting group who wants to be talked about.
Super Junior‘s Yesung entered Jeonbuk Jeonju’s 35th division on May 6th for his four weeks of training before serving 23 months as a public service worker to fulfill his military duty. His members didn’t accompany him because he wanted a quiet enlistment, but still many fans showed up to send off this Super Junior who were admittedly disappointed when they were barely able to catch a glimpse of him as he drove into the camp. Seriously, if he didn’t want people to show up he should’t have released the date of his enlistment and go all ninja like Yoo Seung-ho. (OSEN)
- Shinhwa‘s Andy made an apology for stirring up controversy when he revealed on a radio show that someone from JYP Entertainment with the initial “S” hit on Teen Top‘s Niel. Of course this sparked a lot of unrest as netizens tried to figure out who it was with rumors of it being the Wonder Girl‘s Sohee, maybe Suzy, or maybe the reason San E left JYPE? The San E rumor was actually started by the rapper himself as a joke and for some attention as his first release outside of JYPE approaches.
In Love:
- Although denying rumors of a forthcoming marriage just days earlier, it was announced that actress Han Hye-jin (31) will indeed be tying the Knot with her younger professional soccer star boyfriend of four months Ki Sung-yeung (24) this July. The two met on her variety show Healing Camp where he confessed that she was his ideal type. What caused some gossip about their relationship was the fact that she just ended a 9 year relationship with singer Naul of Brown Eyed Soul in December of 2012 and then started dating Ki Sung-yeung in January of 2013. Meh, I say you gotta hold on to love when you find it. Congratulations to the couple! (Hankyung)
In K-drama:
- In an appearance on variety show Thank You, actress Ha Ji-won replied that some of the actors she wants to work with in the future are Song Joong-ki and Big Bang‘s T.O.P. You and us all, honey.
- The first teasers of the celebrity packed upcoming K-drama Shark starring Kim Nam-gil and Son Ye-jin have been released. The story is of murder, love and betrayal–dangerous waters to tread. The show will be a Monday/Tuesday drama for KBS and will debut on May 27 taking over the spot left after the conclusion of The Queen of the Office.
On Earth:
As BABYs in the USA were treated to their favorite aliens’ appearance in LA as the first stop of the Verizon APAHM Tour featuring B.A.P. on May 7th at Club Nokia. Hmm, do you think the fan were excited? The tour has a stop tonight in San Francisco (Have fun Nabeela!) and will continue on to New York and Washington DC next week.
