Super Junior achieved an enormous amount of selling about 160,000 copies of single album ‘Opera’ in Japan within a week of its release. The album was released in Japan on May 9.

BARKS, a Japanese music website announced “Super Junior’s single ‘Opera’ grabbed 3rd spot on this week’s Oricon weekly single chart and this marks Super Junior’s third time to enter the top 3 of the weekly single chart. Following ‘BONAMANA,’ and ‘Mr. Simple.’”

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Continuing on, “The album first week sales of ‘Opera’ recorded to about 160,000 copies breaking the record of the last single ‘Mr. Simple’ which sold 89,000 copies. This is the best-selling single of this year released by K-Pop artist.”

Also this was achieved by Super Junior who hasn’t officially debut or gone through any form of promotion in Japan, making such accomplishment more meaningful. The group proved its popularity in Japan as their recent performance in Tokyo Dome for 2 nights on May 12-13 ticket sales surpass even that of Lady Gaga drawing in 110,000 fans.

Park Ji Min and Lee Ha Yi, the winner and runner-up of SBS’ K-Pop Star, revealed a self-written song expressing the pains of going on a diet.

Park Ji Min, who appeared on the May 15 broadcast of SBS’ Strong Heart, said, “We were stressed out a lot because of our diets while on K-Pop Star.”

Witness Baek Ah Yeon then stepped forth to say, “Ji Min and [Lee] Ha Yi were stressed after seeing a chocolate cookie when they were on a diet, and they wrote a song about it.”

The Chocolate Cookie Song, revealed for the first time this day, was basically everything one would expect – a whole boatload of cute.

Lee Ha Yi sat in front of the piano with a bare face and casual clothes, drumming on the keyboard passionately, while Park Ji Min sang out her desire for chocolate cookies.

The two sang, “I found chocolate cookies in my room. Why are you made of chocolate? You think fat people are mean? We’re angels too! Don’t look down on us because we’re fat. We’ll eat Korean food, Japanese food, Chinese food and French food!”

Netizens who saw the broadcast were caught up in the charms of the two teenage girls. ‘I laughed so hard at the Chocolate Cookie Song’, ‘Park Ji Min and Lee Ha Yi were both lovely’ and ‘Kids are prettiest when they’re acting like the kids they are,’ they stated.

In the same episode of Strong Heart, Baek Ah Yeon and Lee Michelle fought over the ‘Hip-hop cub’ Lee Seung Hoon, and Kim Na Yoon confessed in tears how she was hurt by malicious comments.

Photo credit: SBS

Reporter : Jeon Su Mi (ssue516@naver.com)
[Any copying, republication or redistribution of enewsWorld's content other than for personal uses is expressly prohibited without prior permission from enewsWorld. Copyright infringement is subject to criminal and civil penalties.]

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Veteran singer and ‘Super Star K‘ judge Lee Seung Chul revealed his thoughts on ‘K-Pop Star‘ judge J.Y. Park‘s commentary.

On the May 15th episode of KBS 2TV‘s ‘Win Win‘, Lee Seung Chul jokingly poked fun at J.Y. Park who once said sound is most beautifully produced when it is comprised of ‘half voice, half air’.

“J.Y., why did you do that?,” Lee Seung Chul asked. “Exactly what is half air and half sound?”, causing the audience to burst into laughter.

And in regards to J.Y. Park pointing out that singers should never make unpleasant facial expressions, Lee Seung Chul joked, “That’s like Kikwang calling someone short.”

MC Tak Jae Hoon then critiqued that for a special performance stage of ‘K-Pop Star’, J.Y. Park seemed to possess the very downfalls he criticized the contestants for. Lee Seung Chul added, “You need to sing songs that have an ambiance and concept that well fits your age range. Isn’t J.Y. Park in his forties? It’s got to be hard.”

He then added an analogy to clear up his explanation. “The coach can’t run as hard as the players,” he said as guests laughed at his humor.

Meanwhile, ‘Super Star K’ finalists Huh Gak, Ulala Session, and John Park made appearance as special guests on the ‘Lee Seung Chul’ episode of ‘Win Win’.

Source Image : TVReport via Nate

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On the episode of “Strong Heart” that aired on May 15, “K-Pop Star” contestant Kim Na Yoon guest starred and shared her struggles over netizen’s negative comments.

Kim Na Yoon expressed, “I almost wanted to give up while participating in this competition. In the beginning of the audition, I was called the ‘Girl Genius” and received a lot of attention. But as time went by, I didn’t show my skills enough so I received a lot of negative comments.”

She continued, “As soon as clips of me crying were aired several times, netizens called me a crybaby and sad bad things about me. I even fell into depression over some of the really bad comments.”

However, she bravely smiled and finished with, “But I think I was able to mature a bit more through ‘K-Pop Star.’ Even if I don’t receive a call from an agency this time, I will keep trying in the future.”

Kim Na Yoon also made headlines for her photos in a club.

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Google announced last week that it would host a free concert May 21 at its Mountain View headquarters featuring a host of Korean pop music acts such as SNSD (also known as Girls’ Generation), DBSK (also known as TVXQ), Super Junior, The Wonder Girls, KARA and more.

You may not know these names, but to a devoted K-pop fan, seeing even one of those bands is a seriously squeeworthy event.

Fans like me would easily pay a great deal to see a show like this. And in many ways, it is fan devotion that is responsible for such an event appearing in the States. A representative for the concert said in a statement, “I think that previous performances by Korean artists were targeted towards Korean-Americans or the Koreans living abroad, but this time its appeal will spread to all fans of pop music in the US.”

There’s only one message to get out of this: Google believes K-pop has universal appeal. It’s been on the rise for a while, though. Last year, a similar variety show sold out Madison Square Garden and sent fans across America into a total frenzy. Girls’ Generation was also featured on David Letterman in early February and performed the English-language version of their hit song “The Boys.” My friends and I gathered around the television, waiting to see how it would all turn out. And we were overjroyed when the performance met with resounding applause.

My own discovery of K-pop was a slow one. I’ve been a J-pop fan for more than a decade, but K-pop was a foreign world that I had no idea how to get into. That is, until I saw my first TVXQ video.

If there’s anything I fell in love with about K-pop, it’s the appeal of the total package. From the razor-sharp choreography to the catchy songs, K-pop screams of polished perfection. It mesmerized me from the word go, and it seems to have worked the same magic on millions of other fans.

K-pop has been around since the ’60s, but the debut and rising popularity of South Korean group Seo Taiji Boys (Korean website) defined K-pop in the ’90s. A few years later, Korean entrepreneur Lee Soo Man founded S.M. Entertainment, which would grow to become South Korea’s biggest talent agency and turn out some of the most popular groups today.

By 2000, countries such as Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, China and more had caught the K-pop bug. Recognizing these different groups of fans, bands such as SNSD and TVXQ chose to put out Japanese-language albums in addition to their Korean albums. The two bands also have alternate names: SNSD is known as Girls’ Generation outside Korea, and DBSK is called Tohoshinki in Japan.

And there’s a noticeable amount of English in K-pop music. According to Bianca Gomez, who runs a Korean news and discussion blog called Angry K-Pop Fan, English is highly prioritized in Korea as a way to appeal to a foreign audience.

“Though K-pop has been using English in their songs even before its boom abroad (a possible suggestion that English is a part of Korean society as a whole, and not just an element that came about with the rise of K-pop), now that its international appeal is more evident than ever, it won’t come as a surprise to learn that English is being used as a subtle promotional technique (to a greater extent) in today’s hits,” Gomez said.

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The expanded slate on the channel includes upcoming highlights such as the thriller Life Without Principles; Canto-pop star Leon Lai’s concert LEON Xu; and the documentary Burma, A Human Tragedy. The refreshed channel—which will be known in English as just SCM—rolls out in Hong Kong May 19, followed by Southeast Asia in the coming months.

The revamp of SCM is part of FOX International Channels’ strategy to develop a strong portfolio of Chinese-language pay-TV channels. In addition to expanding the dominance of SCM in Hong Kong and Taiwan, FIC is looking into taking the premium-channel brand into markets such as Australia, the Middle East, the U.S. and parts of Europe. FIC is also launching an online on-demand player for the channel, SCM Play. It follows the rollout of an accompanying of an online player for FOX Movies Premium.
 
“FOX International Channels is giving SCM the lift and treatment that the number one Chinese movies channel in Asia deserves,” said Zubin Gandevia, the COO for the Asia Pacific and Middle East at FOX International Channels. “This is the just the start of our plans for SCM and our Chinese-language channels in general, and FIC will be blazing the trail in redefining the whole Chinese entertainment genre.”

Dressed in a sparkling red tuxedo complete with top hat, Jacky Cheung stood alone, high above everyone on the massive, magnificently lit stage, looking every bit like the Heavenly King surveying his adoring masses.

For me, this was the moment that most perfectly encapsulated Cheung’s legendary status in the world of Chinese pop music. In a career spanning almost three decades, the 50-year-old “God of Songs” has been one of the most celebrated superstars in the history of Cantopop, thanks to the sheer quality of his voice. He has rubbed shoulders with the likes of the late Leslie Cheung and Alan Tam in the earlier part of his career and held his own against a barrage of younger, better-looking artistes in his later years. If they ever start a Cantopop Hall Of Fame, Cheung’s name would be one of the first inducted into it.

Last December, he had played four consecutive shows here despite feeling under the weather. Feeling bad about not performing at his best then, he promised to return when he was back in peak form.

Cheung fulfilled that promise in spectacular fashion last Saturday, mesmerising a sell-out 20,000 strong crowd at Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, with a show that was even grander than the last ones. Organised by UnUsUaL Productions, the stage set-up for the Jacky Cheung 1/2 Century Tour – Malaysia show was definitely more impressive than the one at his previous series of four sold-out shows at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

This time, Cheung engaged the help of renowned stage designer Zhou Bing Kun, who was also responsible for the Beijing Olympics 2008. Zhou’s design went beyond the restrictions of traditional stage, as the massive LED screen-cum-stage was split, raised and even rotated almost 360? at times to accommodate the show’s different sets.

By all accounts, the concert was largely the same as the previous four, except that the stage was much, much bigger this time around. However, this being the final overseas leg of his long-running world tour, the superstar decided to give us extra buck for our money, singing non-stop for almost four hours.

The show started out with a sort of love story musical, complete with a music video directed by Andrew Lau and starring Shu Qi, which told the story of a playboy who falls in love, and the couple’s journey through love’s ups and downs. With songs like Nei Dek Ming Zi Ngo Dek Seng Si (Your Name, My Surname) and Nei Si Ngo Gam Sam Wai Yat Chuen Kei (You Are My Life’s Only Legend) sound-tracking the musical, it was a wonderfully poignant start to the show.

What surprised me most was he didn’t start off with the easy hits, digging up some of the less obvious choices in his long, long list of past hits. Among these were three of my favourite Cheung songs of all time – slow-burning rocker Dong Ngoi Bin Seng Chap Guan (When Love Becomes A Habit) from his Legend Of The Hungry Wolf album, tragic tear-jerker Yiu Yun Dek Ta (She Is Far Away) and Lei Heung Lan, a sad, beautiful ballad that was carried solely by Cheung’s emotional, almost heart-breaking voice.

There were some odd moments in the set though, such as the decision to remix the ballad Wen Bie (Kiss Goodbye) into a rock number; and the “Private Corner” segment where he performed jazz-tinged numbers on a smaller stage with just a piano and a cello. For the most part, however, Cheung delivered what the fans came for in spades, especially during the latter half of the concert, which was practically a mass karaoke session.

Almost every hit he has ever had throughout his almost three decade-long career was wheeled out (with the exception of those from his Snow Wolf Lake musical, which he omitted for some reason) – from fast numbers like Zhe Gor Dong Tin Bat Tai Leng (This Winter Is Not Too Cold) and Ngo Long Chuen Suet (Legend Of The Hungry Wolf), all the way to his massive hits Mui Tin Ngoi Lei Do Yat Seh (Everyday I Love You A Little Bit More), Wan Si Kok Dak Lei Jui Hou (I Still Think You Are The Best) and Zi Xiong Yat Sang Kan Lei Zao (Only Want To Go Away With You Forever).

Clocking in at almost four hours and with 41 songs in total, this was the Jacky Cheung concert I had always dreamed of. It had everything – Cheung’s trademark magnificent vocals and charismatic banter, a jaw-dropping stage setup that was almost like a living, breathing extension of Cheung’s superstar qualities, well-choreographed segments, and most of all, lots and lots of his greatest hits ever. Perhaps, the only disappointment was that it didn’t go on longer.

Thank you for coming back, Jacky. You sir, are a true legend indeed, and this humble writer salutes you.

Korea and Japan share a long history of a love-hate relationship. They are closely linked to each other, both historically and culturally, but there’s also a deep-rooted animosity that dates back centuries.

This strange sentiment goes across many sectors. The Korean pop culture industry has been no exception, and as popular as K-Pop is in Japan, we are slowly starting to see a surge in anti-Hallyu movements as well.

Of course, this doesn’t mean the recent anti-Hallyu movements in Japan represent the vast majority of Japanese people. But some of these extreme Japanese right-wing, anti-Hallyu groups (albeit small in size and influence) have sparked quite a stir among K-Pop fans for their distorted views and nonsensical accusations.

In this article, we will review some of the most ridiculous anti-Hallyu movements in Japan. Again, these movements do not represent the views of the Japanese as a whole, but it’s worth noting their difference in perspective from the casual K-Pop fans. Perhaps, the only way to solve this problem is to grow a better understanding of each other and accept/respect different cultures – as the old saying goes, “Don’t hate, just appreciate!”

What is your opinion on these anti-Hallyu movements? Could this possibly turn into a bigger issue? Share your thoughts!

Kim Tae Hee Threatened to Leave Japan

Kim Tae Hee has oddly become the face of the recent anti-Hallyu movement. After her 2005 involvement in promoting Dokdo Island as Korean territory, some of the Japanese netizens questioned her stance on Korea-Japan relations, and argured how someone who is supposedly “anti-Japan” could possibly appear on Japanese TV. Although she released a statement explaining how often she visits Japan and loves reading/watching Japanese books and movies, hundreds of Japanese netizens took it to the streets for a protest in front of Fuji TV’s headquarters to demand her withdrawal from the drama, “99 Days with a Star.”

Things got worse earlier this year, as the same group of protesters forced Kim Tae Hee to cancel her press conference for Japanese pharmaceutical company Rohto. Their relentless protests resulted in Rohto to cut down Kim Tae Hee’s scene on their TV commercial from over 16 seconds to just six seconds long. Although the man accused of organizing these events (and threatened Kim Tae Hee not to visit Japan) was arrested last week, it doesn’t seem like the Kim Tae Hee protest will end anytime soon.

T-ara’s Jiyeon is “Barbaric” 

Just two weeks ago, T-ara’s Jiyeon was blasted by Japanese netizens for the way she ate ramen in her noodle commercial. In her CF for Korean noodle brand, “Shin Ramyun,” Jiyeon gives a tutorial on how to enjoy a bowl of ramen. But at the end, she eats the ramen off the lid of the pot. It’s pretty common in Korea to use the pot lid as your dish when eating ramen. But it’s considered rude and “barbaric” in Japan, and Japanese netizens took it wrong way, even questioning Jiyeon’s behavior as being “uncivilized.”

Jang Geun Suk Wants to “Eat” Japanese AV Star Sora Aoi

In February, Jang Geun Suk was wrongfully accused of saying he wanted to “eat” Japanese AV star Sora Aoi. But it turns out it was a result of Japanese media’s false reporting on his comment, where he actually said, “Sushi!” The video of his interview was later discovered by fans and he did answer “Sushi,” while Sora Aoi’s name was never mentioned in the clip. A week later, Jang Geun Suk tweeted a picture of Sushi with the message, “ “끝! おわり! finish!” (finish in Korean, Japanese, and English), putting an end to the laughable controversy. 

2NE1’s “Hate You” MV is Anti-Japanese

Last October, 2NE1’s “Hate You” music video was accused of depicting anti-Japanese sentiments. The accusations said the nuclear reactor in the clip looked similar to the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant that was made inactive in March after the tsunami attacks last March. It also said the red dot on the white forehead of an evil monster that 2NE1 fights throughout the video was supposed to represent Japan’s national flag. As the accusations continued to grow out of proportion, the producer of the music video expressed his frustration on his homepage by writing, “I just cannot believe this… This is a global world in which content and cultural aspects are free to flow. I will leave these words to those who have a biased sentiment: hate you!” 

Japanese Actor Thinks Korean TV Programs Brainwash You

Last July, Japanese actor Sousuke Takaoka wrote on his Twitter, “I don’t really watch channel 8 (Fuji TV) anymore. It sometimes makes me wonder if it’s a Korean channel. Japanese people want traditional Japanese programs. It feels like Korean programs brainwash you, and it really makes me feel bad. Broadcasters need to realize its negative effect.” He later apologized for the comment, but his agency had already terminated his contract for causing the controversy. However, a small group of his supporters held a street protest in front of Fuji TV (they broadcast the most Korean shows) for a group boycott of the channel. 

Girls’ Generation and Kara Depicted as Bartenders Offering Sexual Services

A Japanese manga titled, “Disgusting Hallyu,” made headlines last year for the way it depicted Girls’ Generation and Kara, two of the biggest K-Pop girl groups in Japan. It was especially controversial for its drawings that clearly looked like the two groups serving old men with drinks and sexual favors. The cartoonist argued that it’s the norm in Korea for girl groups to offer sexual services to men in power and that the Korean government has been investing millions of dollars to manipulate this whole “Hallyu” phenomenon in Japan. SM Entertainment and DSP Media released statements saying they will take legal measures and file a lawsuit against the cartoonist.

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This is part of a series featuring new hallyu stars. ― Ed.

Korean idol groups, so far, may have relied on their pretty looks, dance performances that are akin to acrobatics, and trendy music widely accepted by different cultures around the world, to appeal to audiences. However, BTOB, a Korean boy group that debuted two months ago, said they will show new features as K-pop artists in a way that will set them apart in the country’s music industry overflowing with idol groups.

“We are all strong in vocals and each member has different talents. We started with dance music and then ballad, but there are many things left for us to show, such as turning into a band that plays acoustic music,” Seo Eun-kwang, the group’s leader, told The Korea Herald in a recent interview.

“I think our fans love our not-so-handsome but unforgettable looks. We are also trying to get closer to our fans through surprise fan meetings and by opening up ourselves more in online communities,” said Lee Chang-sub, BTOB vocalist.

BTOB (Cube Entertainment)
BTOB, which stands for “born to beat,” is the second boy group launched by Cube Entertainment, well-known for producing BEAST, 4Minute and G. Na. Consisting of seven members ― Seo Eun-kwang, Lee Min-hyuk, Lee Chang-seob, Lim Hyun-sik, Peniel Shin, Jung Il-hoon and Yook Sung-jae ― the group debuted with its first mini album “Born To Beat” in March.

The album includes “Insane,” “Imagine” and “Monday to Sunday,” a track co-produced by Swedish songwriters Jorgen Elofsson who previously worked with Britney Spears and Westlife, and Fredrik Thomander, who collaborated with NSYNC and Arashi. Jung Il-hoon, the group’s rapper also had a hand in making the album by writing lyrics.

Earlier this month, the group released its first digital single “Father,” which shows off their exceptional vocal talents. As Seo explained, the idol group also plans to transition into band with Seo on the piano, Lim on guitar, Lee Chang-sub on drums and Peniel on bass.

“We are working on the band project now. We’ll be able to show a new concept of an idol band that adds performance elements to the music,” Seo said.

The two-month-old group already has more than 10,000 fans registered on their official fan caf on Daum. BTOB will soon launch its fan club “Melody,” named by rapper Jung.

“We are surprised to have many foreign fans coming to the online caf. Peniel from the U.S. and Hyun-sik, who is fluent in Chinese, are in charge of communicating with fans from abroad,” 22-year-old Seo, the oldest member of the group, said.

In a chance to meet their growing foreign fanbase, BTOB will debut internationally this month.

The rookie group joins other K-pop and hip-hop acts such as M.I.B., Bizzy, Drunken Tiger and Yoon Mi-rae at the Music Matters Festival to be held in Singapore on May 22-26. BTOB will stage their first performance abroad at “Music Matters Live,” one of the festival’s programs, to be held in Clarke Quay in the city state on May 24, and will hold interviews with local media there.

“I still can’t believe that we are going to perform in Singapore. We feel so excited and will do our very best there,” said Lim Hyun-sik, who calls himself the center of the group.

Starting with Singapore, the group also plans to start overseas promotion centering in Japan within this year.

“I think we won’t have time to rest this year because we have to work on a new album for our Asia promotion,” said Yook Sung-jae, 17, the youngest in the group.

BTOB has been drawing widespread interest from overseas after the video of the group’s showcase in Seoul was released and viewed by 100,000 people around the world, the agency said.

“For the last two months, we slept just one or two hours a day. But it is not a big deal anymore because we adjusted well to the new environment,” Yook added.

“This kind of busy life is something we expected and prepared for. We’ll work hard not only on good music, but also on ourselves to be visually attractive in the future,” said Peniel, who came to Korea two years ago from Chicago to fulfill his dream of being a K-pop star.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldm.com)

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As more Filipinos become fascinated with Koreanovelas and anything “K-Pop” or Korean popular music, phrases like “annyeonghaseyo“ (hello) or “kamsahamnida” (thank you) are becoming less unfamiliar.

Recently, interest in South Korea was heightened as Philippine President Benigno Simeon Aquino III was rumored to be dating GMA TV host Grace Lee, a Korean who moved to the Philippines at age 10. She is fluent in at least three languages — Korean, Filipino, and English.

According to the Stock Estimate of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), South Korea, also called “Land of the Morning Calm,” is home to 82,359 Filipinos as of 2010.

‘Experience weekend’

The news site Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN) reported that some 70 people attended in late April an “experience weekend,” a program set up to help migrant families sample Korean culture.

Organized by the United Religions Initiative Korea (URI-Korea) and the Osan family support center, the event was held at the Scholars Village in Yeongju.

On that weekend, the participants joined a staged, traditional Korean wedding with a Korean man and his Filipina wife acting as the bride and groom.

Kim Chol-wan, 42, and his wife Reycel got married in the Philippines about a year ago. They also had a wedding ceremony later in Korea.

When they were asked to act as the bride and groom for the “experience weekend,” Chol-wan said in jest:  “We’ve now had three wedding ceremonies,” adding that he was a “lucky guy to marry my wife three times.”
 

UCAN said the Scholars Village aims to preserve and showcase Korean Confucian culture.

Aside from letting the participants experience a traditional Korean wedding, they were also taught the ancient art of oriental painting. They drew the “Four Gracious Plants” – plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, and bamboo.

Artist goes to Korea

Meanwhile, Analyn Perez, the graphics artist of GMA News Online, shared what she experienced when she visited Korea with her sister in February last year.
 
“It was the birthday of my sister and we decided to go to South Korea for vacation,” Perez said.
 
Known to many as a big fan of K-pop, and especially of  Max Changmin of the band TVXQ, Perez said they went to the “filming locations of Korean-Pop (K-Pop) dramas and businesses owned by K-Pop stars.”
 
“Being new K-Pop fans during that time, being in South Korea felt like we were actually part of a Korean drama scene. Everything that we watched on television was all around us and it was really exciting,” she said.

Perez said they met the sister of actor Kim Jae Joong, a part of K-Pop group JYJ.

“In Korea, getting to see a relative of a celebrity is as close as you can get to the actual star. I was star struck when we met her in a store,” Perez explained.

Perez said “going to South Korea fulfilled my fantasy as a fan of K-Pop. I really liked how the country was tourist-friendly.”

She said she did not worry about her belongings “even though there were no security guards because CCTV cameras were all around the place.”
 
Language barrier
 
Perez said one difficulty they encountered was the language barrier.

“There are some Koreans who would leave you while you are asking for directions mainly because they are having difficulties understanding and explaining in English. However, the young ones in general can understand a bit and will use body language to give you directions,” Perez explained.

However, there were Koreans who can speak Filipino.
 
“There was even this middle-aged lady in a food stall that thanked us in Tagalog after we bought food from her,” Perez explained.

‘Korean crushes’

Asked what she would like to bring from Korea to the Philippines, Perez said aside from snow and her “Korean crushes,” she would like to “take home their internet speed. It’s really fast. Opening a high definition file in Korea is like opening a normal Word document.”

Her advice to those who want to visit Korea?

“You have to take into account that Koreans value their time. They would arrive at least 15 minutes earlier in every appointment,” Perez said.

“You will also notice that they walk very fast wherever they are. They are also good in multi-tasking and are very disciplined especially at work,” she added.

Traveling to South Korea

According to the website for Filipinos abroad — overseas-filipinos.com,  South Korea shares many traditions with North Korea but an economic boom has propelled the citizens of the South to live a more advanced technologic life.

The site said half of Korea’s population was atheist while the other half was either Christian or Buddhist.
 
As for their food, Koreans usually have a diet composed of rice, noodles, tofu, vegetables, fish, and meat.

The site urged Filipinos to check first the spice level of the food. Kimchi, a popular Korean delicacy, is known to be very spicy.

,
Working in South Korea
 
Meanwhile, according to the Philippine Embassy in Seoul, in February this year, Act. No. 11276 or the Revision on the Act on Employment of Foreign Workers ” was promulgated.

The new law, which will be implemented starting in July, will reduce from six months to just three months, the waiting period for foreign employees who have finished their contracts and want to come back to South Korea immediately.

Asides from this, foreign workers do not have to take a Korean language test and employment training every time they return to South Korea. - VVP, GMA News
 
 
 
 

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