It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, huh?

• Newlywed Park Eun-hye is returning to work following a recent miscarriage of what would have been her “honeymoon baby” (she wed in April). She plans to attend the upcoming Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), which screens her film Night and Day.
• Speaking of which, Kim Rae-won (Gourmet) and Han Eun-jung (Lawyers of Korea) will take a particular place on Wednesday’s opening-night red carpet at PIFF, as brand models for the festival’s sponsor, L’Oreal Paris.
• Song Il-kook had his day in court and won; the reporter who accused him of assault (whom he countersued for false accusations) has been sentenced to a year’s imprisonment. Ouch. We may never know the truth of whether he struck her as claimed, but a year in the slammer seems harsh. Well, that’s what happens when you go up against a rich actor with powerful connections.
• Sigh. Things are hard enough for Ahn Jae-hwan’s widow Jung Sun-hee, whose husband killed himself over large amounts of debt, and has endured accusations of kidnapping Ahn by his sister. She underwent an additional round of police questioning, spending four hours at the police station on the 29th. Jung roundly denies Ms. Ahn’s claims, and also denies rumors that she’s heading overseas for rest (which doesn’t sound like a bad idea, actually — the press was all over her collapses at Ahn’s funeral, and she again collapsed after emerging from the police station).
• I don’t think many people outside of Korea are watching cable drama Chosun Police [조선과학수사대 별순검], but the MBC Dramanet fusion sageuk gained a following as a “Chosun-era CSI” and is now set to launch its season 2. The production press conference was on the 29th, featuring lead actor Lee Jong-hyuk, who admitted he’d purposely avoided watching Season 1; he wanted to differentiate his character from its original actor, Ryu Seung-ryong.
• Kim Min-jung (26, of New Heart) has been cast in the lead of MBC’s drama 2009 Foreign Baseball Team, which was originally a hit manhwa in the ’80s. Actors Yoon Tae-young (Legend’s Hogae), Park Sung-min (Legend’s Saryang), Park Jung-hak (Kingdom of the Wind), Song Ah-young (Moon Hee), and Kim Sun-kyung (Legend’s Lady Yeon) are also cast. There’s a whole lotta Legend there. It should air sometime next year.
• After spending most of his recent energies trying to make a dent in the international film scene, Rain is back to kpop after two years away with his fifth album. He’s announced that his title track will be a dance song, followed by a ballad, to go on sale in October. Rain, here’s a fundamental rule of showbiz: Show, not tell. We’re happy to welcome ya back if your work is good, but g/d I’m sick of hearing so much about it.

 
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Tags: Ahn Jae-hwan, bad deeds, film festivals, Han Eun-jung, Jung Sun-hee, Kim Min-jung, Kim Rae-won, Lee Jong-hyuk, news bites, Park Eun-hye, Rain, Song Il-kook

Filed under: Celebrity News by javabeans - 12 Comments →

I hope this is the last post of this kind I’ll be writing; it’s not a good thing when the topic of celebrity deaths starts feeling familiar.

Stars — a whole ton of them from all aspects of the entertainment world — paid their respects to the deceased Ahn Jae-hwan all day long on September 9. He’d been found dead for some time the morning before, parked on a residential street inside his car.

The actual funeral is scheduled for the 11th; today’s mass visit to the mortuary is for stars to pay their respects to the deceased before the formal ceremony.

Stars pay their respects to Ahn Jae-hwan >>

Tags: Ahn Jae-hwan, deaths, Jung Sun-hee

Filed under: Celebrity News by javabeans - 29 Comments →

Tazza actors and crew (Jang Hyuk, Han Ye-seul, Kim Min-joon, Kang Sung-yeon) came out on the afternoon of September 8 for the drama’s production press conference, all decked out in black to observe the death of Ahn Jae-hwan, which they’d received word of just earlier that day.

Apparently the actors put on a bright face for photos, but they became solemn at the mention of Ahn Jae-hwan. The drama’s new Madam Jung, Kang Sung-yeon, expressed her feelings upon hearing the sad news: “I couldn’t believe it. This was to be a good day for me [drama press day], but now I don’t know what I should say… Afterward, I’ll go to his funeral service. I’m so heartbroken I don’t know what to say.”

Regarding the drama itself, PD Kang Shin-ho explained: “Because there were previously a famous manhwa and a movie, there was some pressure, and I went through a process of trial and error. I put a lot of effort trying to use the gambling world to portray the ups and downs of the larger world. I hope people will like it.”

The Monday-Tuesday drama takes its place opposite MBC’s East of Eden and KBS’s Love & Marriage on September 16.

[Read more →]

Tags: Ahn Jae-hwan, Han Ye-seul, Jang Hyuk, Kang Sung-yeon, Kim Min-joon, Tazza

Filed under: Drama Casting & News by javabeans - 10 Comments →

Sigh. So 2008’s really not been a good year for the celebs.

Actor Ahn Jae-hwan (Secret Lovers, Entertainment News), 36, was found dead on the morning of September 8 in his car. The death has been tentatively ruled a suicide.

Apparently, the body was found to have been “severely decomposed,” indicating that the suicide occurred prior to the 8th, although the actual time of death has yet to be determined. Preliminary speculation ranges from one week to a month prior. Charcoal briquettes were found burned inside the vehicle, possibly contributing to cause of death.

Still a newlywed, Ahn married comedienne-actress Jung Sun-hee in November of 2007. A suicide note expressing his love for his wife was found at the site of his death.

Netizens are speculating on what drove Ahn to suicide. Some blame the failure of his new cosmetics brand, which Ahn had launched via home shopping television earlier this year. As a result of wife Jung speaking out about the mad-cow vigils back in April, sales dropped. Further broadcasts were canceled and the brand experienced drastic sales drops, with some viewers boycotting the channel. (As a result, the current internet response is heated, with some netizens lashing out at others, asking, “Do you feel better now, you hateful netizens?”)

There were also rumors that Ahn, because of money issues, had been in discord with his wife for several months.

Pictures of the car have been published, and because they are somewhat unsettling (WARNING!), I’m putting them behind the cut.

[Read more →]

Tags: Ahn Jae-hwan, deaths, Jung Sun-hee, star accidents

Filed under: Celebrity News by javabeans - 65 Comments →