Entries in the 'Kim Min-jung' Category

News bites: September 29, 2008

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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The next Chaser-like thriller fills out its cast

Remember the new Chaser-like stocks-’n'-bonds thriller that was announced starring Park Yong-ha? (Title: 작전, or Jakjeon, or Bond — as in, the stock type.) The third leg of the main trio has been announced; starring alongside Park Yong-ha and actress Kim Min-jung (New Heart) will be Park Hee-soon (Seven Days, pictured above).

Park Hee-soon has slowly gathered up a rep as a solid actor over the years; 2007 was a particularly good year with the thriller film Seven Days and the quirky mania drama Mixed-up Investigative Agency (he was especially great in Mixed-up, playing the role of a mysterious badass with a pitch-perfect performance that had you constantly wondering if his character was good or bad).

Park recently filmed the movie Why Did You Come To Our House? (not to be confused with the drama that aired several months ago) with Kang Hye-jung, in which he plays a man described as an introverted “suicide addict” (the film releases in November). He follows that role with a completely different character in this, his eleventh onscreen role, in which he plays a reckless stock trader who plays with other people’s money and engages in investment and stock scams.

He explained: “People who knew nothing about gambling were able to enjoy the movie Tazza. Similarly, this will be an entertaining film that people can enjoy even if they know nothing about stocks.”

Jakjeon/Bond, filmed by director Lee Ho-jae, started filming on August 28, and hasn’t yet set a release date. If I was a little wary of Park Yong-ha being able to carry a thriller drama like this (which bears the burden of big expectations), at least Park Hee-soon’s casting is sure to bring a dose of intensity to the screen.

Via No Cut News

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