With the year half-over, expect more 28-year-old actors to cram in last projects and head off for their mandatory military service, since 1981-ers who have not yet completed their requirement will have to fulfill it this year. Actor and singer Lee Dong-gun has announced that he will be heading off to serve in active duty next month.

Lee recently received his papers and will go without further postponement. His last event as an entertainer will be a fanmeeting to take place on July 18 in Seoul. In contrast with some actors who have busily packed their last months with project after project, Lee has kept fairly under the radar over the last year, ever since wrapping 2008’s MBC drama series When Night Comes (aka Every Night) with Kim Sun-ah. He did release a single album in Japan, but hadn’t really had the chance to do much promotional work for it. The only time he surfaced in the news recently was when it became known he is dating A Star’s Lover actress Cha Ye-ryun.

Meanwhile, actors who have headed off this year for army duty include Lee Jin-wook, Jo In-sung, Kim Jae-won, and Jo Seung-woo. Those yet to enlist who are expected to do so soon include Kim Rae-won, Lee Ki-woo, and Jo Han-seon.

Via Newsen

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MBC hosted its awards ceremony for the 2008 Acting Awards on December 30. Let me first reiterate that I think these end-of-year broadcast-station awards are mostly meaningless. That said, this year’s Daesangs were TOTAL WEAKSAUCE, MBC. Top honor (the “Daesang” grand prize) went to…

Oh, you mean it was split this year? Between Beethoven Virus’s much-lauded epitome of awesomeness, Kim Myung-min, and East of Eden’s overblown and overrated Song Seung-heon?? I mean, I could understand going for the sentimental vote and awarding deceased Choi Jin-shil (she got a lifetime achievement instead), but Song Seung-heon winning acting awards is in itself a joke.

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As always, netizens are always the first to jump to premature conclusions, aren’t they?

Lee Dong-gun and Japanese star Igawa Haruka got bloggers and netizens worked up when images and video clips of the two stars appeared online, suggesting they were dating (she’s married). They’d been spotted together in areas like Insadong, Myungdong, and Cheongdamdong, and clips made it onto a Japanese television program, which led to assumptions of romance by netizens.

It’s now been revealed that the actors have been paired together for a tourism campaign, which had Lee and Igawa traveling around Korea to introduce various neighborhoods and regions; in addition to the areas named above, they also traveled further south to Jeju, Busan, and Gyeongju, followed by cameras all the while. The footage will be shown online as part of the promotional campaign.

Then again, nothing like a good fake “scandal” to churn up interest in an otherwise humdrum activity, right?

Via Newsis

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You’ve heard Lee Dong-gun sing (songs here and here), and you’ve seen Yoon Eun-hye’s latest CF video clip. Now they sing together.

The “Salad Song” (taken from Humming Urban Stereo’s “샐러드 기념일” [Salad days], which you can download at the link above) now reveals its full version, which features both actor-singers in a duet. Yoon and Lee are shown in recording sessions in the studio, interspersed with clips of Yoon Eun-hye eating fresh fruit and spraying herself (and plants) with water. (Because, lest we forget, we’re still selling something!)

Via Hankyung

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After releasing his first album in years, the Japanese- and Korean-language-album My Biography, Lee Dong-gun has launched himself into singerly activities, marking the occasion with two days in concert in Tokyo for his “Lee Dong-gun 2008 Debut Concert in Japan.”

“My Biography” was released earlier this summer; Lee previously released a single album in Japan in March, and has contributed to various soundtracks in his Korea since his 1998 debut as a singer.

He’d arrived in Japan on August 14 to prepare for the concert, which took place on August 22 and 23, and performed fifteen songs. He plans to spend a few days vacationing in Japan before returning home. No doubt he’ll throw himself back into his work, what with his military service looming large on the horizon (he’s 28; therefore he’s likely to enlist in relatively short order).

Via Newsen

SONG OF THE DAY

Lee Dong Gun – “El dorado” [ Download ]

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