Kim Hyun Joong, Jung So Min cast as lead stars of "Playful Kiss"

MBC Korea will be doing a remake of the Japanese drama "Itazura Na Kiss" and they'll be using the title "Playful Kiss" or "Mischievous Kiss" for their own version.

And just yesterday, the two lead stars for the series have already been finalized.

We are more familiar with Kim Hyun Joong, who played Ji Hoo in "Boys Over Flowers." A week ago, he was cast as the male lead in "Playful Kiss" which was originally offered to his BOF co-star Lee Min Ho or Jun Pyo.

But Hyun Joong's leading lady was just revealed yesterday and she's Jung So Min, who currently appears in the Korean drama "Bad Guy".

Still a newbie, "Playful Kiss" will only be Jung So Min's 2nd TV show in Korea.

Taiwan already made their own version of the same material. It was entitled "It Started With A Kiss" plus the sequel "They Kiss Again".

Both were also shown in the Philippines via ABS-CBN and I hope the Korean version will also be shown here.

Photos courtesy of nylesor.wordpress.con and dramabeans.com

Park Yong Ha's ex-girlfriend Kim Eugene attends the actor's funeral

Park Yong Ha's ex-girlfriend Kim Yoo-jin or more popularly known as Eugene was among the Korean stars who attended the actor's funeral at SungMo Hospital in Seoul, South Korea.

Eugene and Park Yong Ha were once lovers, especially during the time they were doing the Korean drama "Loving You".

While we saw Park Yong Ha on "Endless Love II: Winter Sonata" shown here on GMA 7, we have seen Eugene on "Save the Last Dance For Me", "Wonderful Life" and "Three Dads with One Mommy" all shown on ABS-CBN.

Park Yong Ha and Eugene

Park Yong Ha died early morning yesterday. (Read story HERE.)

Aside from Eugene, other Korean stars spotted at the funeral were Choi Ji Woo and Bae Yong-joon (Park Yong Ha's co-actors in "Winter Sonata"), So Ji Sub (Ryan in "Memories of Bali"), Kim Hyun Joo (Jun Pyo's elder sister in "Boys Over Flowers"), Kim Hyun Joong (SS501 leader, Ji Hoo of "Boys Over Flowers"), Kim Hyung Joon and Kim Kyu Jong (also from SS501), Kim Bum (Yi Jung of "Boys Over Flowers"), Kim Ki-bum (U-Kiss member), Song Yun Ah and Park Si Yeon (Yong-ha's co-stars in "On Air"), Song Seung Hun (star of "East of Eden") and Yoon Eun Hye (Janelle of "Princess Hours").

Here are the pictures of some stars who went there and they're really grieving for the loss of their friend:

Photos via All Korean Gossip

Kim Hyun Joong Live in Manila Concert tonight at the Araneta Coliseum

K-Pop fans in the Philippines couldn't get over yet with the U-Kiss concert last Monday, but there's already another treat for them tonight, June 19, 2010: the Kim Hyun Joong and Beast Live in Manila
concert.

The concert is dubbed "K-Pop meets P-Pop" and will be staged at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

Beast is a newly-formed Korean group (with 6 members), that's why
Filipino fans are more familiar with Korean heartthrob and style icon Kim Hyun Joong, the SS501 leader and played Yoon Ji Hoo in the "Boys Over Flowers",
the Korean version of Meteor Garden and was shown in the Philippines via ABS-CBN.

Interestingly, the media partner of the concert (aside from MYX) is GMA 7, and not ABS-CBN 2. Yesterday, they guested on Eat Bulaga! and were interviewed on 24 Oras, both on GMA.

A lot of K-Pop fans reacted on how the hosts of Eat Bulaga kept calling Kim Hyun Joong as Kim, when in fact it's his surname and its more appropriate to call him as Hyun Joong. Kim is a popular surname in Korea and there are many boyband members with that last name.

Super Junior alone has 5: Kim Hee-chul, Kim Young-woon, Kim Ryeo-wook, Kim Jong-woon and Kim Kibum. U-Kiss has Kim Ki Bum and Kim Kyoung Jae
while SS501 has Kim Hyung Jun, Kim Kyu Jong and Kim Hyun Joong.

Even So Yi Jung of BOF, who came to the Philippines before to shoot a TVC with actress Maja Salvador, is named Kim Sang Bum.

Ever wondered why the title of the concert has P-Pop? It's because Pinoy pop group are guest performers: XLR8 and Pop Girls, who look
like clones of some K-pop groups. And I'm afraid that some Koreans might accuse the Pinoys of copying or imitating their groups when they
see XLR8 and Pop Girls perform in the concert. I hope not.