South Korea steps up COVID-19 curbs ahead of peak holiday season

SEOUL - South Korea said on Sunday it will tighten social distancing rules across most of the country this week, warning that its worst-ever COVID-19 wave might spread further in the summer holiday season.

The curbs will be increased to Level 3 on a four-level scale, which will mean a 10 p.m. dining curfew and ban on gatherings of more than four people, from Tuesday for two weeks for most areas except for some small counties.

"What's most concerning is the virus' recent spread in the non-capital areas," President Moon Jae-in told an intra-agency meeting reviewing efforts in the campaign against the coronavirus.

"There has been an increase in movements nationwide, especially around vacation spots."

South Korea managed to largely avoid major COVID-19 outbreaks with an extensive testing and tracing campaign for the first year of the pandemic.

But the latest spikes in infections have dented public confidence even though there have been relatively few critical cases and deaths.

The government early this month imposed the toughest Level 4 curbs, which include a ban on gatherings of more than two people after 6 p.m., in the capital Seoul and neighbouring areas.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Sunday reported 1,487 cases for Saturday, the highest increase recorded on any weekend.

South Korea's total infections have risen to 188,848, with 2,073 deaths. (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin Editing by Robert Birsel)

-reuters

Seoul closes bars and clubs over fears of second virus wave

SEOUL — South Korea's capital has ordered the closure of all clubs and bars after a burst of new cases sparked fears of a second coronavirus wave.

The nation has been held up as a global model in how to curb the virus, but the order from the Seoul mayor on Saturday followed the new infection cluster in Itaewon, one of the city's busiest nightlife districts.

More than two dozen cases were linked to a 29-year-old man who tested positive after spending time at five clubs and bars in Itaewon last weekend.

Health authorities have warned of a further spike in infections, with around 7,200 people estimated to have visited the five establishments identified.

"Carelessness can lead to an explosion in infections," Seoul mayor Park Won-soon said, adding the order will remain in effect indefinitely.

Park asked those who visited those clubs and bars to come forward voluntarily.

Of the 18 new South Korean cases reported on Saturday, 17 were tied to the Itaewon cluster, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The jump in new infections comes as everyday life in South Korea has slowly started returning to normal, with the government relaxing social distancing rules last Wednesday.

The nation endured one of the worst early outbreaks of the disease outside mainland China, and while it never imposed a compulsory lockdown, strick social distancing had been widely observed since March.

But it appears to have brought its outbreak under control thanks to an extensive "trace, test and treat" programme that has drawn widespread praise.

Facilities like museums and art galleries have returned to business and some professional sports, including baseball and soccer, have started new seasons, while schools are set to reopen starting next week.

South Korea reported 34 new cases on Sunday, taking the total to 10,874, its largest daily increase in a month.

Agence France-Presse

North and South Korea exchange gunfire at border: Seoul

North Korean troops fired multiple gunshots towards the South in the DMZ dividing the peninsula on Sunday, prompting South Korean forces to fire back, Seoul said.

The rare exchange of gunfire comes a day after North Korean state media reported that leader Kim Jong Un had made his first public appearance in nearly three weeks following an absence that triggered intense speculation about his health and fears about the stability of the isolated nation.

A South Korean guard post was hit by several shots from the North, the joint chiefs of staff (JCS) in Seoul said in a statement, adding no casualties were reported in the South.

"Our military responded with two rounds of gunfire and a warning announcement," the JCS said.

The South Korean military later said the North Korean gunshots were "not deemed intentional", according to the Yonhap news agency.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also said he believed the shots had not been fired on purpose, telling ABC's "This Week" it was likely they were "accidental".

The two neighbours remain technically at war, after fighting in the Korean War was halted with an armistice in 1953.

Despite its name, the demilitarized zone is one of the most fortified places on earth, replete with minefields and barbed-wire fences.

The last time the two sides exchanged fire on the border was in 2014. North Korean soldiers also shot at a defector in 2017 but the South did not fire back.

- Swirling health rumours -

Easing military tensions on their border was one of the agreements reached between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a summit in Pyongyang in September 2018.

But most of the deals have not been acted on by North Korea, with Pyongyang largely cutting off contact with Seoul.

North Korea's discussions with the United States over Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal are also at a standstill, despite three meetings between Kim and US President Donald Trump.

The uncertainty around the process would have increased had Kim been incapacitated or dead as rumoured in recent weeks.

Speculation about Kim's health has been swirling since his conspicuous no-show at April 15 celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather, the North's founder -- the most important day in the country's political calendar.

His absence triggered a series of unconfirmed reports over his condition, while the United States and South Korea insisted they had no information to believe any of the conjecture was true.

However, North Korean state television on Friday showed Kim walking, smiling broadly and smoking a cigarette at what it said was the opening of a fertiliser factory.

A senior South Korean presidential official on Sunday brushed off rumours that Kim had undergone surgery during his absence, saying they had enough grounds to believe he had not.

Trump on Saturday welcomed the leader's return.

"I, for one, am glad to see he is back, and well!" the president tweeted.

Before Kim's reappearance, Pompeo said last month that he remained hopeful a nuclear deal could be clinched with North Korea.

"Regardless of what transpires inside of North Korea with respect to their leadership, our mission remains the same -- to deliver on that commitment that Chairman Kim made with President Trump... (the) verified denuclearisation of North Korea," Pompeo told reporters.

"We are still hopeful that we'll find a path to negotiate that solution to get the outcome that is good for the American people, good for the North Korean people and for the whole world."

Agence France-Presse

North Korea hacking focused more on making money than espionage – South Korean study

SEOUL — North Korea is behind an increasingly orchestrated effort at hacking into computers of financial institutions in South Korea and around the world to steal cash for the impoverished country, a South Korean state-backed agency said in a report.

In the past, suspected hacking attempts by North Korea appeared intended to cause social disruption or steal classified military or government data, but the focus seems to have shifted in recent years to raising foreign currency, the South’s Financial Security Institute (FSI) said.

The isolated regime is suspected to be behind a hacking group called Lazarus, which global cybersecurity firms have linked to last year’s $81 million cyber heist at the Bangladesh central bank and the 2014 attack on Sony’s Hollywood studio.

The U.S. government has blamed North Korea for the Sony hack and some U.S. officials have said prosecutors are building a case against Pyongyang in the Bangladesh Bank theft.

In April, Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab also identified a hacking group called Bluenoroff, a spinoff of Lazarus, as focused on attacking mostly foreign financial institutions.


The new report, which analyzed suspected cyberattacks between 2015 and 2017 on South Korean government and commercial institutions, identified another Lazarus spinoff named Andariel.

“Bluenoroff and Andariel share their common root, but they have different targets and motives,” the report said. “Andariel focuses on attacking South Korean businesses and government agencies using methods tailored for the country.”

Pyongyang has been stepping up its online hacking capabilities as one way of earning hard currency under the chokehold of international sanctions imposed to stop the development of its nuclear weapons program.

Cyber security researchers have also said they have found technical evidence that could link North Korea with the global WannaCry “ransomware” cyberattack that infected more than 300,000 computers in 150 countries in May.

“We’ve seen an increasing trend of North Korea using its cyber espionage capabilities for financial gain. With the pressure from sanctions and the price growth in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum — these exchanges likely present an attractive target,” said Luke McNamara, senior analyst at FireEye, a cybersecurity company.

North Korea has routinely denied involvement in cyberattacks against other countries. The North Korean mission to the United Nations was not immediately available for comment.

ATMs, online poker

The report said the North Korean hacking group Andariel has been spotted attempting to steal bank card information by hacking into automated teller machines, and then using it to withdraw cash or sell the bank information on the black market. It also created malware to hack into online poker and other gambling sites and steal cash.

“South Korea prefers to use local ATM vendors and these attackers managed to analyze and compromise SK ATMs from at least two vendors earlier this year,” said Vitaly Kamluk, director of the APAC research center at Kaspersky.

“We believe this subgroup (Andariel) has been active since at least May 2016.”

The latest report lined up eight different hacking instances spotted within the South in the last few years, which North Korea was suspected to be behind, by tracking down the same code patterns within the malware used for the attacks.

One case spotted last September was an attack on the personal computer of South Korea’s defense minister as well as the ministry’s intranet to extract military operations intelligence.

North Korean hackers used IP addresses in Shenyang, China to access the defense ministry’s server, the report said.

Established in 2015, the FSI was launched by the South Korean government in order to boost information management and protection in the country’s financial sector following attacks on major South Korean banks in previous years.

The report said some of the content has not been proven fully and is not an official view of the government.

source: interaksyon.com

Eat that Pokémon! How to make a Pikachu-inspired dessert

MANILA, Philippines - There's no debating Pokémon Go‘s impact in the “real world."

The augmented reality game has gotten everyone else's attention, including the business operators.

Few weeks after its release in several countries, businesses started changing their operations.

While some have simply enjoyed the benefit of their business being luckily labeled as Pokéstop or Gym, others have devised their own way to use the game's booming popularity to their advantage.

For example, some restaurants are now using the Pokémon "lure" as a means to literally lure customers to dine in their place while hotels are beginning to offer "free" accommodation if customers are able to catch a Pokémon within their facility.

Joining in the Pokécraze is the bakeshop in Korea. Dalmiin Baking Studio recently uploaded a video on Youtube showing everyone how you can make a Pokémon-inspired dessert at home.


As of now, "Pokémon Go" has surpassed Tinder in popularity, and is It’s getting more usage than Snapchat, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp

source: philstar.com

Jinri Park bids Manila goodbye to study acting in Korea

Long-time Philippine resident Jinri Park bade her Filipino fans goodbye on Wednesday. The 25-year-old Korean model, actress and radio jock moved back to her native South Korea where she will stay indefinitely to pursue serious training in acting.



I would like to thank everyone who supported me here in the Philippines. I will NEVER forget my filipino fans. I'll be back as a better me.

— Jinri Park (@jinri_88) October 23, 2013





“The fact I’m leaving is really because I do miss my family and want to take acting seriously. I applied for masters in acting in Korea,” she said in a farewell note she posted on Instagram.

Jinri turned her back on a leading lady role in the Vic Sotto sitcom “Vampire ang Daddy Ko”, a regular show on RX 93.1, and a growing profile as a model for men’s magazines and her own photo books.

But unlike Sandara Park before her, she said she was “not quitting showbiz” and promised to return. However, she did not rule out the prospect of joining South Korea’s entertainment industry.

“If there’s an opportunity to join showbiz there, I’ll try it out, but I’m not going there to be an actress/K-pop artist. If it happens then it happens,” she posted when she broke the news of her departure last month.

Recently, she raised a lot of eyebrows when she guested on Edu Manzano’s talk show “What’s Up, Doods?” and said she found comedian Ramon Bautista “really attractive now”.

source: interaksyon.com

Samsung seeks smart watch trademarks in US, SKorea

SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung Electronics Co. has applied for U.S. and South Korean trademarks for a watch that connects to the Internet in the latest sign that consumer technology companies see wearable devices as the future of their business.

Samsung described "Samsung Galaxy Gear" as a wearable digital electronic device in the form of a wristwatch, wrist band or bangle in its July 29 application with U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. A month earlier, it applied for a "Samsung Gear" trademark in South Korea.

The trademark applications did not show the shape of the products. But drawings from a Samsung design patent approved in May show a watch-like design with a flexible screen that curves around the wrist.

The U.S. trademark application said the device will be "capable of providing access to the Internet, for sending and receiving phone calls, electronic mails and messages" as well as "for keeping track of or managing personal information."

The trademark filings in the U.S. and in South Korea show that Samsung is deep in preparations for what tech industry experts expect will be a new generation of mobile technology that dramatically expands the utility of single-function objects such as watches and glasses. The South Korean consumer electronics giant was caught flatfooted by Apple's invention of the smartphone but through what turned out to be a legally risky strategy of imitation was able to capture a dominant share of the global smartphone market within a few years.

Apple Inc. applied June 3 for a trademark in Japan for "iWatch." Industry watchers have long speculated that Apple is working on a smart watch that uses a version of the operating system that powers the iPhone and iPad. The company has not confirmed those rumors but CEO Tim Cook has hinted it may be developing a wearable computing device.





Google Inc. is testing an early version of Internet-connected spectacles called Glass. It uses a small screen above the right eye that displays information and imagery retrieved from the Internet.

The South Korean patent office said the Gear trademark will not be approved this year as it takes seven to eight months to start reviewing applications due to a waiting list. Samsung applied for the South Korean trademark on June 21.

It was not clear if Samsung would use the "Samsung Gear" trademark for a Smart Watch. The trademark application covers 38 possible products including mobile telephones, bracelets, glasses and software interfaces that monitor human vital signs.

South Korea's patent office said in June that Samsung had patented watch designs in which more than three quarters of the device is covered by a flexible display that curves around the wrist. Illustrations showed 'back' and 'home' buttons at the bottom of the screen. Another illustration shows a rectangular screen with an edge that tapers toward the top.

The product is made of metal, synthetic and glass materials, Samsung's patent document said.

Samsung executive vice president Lee Young Hee said in March interview with Bloomberg that the company's mobile division has been working on a smart watch. Samsung declined to confirm the report then.

Company spokeswoman Chenny Kim declined to comment on the patent applications.

source: philstar.com

South Korean president's son faces tax probe

SEOUL -- South Korean prosecutors said Wednesday they would refer President Lee Myung-Bak's only son to the tax authorities as they handed down indictments over a project to build Lee's retirement home.

Although Lee Si-Hyung was not among the three people indicted, prosecutors said his tax records would be checked for the possible imposition of gift tax on funds he received from family members to help purchase land for the home.

"We've decided to pass on documents to the National Tax Service," special prosecutor Lee Kwang-Bum told reporters.

Those indicted on various charges relating to breach of trust included the former head of the Presidential Security Service, Kim In-Jong.

The indictments followed a one-month investigation by special prosecutors into alleged irregularities in the purchase of a plot of land on the southern edge of Seoul.

The land was to be used to build a retirement home for Lee, who will formally leave office in January having served the single presidential term allowed under the South Korean constitution.

The lot was jointly purchased by the president's son, Lee Si-Hyung, and the presidential security service, which would have needed to house its agents on the site.

But the cost was allegedly not split evenly, with suggestions that the security service paid too high a price for its share, while Lee's son got a below-market rate for the residential plot.

In the course of their probe, the prosecutors grilled the president's brother, Lee Sang-Eun, who had given his nephew 600 million won ($542,000) to secure the land deal.

First Lady Kim Yoon-Ok was also questioned -- although only in writing -- over a similar-sized loan she made to her son.

The presidential Blue House has denied opposition claims of financial chicanery.

But in the face of mounting criticism, the president scrapped the whole project and decided to move into his existing private house in southern Seoul after leaving office.

source: interaksyon.com

Gangnam fever ‘just the beginning’ for new Korean wave

BUSAN, South Korea – The phenomenal success of “Gangnam Style” is just the start of a new surge of attention for Korean entertainment, according to the man responsible for some of South Korea’s biggest films.

“When you look at Korean music or Korean films they are very Hollywood-like in terms of production standards,” said producer Jonathan H. Kim, speaking on the sidelines of last week’s Busan International Film Festival.

“There’s also a degree of people from other countries looking at Korean movies and saying ‘Wow: their values are similar to ours’.”

A 30-year veteran of the Korean film industry, Kim has been behind five of his country’s 50 biggest box office hits. Among them is war epic “Silmido” (2003), the first film to attract more than 10 million viewers in South Korea.

As well as producing films, Kim is a business advisor to the sprawling CJ Entertainment & Media group, South Korea’s largest in terms of film production, investment and distribution.

He also hosts seminars on investing in its entertainment industry and its potential for growth at home and beyond.

“These films travel well because production values are very high,” Kim told AFP. “But it is also about Korean people’s passion and their impatience. If the movies aren’t great, people just leave the theater.”

Kim believes the current strength of Korean cinema – and the global appeal of Korean entertainment in general – had its beginnings in 2003, with the emergence of film directors such as Park Chan-Wook (“Oldboy”) and wildly successful TV dramas such as the drama “Winter Sonata”.

“A lot of territories saw Korean films as an alternative to B-grade Hollywood movies as they were cheaper and artistically we were getting a lot of awards from festivals,” said Kim.

Attention has been renewed, helped by the box-office success of heist-thriller “The Thieves” and the dance moves of 34-year-old rapper Psy, whose “Gangnam Style” has amassed more than 450 million YouTube hits.

South Korea’s K-pop has in the past 10 years defied language barriers to entice fans around the world, but glossy products such as Super Junior and Girls’ Generation have not won Psy’s level of global recognition.

The rapper has performed his unique horse-riding dance at the MTV awards in Los Angeles and appeared in a cameo on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live”.

“The surprise with Psy is that he didn’t try to look Hollywood. It’s pure Korean,” said Kim. “That is making a lot of people re-evaluate the Korean wave and cinema is at the forefront of that.”




The Busan festival programme was loaded with acclaimed contemporary Korean cinema, including politically edged thriller “National Security”, “A Werewolf Boy” and the recent local box office hit “Nameless Gangster: Rules of Time”.

Maverick director Kim Ki-Duk’s gritty revenge thriller “Pieta” also played in Busan, a month after taking the major prize at the Venice International Film Festival – the first time the Golden Lion had gone to a Korean production.

Festival goers packed out a special outdoor screening of the country’s new box office champion “The Thieves” which has now been seen by more than 13 million people in South Korea, reaping more than 93 billion won ($84 million). “I think the wave is just getting started,” said Choi Dong-Hoon, the director of the smash-hit heist thriller.

“Korean commercial films have their conventional characteristics but if you study them one-by-one, each of them is unique. It’s hard to compare with other countries,” he said.

“The story is usually very powerful and each character has complicated issues. I think this relates to the nature of Korean people.”

Korean cinema itself is on target for a record-breaking year.

The Korean Film Council recently announced around 120 million cinema tickets had been sold across the country by the end of the second quarter of 2012, a year-on-year rise of around 20 percent.

“I think Korean movies are becoming more exciting and vigorous,” said Choi. “Filmmakers have put a lot of effort into finding different themes to work on. As a director, I love how the cinema is doing right now and I think audiences share the same view.”

Alongside established names, the festival also showcased the works of younger talent hoping to ride the Korean wave.

Lee Donku might have only spent US$3,000 on putting together his tense thriller “Fatal” but the film was selected in the Busan festival’s main New Currents award, which offers two prizes of US$30,000 for first- or second-time Asian filmmakers.

While the cash went to Thailand’s Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit (“36″) and Iran’s Maryam Najafi (“Kayan”), Lee said he was honored to have his first film nominated and is grateful to Psy for capturing so much attention.

“I really like Psy’s “Gangnam Style” and so do Koreans,” he said. “And as other countries like his song so much, having such a passion for it, the growing interest in Korean culture is helping to attract more attention to our movies.

“As Korean culture gets more popular, it helps me as well.”

source: interaksyon.com

Data of 8.7 million South Korean telecom subscribers hacked

SEOUL — KT Corp., South Korea’s No. 2 wireless service provider, apologized on Sunday after personal data of millions of mobile phone subscribers was hacked.

It is the latest in a string of large-scale personal information hacking cases in one of the world’s most wired countries. Police said two computer programmers had been arrested for hacking personal data of about 8.7 million KT subscribers. KT claims a mobile service subscription membership of 16 million.

Police were also investigating seven others suspected of having purchased and used the hacked KT data, which included names, resident registration numbers and phone numbers. “We deeply apologize for worrying you,” KT said in a statement. The company said it had blocked any further illegal access to data.

The hacking began in February. In November, more than 13 million subscribers of Nexon Korea Corp, a leading game developer, fell victim to a hacking attack.

Months before the Nexon Korea case, information of up to 35 million users of an Internet portal and blogging site operated by SK Comms, the country’s top mobile service provider, was attacked by hackers from China.

source: interaksyon.com

Maui Taylor’s Korean film to premiere in Seoul on Tuesday

Maui Taylor gets a chance to walk the red carpet in Seoul for the premiere of her Korean film “The Taste of Money” on Tuesday, May 15. The highly anticipated film by Korean director Im Sang-son will screen in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, which will begin the next day.
“The Taste of Money”, Im’s follow-up to the highly lauded 2010 Cannes entry “The Housemaid”, is Maui’s first taste of the international film scene. The petite actress was last seen in the 2008 film “Torotot”.
“It was the people of Viva Films who presented me to these Korean film producers,” she says. “They were looking for a Pinay actress to play the role of Eva, a nanny from Cebu.”
Maui plays the pivotal role of the Filipina housemaid whose sexual relations with the old patriarch of her employing family in Seoul puts everyone’s lives into a tailspin.
She landed the part after the producers saw her performance in the 2004 film “Huling Birhen sa Lupa”.
“Pinanood nila ‘yung movie, and they all agreed that I was the one. Wala nang auditions na nangyari. Kaya sobra akong natuwa,” she says. “It’s my first time to make a film this big, and kilala sa mga international film festivals ang director namin na si Im Sang-son.”
Maui started filming for “The Taste Of Money” in Seoul in November 2011 during winter.
“Grabe ang lamig sa Korea,” she recalls. “May swimming scene pa ako, at sobrang lamig ng tubig.”
Fortunately, some scenes were also shot in Cebu. The principal photography for the film lasted four months.
Maui witnessed how the Korean film industry is very strict with the hours of filming.
“We only shot for 10 hours a day, and no overtime. Sometimes we would only shoot like three or four scenes a day lang.
“Masyado silang mabusisi sa mga eksena. Kapag naisipan ng director namin na ibahin ang scene, lahat maiiba. Kaya inabot kami ng four months,” she says.
During those four months, Maui had opportunities to fly back home during breaks in her schedule.
“Pabalik-balik ako dito sa Pilipinas. May weeks kasi na hindi ako makukunan ng eksena. Kaya uuwi muna ako. I would only fly back to Seoul kapag ready na ang mga scenes ko na i-shoot,” she explains.
The entire experience thrilled Maui to no end: “Feeling ko Hollywood star ako. I was given a VIP treatment sa set.”
The 29-year-old actress had a well-appointed three-bedroom apartment all to herself. She had a living allowance on top of her talent fee, which financed her shopping sprees in the cosmopolitan city.
On set she had an English-speaking personal assistant, a necessity given the fact that most of the actors and the crew were not conversant in English. In fact, it was Maui who reached out by learning Korean.
“May dialect coach ako because in most of my scenes I had to speak Korean. Kaya I learned so many words and somehow nakakapag-communicate ako sa kanila on the set. Pero I still needed my P.A. to interpret some of the words spoken to me by my co-stars,” she shares.
Maui had a great time working with her Korean co-actors, especially the two senior stars of the film: Baek Yoon-sik (known as the “Al Pacino of Korea”) and Yoon Yeo-jeong (the lead actress in “The Housemaid”).
“Mababait sila. At first na-intimidate ako sa kanila kasi they are big stars in Korea. But once I got to know them, normal din pala sila. Mahiyain din pala sila,” she says.
She confesses she had a crush on Kim Kang-woo, reportedly the highest-paid actor in Korea: “Grabe, ang guwapo niya!”
Unfortunately for her, her love scenes were with the much older Baek Yoon-sik, not with Kim Kang-woo. She says: “Palabiro si Kim Kang-woo. Kaso he’s married na kaya hindi na ako puwedeng umeksena sa kanya!”
The project came as a breath of fresh air for Maui, who was coming off a bad breakup when “The Taste of Money” was offered to her.
“Tama lang na dumating ang trabahong ito para hindi ko maisip ang malungkot na lovelife ko,” says the actress, who remains loveless at the moment.
“Right now, I am just dating. Nothing serious yet,” she notes. “I just want to meet other people muna. Ayoko munang maging serious sa love.”
source: interaksyon.com

Lady Gaga wows S. Koreans as global tour kicks offSEOUL - US pop diva Lady Gaga wowed tens of thousands of South Koreans at the opening show of her gl

SEOUL - US pop diva Lady Gaga wowed tens of thousands of South Koreans at the opening show of her global tour Friday with signature flamboyant outfits and a provocative performance.

The star dazzled some 50,000 fans at the Olympic stadium in Seoul, with the audience wearing paper bracelets reading "18 above" issued by organizers in response to Seoul banning under-18s attending.

The limit was imposed after a state ratings board judged the much-anticipated concert unsuitable for younger audiences, and ticket-holders had to present ID cards to enter the venue.

Lady Gaga rode onto the stage on horseback, wearing a glittering black bodysuit and an enormous black metal headpiece as screaming fans waved thousands of glowing sticks and chanted her name.

"I was told that your government decided that my shows should be 18 or over... So, I'll make sure it will be!" Lady Gaga shouted, to cheers from the crowd.

The professional provocateur's show included throwing dancers and herself into a giant fake meat grinder and staging scenes of machine gun fire and simulated group and lesbian sex.

The concert was the first in her "Born This Way Ball" tour, which will visit several Asian countries before going on to Australasia and Europe later this year.

It follows the success of her album "Born This Way," which has sold nearly six million copies worldwide since it was released in May 2011.

The "Poker Face" and "Bad Romance" singer belted out more than 20 hits in a 100-minute show on a stage featuring a castle-shaped structure topped with an illuminated cross.

The star, rated one of the 100 most influential fashion icons by the US magazine Time, showed off some 10 different outfits, ranging from a dress and a pair of heels fashioned out of raw meat to a skirt made of a piano keyboard.

Before the concert, dozens of Lady Gaga lookalikes in extravagant costumes inspired by the singer took souvenir pictures as hordes of fans waited in line outside the stadium, which was guarded by police and security guards.

Some male fans wore leather corsets over black and white suits and black sunglasses with metal spikes, while scores of others put on facepaint to honor the singer known for her otherworldly dress sense.

The concert prompted opposition from religious groups who accuse Lady Gaga of advocating homosexuality and pornography.

The Korean Association of Church Communication vowed last month to take "concerted action to stop young people from being infected with homosexuality and pornography" by the US star's concert.

Outside the stadium on Friday, two foreign Christian protesters held placards reading "Lady Gaga. Go home!" and "Sexual purity, virginity, fidelity", while about 20 South Korean Christian activists prayed.

In another part of Seoul about 100 Christian activists gathered for a rally.

"Lady Gaga... is a wounded soul that is in desperate need of restoration. Therefore Christians should love and bless her. We should hate the evil spirit behind her, not Lady Gaga herself," they said in a leaflet.

source: interaksyon.com

Survey: Most popular Korean stars in 2012

MANILA, Philippines - Big Bang, Girls Generation, Won Bin and Kim Tae Hee are the most popular singers and actors for the first half of 2012, according to a survey.

A total of 1,329 respondents were polled by Korean marketing research firm Leespiar on their favorite Korean celebrities.

For male singers, Big Bang topped the poll, getting 18.1 percent, up from third place in the same survey conducted in the second half of 2011.

Solo artist and actor Lee Seung Gi is second with 11.3 percent followed by 2PM with 8.1 percent, Rain with 6.9 percent, and 2AM with 5.7 percent.

In the second half of 2011, Kim Bum Soo topped the survey followed by Im Jae Bum, Big Bang, Yoon Do Hyun and Lee Seung Gi.

In the female singers category, Girls Generation garnered 26.9 percent of the votes to top the poll. The girl group is followed by IU with 15.3 percent, Wonder Girls with 7.3 percent, Lee Hyori with 7.1 percent, Baek Ji Young with 6.5 percent and miss A with 6.5 percent.

For male actors, Won Bin got the first place, getting 16.3 percent. He is followed by “The Moon that Embraces the Sun” star Kim Soo Hyun with 16 percent, Jang Dong-gun with 9.2 percent, Hyun Bin with 7.8 percent, Lee Seung Gi with 6.5 percent and Kang Dongwon with 5.6 percent.

Kim Tae Hee was the top choice among Korean actresses. She is followed by Han Ga-in with 16.9 percent, Ha Ji Won with 12.6 percent, Shin Minah with 6.8 percent and Song Hye Kyo with 6.6 percent.

source: mb.com.ph

PHL stocks climb on Wall St. gains, North Korea rocket crash

Philippine shares climbed 1 percent in moderately active trading Friday, with market sentiment carried by gains overnight on Wall Street and North Korea’s failed rocket launch Friday morning.

While the market continued to move within the 4,990-5,100 consolidation window, it reacted positively to the failure of North Korea’s rocket launch and the 180-point advance of Wall Street stocks in New York overnight, said Harry Liu, president of Summit Securities Inc.

The main PSEi gained 50.52 points or 1 percent to close at 5,097.30.

More than 1.498 million shares valued at P5.716 billion changed hands during the morning and afternoon sessions.

However, decliners outpaced advancers 83 to 78 with 47 issues closing unchanged.

Most issues that gained were index stocks that carried the PSEi higher.

Asian markets shrugged off a rocket launch by North Korea before they opened, according to a Reuters report.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said the rocket exploded in the initial minutes of flight, and then fell in 20-odd pieces off South Korea's west coast, it added.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 181.19 points, or 1.41 percent, at 12,986.58.

The Philippine market needs a couple of weeks of consolidation, because there is still a bit of nervousness about US, China and European economic numbers, said Summit’s Liu.

The goal is to breach the 5,100 resistance level. “Then we’ll see more aggressive market plays,” he added. —GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Filipino Jasmine Lee makes history, wins in South Korea election

MANILA, Philippines – Call her Representative Jasmine Lee.

Filipino-Korean actress and civil servant Jasmine Bacurnay-Lee, 35, has been elected as a proportional representative in South Korea’s National Assembly election following her party’s majority victory in the polls held on April 11.

With her win, the Davao City native has made history in South Korea as the first Filipina and naturalized Korean to become a lawmaker.

Lee’s win is a result of the stunning victory of the ruling Saenuri Party, to which she belongs.

According to Korean media, the Saenuri Party won 152 seats including 25 proportional representation seats out of the 300 positions that needed to be filled.

The opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) won 127 seats including 21 in proportional representation, while the United Progressive Party won 13 seats (6 in proportional representation), Liberal Forward Party with five seats (2 in proportional representation) and independents won three seats.

In the election, voters chose 246 district representatives and 54 for proportional representation. On the ballot, a voter chose a district representative and a political party.

The proportional representation seats have been allocated to political parties that have garnered at least 3 percent of the total valid votes.

Lee is No. 15 on the Saenuri Party’s proportional representation list and will be one of the party’s 25 proportional representatives in the 19th National Assembly.

She was active in the campaign, supporting her party’s district representative candidates in cities and provinces.

An actress, TV host and public servant, Lee is also an advocate of multiculturalism and migrant women in Korea.

On her official Facebook page, Filipinos began congratulating Lee on her victory.

With her win, Lee overcame a barrage of criticisms pertaining to her education. An Internet café forum called “Antimulticulture” on Korean portal Daum.net raised questions on Lee’s academic background. This was immediately picked up by the Korean media.

In an email last week to this writer, Lee said the press “can sometimes exaggerate things, not to mention being 'lost in translation,' specially when Korean reports are translated in English. Also differences in the educational system do exist, as well as culture-related misunderstandings.”

Lee completed three years of the four-year Biology course at the Ateneo de Davao University.

She met Korean Lee Dongho in Davao in 1994 and they got married in 1995. She moved to South Korea in the same year and became a naturalized Korean in 1998. Her husband died in 2010 in an accident. They have two children.

Lee worked as a panelist on TV and is very active in helping foreign migrants in Korea.

Last year, she starred as the Filipino mother of Korean actor Yoo Ah-in in the hit Korean film “Wandeuki” (international title “Punch”).

She is also the executive secretary of Waterdrop Korea and works at the Seoul government’s Foreign Residents Assistance Division.

Last January, Lee became the first Filipino to receive the Korea Image Millstone Award from the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI) for

her contribution to promoting multiculturalism in South Korea.

source: mb.com.ph

Govt gears for North Korea rocket launch; warns vs. sea, air travel

The government is gearing for the planned long-range ballistic missile test of North Korea, which will start next week, announcing that it will close down airways and advised against sea travel in parts of Northern Luzon.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the projected path of the missile will be 190 nautical miles northeast of Sta. Ana, Cagayan and 140 nautical miles east of Polilio Island, Quezon, well within the exclusive economic zone of the country.

North Korea is planning to launch its missiles between April 12 to 16, between 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. (or between 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. Manila time), despite of protests from various countries.

NDRRMC executive director Benito Ramos appealed to fishermen and other sea vessels in Northern Luzon to refrain from venturing out to sea, particularly in the areas of Batanes, Calayan group of islands, Babuyan group of islands, Aparri, the coastal towns of Isabela, Baler, Casiguran and Polilio Islands.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines will also close affected airways during the projected period of the missile launch. A no-fly zone will be implemented from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. Manila time, or an hour before and two hours after the launch, from April 12 to 16.

Ferdinand Tienzo, assistant chief, air traffic control of CAAP, said about 20 international flights to and from Japan and South Korea will be diverted to other routes to avoid the path of the rocket.

CAAP said it has already informed the airlines and private aircrafts of the advisory.

"Don't venture out to sea, don't fly out," Ramos stressed during a coordinating conference on Tuesday. "We do not have the capability to shoot down the missile."

The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) said that there is no nuclear threat in the missile launch, but it will remain prepared. Dr. Alumanda dela Rosa, PNRI chief, said they are nevertheless ready to activate its "RAD" (national radiological emergency preparedness and response) plan in case of a nuclear threat.

"Out team is ready in case of a nuclear threat," dela Rosa said.

The Philippines reiterated it has no capability to shoot down the North Korea rocket and will have to rely on other countries that have the capability.

Gazmin hopeful, but . . .

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the government remains hopeful that North Korea will heed calls from various countries to stop the missile launch, but admits that "based on historical facts, Korea does not listen to the majority."

"We have done our part, the next thing that we should do when the launch is effected is we have to prepare for the emergencies that will happen just in case it lands, the debris will [fall on] the land area of our territory. We have alerted the NDRRMC to give the necessary information and to do whatever there is to do in order to protect ourselves. We have also given instructions to the Philippine Navy to instruct ships to be out of the path, probable path of the missile test and also the airspace will have to be protected," Gazmin said.

source: interaksyon.com