Your Two Cents: What Do You Think About Seo Taiji & Lee Ji-ah???

As you all know, the main headline in kpop is the situation between Seo Taiji and Lee Ji-ah. If you don't know catch up here!

So what do you all think?? Who's the "bad person" in this situation? the victim? Personally, I'm feeling sorry for Jung Woo-sung!!! Also, a lot of people around me are gossiping, "Wow...Lee Ji-ah can kiss her career goodbye!" Do you agree with this? Do you think it's kind of dramatic for Korean media to butcher her up like this? How come Seo Taiji's not getting the bad limelight? What do you think would be the best way for her to handle this with as little repercussions as possible? For example, lay low for about a year and then make a dramatic comeback? Make a public apology and keep going strong?

I would love to hear what all of her INTERNATIONAL listeners have to say. It'd be nice to get some objective viewpoints on this matter.

Have a great week! And don't forget, this month is the LAST month for our CD drawings!!! To enter, email angela@kbs.co.kr your full name, correct address, and at least TWO kpop cds that you would like to receive!

Your Two Cents: What Makes For A Good MC???

There are so many articles praising the two "nation's emcees": Kang Ho-dong and Yoo Jae-suk. These two alone dominate pretty much all the major variety shows on the three main broadcasting networks in Korea: KBS, SBS, MBC. You can flip through channel after channel, and it's these two that are alternated between them.

As a host/emcee myself, I watch these two to see what their secret to success is. What is it about Kang Ho-dong and Yoo Jae-suk that seem to never bore viewers?

So let me ask YOU dear listeners, what makes a good MC? If you want to get specific, why are Kang Ho-dong and Yoo Jae-suk SOOOO popular? What are their strengths (and weaknesses)? For example, I AM a Kang Ho-dong fan, but sometimes he's just too loud and shrill even. LOL! So that could be a possible weakness. To be fair and cover the other side, Yoo Jae-suk sometimes seems to laugh at EVERYTHING in exactly the same way. It makes things less funny when they really ARE funny. (Again, these are just MY personal opinions...don't send me hate mail! :P )

Post up your responses and don't forget to tune into KPI to listen for all the fun answers!!!

Your Two Cents: Bedtime Rituals???

What a gloomy Sunday it is in Korea! :(

Weather's very gray...temperature's kinda chilly thanks to the wind.
One of those drink-hot-cocoa-while-wallowing-over-sad-music-or-movies kind of day...

ANYWAYS, hope you all had a great weekend! :) Haha...is it bad that I'm trying to be upbeat after that kind of an opening to this blog entry?

I've been having trouble sleeping these days...perhaps it's the changing of the seasons. In Korea, we say, "봄 탄다" (bom tan-da). This means that we're feeling the effects of the changing of the seasons (becoming Spring). In English, we call it "Spring fever". People feel lazy or restless...perhaps on the other end, excited for no particular reason it seems.

So this week's question has nothing to do with kpop, but I figured it's a good way to get to know the listeners. Perhaps there are some cultural differences that can be seen too. :)

What are your bedtime rituals? What do you do to help you go to sleep? What do you do right before you drift off to sleep? Read? Watch TV? Write in your journal? Listen to good music? Tweeze your eyebrows? Log in your food journal about everything you ate that day? :P

If you have any kpop favorites that always put you in a peaceful sleepy mood, lemme know too! I mean, I don't wanna put my listeners to sleep during the next episode of KPI, but I will play them for you guys.

Well, answer away, and don't forget to tune in next Sunday to hear everyone's reponses!

Your Two Cents: Most "Westernized" Star???

These days, it seems like Korean stars are all about breaking into the Western markets...especially the US. Whether that means entering into the American music scene or trying to score a role in a Hollywood flick, all the A-list stars are setting their eyes abroad.

There was BoA, Se7en, Rain, Jeon Ji-hyun, Lee Byung-hun, Jang Dong-gun, 2NE1...

Of course I'd love to see Korean stars do well abroad, but there really needs to be the right "formula" for a star to be successful in the US at this current time. The entertainment scene is still dominated by Caucasians, Africans, and Hispanics before Asians. It's good to see though more Asian faces in major US flicks and dramas though!

Anyways, who do YOU think has the BEST shot at making it on the US market. And I don't mean starring in one Hollywood flick or whatever, but continuing to frequent the Hollywood scene. Seeing them pop up in movies regularly, attend award events, guest on talk shows, etc. Who has the right look? right voice? right talents? can they speak English or other languages?

Let me know and don't forget to tune into KPI on Sunday!

Your Two Cents: Best Actor/Actress in Korea???

Let's shift our focus from the music realm in Korea, and take a look at the acting realm.

C'mon, let's be real. There are certain actors/actresses that aren't all that good at their craft compared to other actors/actresses. However, they're so good looking that they still get cast for major parts anyway.

From your experience of watching Korean dramas or movies, which actor/actress do you think is the best at their job? If that's too difficult, which actor/actress do you think is horrible at their job?

Answer away and don't forget to tune into KPI next week to hear all of the interesting responses!!

Your Two Cents: Song You Can't Get Enough Of These Days???

Happy New Week Everyone! ^^

For this week, we're going to keep things simple. I think I asked this before...but I'm gonna ask it again because it's been a while and answers for this particular question change every month...week....maybe even day!

What k-pop song can you just NOT get enough of these days??? I'll take them as song requests and play 'em for this week's KPI!

Answer away~

Your Two Cents: If there were a natural disaster, I would save my...???

This week's two cents will actually have nothing to do with kpop. As we all know, a huge disastrous earthquake struck Japan on March 11th. There were after tremors, not to mention horrifying tsunamis that swept away homes. The consequences even reached my hometown of Hawaii. Though the government evacuated the coasts and warned people to be prepared for a tsunami, luckily it ended up being nothing too major.

We have a lot of Japanese listeners and listeners that know someone in Japan. Sure it's K(orean)-pop, but this shared passion has linked us all together as one. I think I can speak for everyone when I say our hearts go out to those affected by the natural disasters. :(

This is actually where this week's question comes into play...
If you were lucky enough to have time to prep for natural disaster and could save ONE thing, what would it be???
Perhaps photos, a dog, a piece of jewelry (i.e. wedding ring, etc.), a book, journal, etc. etc.
Also, if you want to make any shout outs to anyone affected by this particular recent earthquake, or any tragic disaster, this is also an opportunity to do that. :)
LASTLY, if you have any song requests that you feel is fitting for the situation in Japan, please send them out through the blog so that I can play it for our JAPAN SPECIAL on KPI this week (March 20th).

Thanks guys! Times like this, it really makes you realize we have a lot to be thankful for!! Let's all be THANKFUL and POSITIVE!!!

Your Two Cents: Best Kiss Scene???

It's the week before ANOTHER romantic day...WHITE DAY!!!

In Korea, girls have to do the chocolate giving to the guys. However, we get our turn to get pampered exactly a month later on March 14th, WHITE DAY!. This is when guys buy US candy (not so much chocolates but hard candy...). If you guys watched the drama IRIS, you may recall Kim Tae-hee getting mad at Lee Byung-hun for not remembering to get her candy on White Day. He thinks she's joking, because White Day is typically more celebrated among younger couples. However, when he sees she's seriously sad, he disappears, only to come back and give Kim Tae-hee a tender kiss. Right then, POP! He slips a hard candy from his mouth into hers. She's surprised, and then her anger melts away. It was a very popular scene that made girls all over Korea long for a "candy kiss". I'm not kidding! One of the top search topics the day after that episode aired was "candy kiss". LOL!

Since then, you may remember other unique kiss scenes. The most recent one being the "latte kiss" when Hyunbin kisses off the foam mustache from Ha Ji-won's upper lip after she drinks her latte (I'm thinking the writers were inspired by the Sex And The City Movie when Miranda has a foam mustache...).

So this week's Y2C question is gonna stay along the lines of White Day and all that romantic stuff being that the next KPI episode will air right before it:

What is the most memorable kiss scene from a drama or movie? It could me that it was unique like the "candy kiss" or "latte kiss". It could be memorable because the two actors just had GREAT chemistry. Perhaps the kiss was just very natural and touching. Whatever the reason it was memorable for you, let us know! Who did the kissing and from what drama or movie? If you can't think of any Korean movies or dramas, other country dramas or movies are fine too. Just describe the scene please!

Thanks and have a great week! ^^

Your Two Cents: Most Overrated Kpop Star???

Uh oh...I have a feeling this question may open up a can of worms, but I'm gonna throw it out there anyway!!!! *cue evil laughter*

It's time to get a little bit negative. I mean c'mon! Let's be REAL. We don't ALL love ALL the kpop stars out there right? And there are some where we're like, "Um...why is this person/group SO famous?!" That's where this week's Y2C question comes into play

Which Kpop star/group (actor, singer, model, MC, comedian, etc) do you think is overrated? You don't think they're THAT good looking, THAT funny, THAT talented in singing or dancing, THAT stylish, THAT whatever!

Let's all respect each other's opinions! It's just an opinion that NOT something we all agree with. I think it would be interesting to see if some of the answers overlap or perhaps we all have different choices. Either way, it'll be a great way to get to know the listeners' tastes a little better!

Thanks guys and have a GREAT week!

Your Two Cents: Spring Is What To You???

It's already the last week of February!! Can you guys believe that?! That is INSANELY fast...2011 is truly like a rabbit, just hopping and zipping on by.

Well, being that after this week it will officially be March which I classify as the first real Spring month (although the weather still feels like winter right now in Korea...), we'll keep the Y2C question related to that.

What reminds you of Spring? What is Spring to you?

Perhaps it's the cherry blossoms. If your country isn't a four season country, maybe it's just what you see in Korean dramas. Perhaps there's a specific song that reminds you of spring (i.e. "You Are My Spring" by Sung Shi-kyung). Perhaps it's a certain outfit that you can now wear. Maybe it's an annual trip you and your loved ones take. Maybe a type of food? Perhaps something school related (i.e. Spring Fling dance?) Whatever the season represents to you...let me know!!!

See you guys on air!!
Thanks :)

Your Two Cents: Valentine's Day Shoutouts???

It's Valentine's Day on February 14th (along with DJ Young's birthday by the way!!! shoot him a bday tweet: www.twitter.com/thedjyoung). This can be good news for those in happy, passionate relationships...or bad news for the singletons out there.

I thought I'd keep it pretty general to accommodate for all people for this week's Y2C. Anything to do with V-day, lemme know!
If you're in a relationship, this is your opportunity to give your loved one a shout out! Include any special songs that may have special meaning for you two (it doesn't have to be just kpop songs...).

If you're single, this is your chance to rant and rave about how stupid Valentine's Day is and how it's not even a REAL holiday. LOL Or maybe a less bitter question to answer can be what you feel is the perfect Valentine's Day kpop song? Or which kpop artist you would love to spend your lonely, single Valentine's Day with?

Hope you guys get to eat a lot of chocolates and even if you don't have a boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife, give SOMEONE you love a big bear hug and word of appreciation this week! ^^

Your Two Cents: Shout Outs From???

Hi everyone!
It's been over a year since I've joined KBS World and tool over the reins of KPI and joined the duo of KPC with DJ Young.

I know we've gained (and I'm sure LOST..lol) a lot of listeners over that period of time so I thought this week, we'd give shout outs from wherever country, group, fan club, etc. you represent!

Before, our listeners were dominantly from other parts of Asia, but these days, I'm seeing more and more feedback from the US, Canada, South America, Australia, Europe, etc.

So go ahead and let me know where you're tuning into us from!!! Perhaps even how you found out about us!

Thanks and see you guys on air :)

Your Two Cents: What do you do at your family get-togethers???

As you all know, next week (February 2nd) is Lunar New Years in Korea...and many other Asian countries! This is HUGE in Korea. It falls within the TOP TWO holidays in Korea. This is similar to Chuseok where everybody goes to visit their parents/family and eat LOTS and LOTS (and LOTS and LOTS) of good food for pretty much 3-5 days straight. This week, we have an EXTRA long holiday because Lunar New Years falls on a Wednesday. So Many people get the rest of the week off. Some even get the day or two before it off as well. Lucky bums. Hehe

ANYWAYS, I don't know how many of our listeners celebrate the Lunar New Year, but I thought this would be a good question to throw at you guys:

How often do you have BIG family get togethers (with ALL your extended family members)? And if you do have them, what do you traditionally do at them? If you say eat and play games, I want you to be specific. What kinds of foods do you eat? What kinds of games?

I'm Korean, but I grew up in America, but out of all the states, I grew up in Hawaii. So the types of food I grew up eating is just about as FUSED as you can get. So I'm curious what types of foods other people are used to. :)

Answer away, and be sure to tune into KPI next Sunday!

Your Two Cents: Stereotypes About Koreans???

Hi everyone, hope you all had a great weekend. :)

This week's two cents question is going to be about all the amusing stereotypes regarding the Korean people. For example, when I tell people that I'm Korean, the first two things that I hear are: 1. Oh...you must have quite a temper! and 2. You must be able to drink a lot.

I think most people have heard the first one. Koreans are known for their fiery tempers. You can experience it even on the streets with angry pushy ajummas trying to get to the front of the line. Or perhaps with stubborn ajushis that can't stand young'uns acting like they own the world.

Let me know of ANY (positive or negative) stereotypes you've heard about Koreans or Korea. Don't be afraid of being offensive! I think this should be quite interesting...

Answer away, and don't forget to tune into KPI this Sunday to see if your answers are announced!

Your Two Cents: Tips On Learning Korean???

Hey all,
New year so I figured I should change up the Y2C picture as well. How original huh...two cents for Y2C -.-;;

ANYWAYS, looking over all of your new years resolutions, I saw a lot of similarities. There were a LOT for learning Korean. Wing actually asked this question so props to WING! And Selene suggested in making Wing's question into a Y2C question, so also props to SELENE!

Do you have any tips or advice or personal experience to share regarding learning Korean? If maybe you don't have any tips or advice, maybe funny stories or anecdotes about your efforts? If you have none of those either, maybe some difficulties you personally had in learning Korean. Or questions on a certain word or phrase? Myself and the listeners will try our best to answer each other's questions!

I shared this on the KPI show last Sunday, and I noticed another listener, Isaac said the same thing, but I found watching Korean dramas with the English subtitles (or whatever your first language is) to be REALLY helpful. I would pause the drama every time an interesting word popped up, and I would jot it down. You got to review those notes too because learning a new word is only 10% of it. You got to review, review, memorize, memorize, and eventually USE that word to make it your own.

Another thing I did was to find a Korean penpal. They have all these penpal (email penpal that is) services on the internet where they link you up with a person from the country of the language you want to learn. You write to them in Korean and they will write to you in English (or again, whatever language you're most comfortable in). Then you can correct each other's mistakes, learn about each other's culture, etc. I actually met up with my penpal when I visited Korea. He was very nice. PLEASE BE CAREFUL THOUGH. There are a lot of weirdos on the web, so meeting your penpal blindly is NOT SAFE. If you do feel it is safe to meet with them, BRING SOMEONE ELSE ALONG! Preferably someone who has a black belt in taekwondo! :)

Well, post up your answers and don't forget to tune into next week's KPI!

Your Two Cents: Best Song of 2010...Plus Some Thanksgiving Pictures!

Man it really is winter now huh?? I'm typing this all bundled up in my warm bed while it's snowing outside! It's actually kind of a lot too! So beautiful...

Anyways, this past weekend, I celebrated Thanksgiving with the expat community in Korea at my friend Dorothy's house. She holds an annual Thanksgiving party for all the expats that crave the American Thanksgiving feast, but doesn't have family here to make it. She provides the main Thanksgiving dishes (i.e. turkey, mashed potato, stuffing, gravy, cranberry, etc.) while everyone else brings other side dishes or drinks. I contributed by chipping in for some pizzas and fried chicken! ^^ I can't really cook...or more like am too lazy to. Here are some pictures from the night. If you watch or listen to English broadcasting from Korea (i.e. Arirang radio/TV, TBS efm radio, KBS World), you may recognize some of the faces in the pictures...


Yum!!!



This year was an INTIMATE party. Previous year's had doubled the people!


Cecilia (TBS efm reporter and previous Arirang TV weather girl), me (who used to also be the weather girl after Cecilia), Sunny (also known as Kim Sung-hyun, host of Breakfast Club on Arirang Radio), and Gina (Arirang Radio reporter and current Arirang TV weather girl)


Robert Joe (used to do some stuff for TBS efm and Arirang Radio/TV), Brian (as if he needs any introduction!), me, and Kasey (good friend of everyone)

Just looking at those pictures is making me hungry again!

Anyways, hope you all had a great weekend. On to the Y2C question for this week. By the way, this will be the last Y2C question for 2010. I'm gonna change up some things for the last few weeks of the year to squeeze in some more songs and things like that. It will be back in 2011 though so please participate lots and lots then too! =)

How's about we end the year off with:
Best song of 2010? What was your favorite song that was released this year?

Be sure to tune into KPI on Sunday (KST) to hear everybody's answers and of course have a few of those songs played! Thanks guys!

Your Two Cents: Significant lyrics???

New Y2C time!!!
Personally for me, this past week was one of the best weeks I had in a long time, so I hope the positive energy keeps flowing into this new upcoming week as well!

This is taking me extra long to type out this entry because I'm eating pistachios and as you all know, that requires hands. Kind of like typing requires hands. See my predicament? But they're so good that I can't stop eating them! Haha

ANYWAYS, for this week, I'm going to go with a listener's request: Selene from Malaysia!
Selene suggested that I do a Y2C question on meangingful lyrics from a kpop song. If you don't know Korean, this is the perfect opportunity to check through some of the translations I did on this blog! (Yup...self promotion!) Just type in "Words Behind The Music" in the search box on the left and all the translation entries will pop up! When translating, I try my best to preserve the beauty of the Korean language while still making it English friendly. Hopefully, I'll be able to have done those original lyrics justice! I'm sure there are plenty of other sites that offer translations too.

So the question is:
Is there any line from a kpop song that particularly stuck out to you? Perhaps it was so poetic? So funny? So weird? So awkward to hear in English? So funny sounding but you have no idea what it means? Just the catchiest part of the song? Whatever the reason is, post up any significant lines and their meanings IF you know them! If you don't I'll try to translate them on the show. We're talking LINES people!!! Lol...so don't post up entire songs asking for them to be translated because that would take up the entire 50 minutes of KPI! ;)

Thanks guys and don't forget to tune in next week!

Your Two Cents: Idol-Star Relationships...To Reveal Or Not To Reveal???

Hi all,
So this week, I thought I'd get your opinion on something that was a very hot issue last week in kpop...especially in the idol world. I'm sorry to rub more salt in the wound for you SHINee fans, but as we all know, Shin Se-kyung and SHINee's Jong-hyun were announced to be dating. I think it's been a couple of months already. Some fans are being happy for the couple while others have lashed out at the young actress, Shin, by leaving vicious comments on her cyworld page or joining anti-Shin Se-kyung cafes. Shin ended up having to shut down her mini hompy while SHINee members weren't left unsupervised for even a second at their weekly live music performances.



I almost feel bad for the two because everyone should have the right to date who they want freely, without being scared of the vicious netizens. However, I remember when I was a teeny bopper myself. I absolutely hated any girl that even came within a 100 foot radius of my favorite stars. Haha

Let me ask you all, if you were a star or the manager of a star, would you reveal it to the public who you're dating (or who the star that you're managing is dating)? Or would you go out of your way to keep it a secret? What do you think is the "right" thing to do?

Plus, if you have anything to say regarding the netizens' response towards the young couple, this is your chance to voice it!

To present arguments for both sides, there ARE couples that have been well-received. For example, Se7en and Park Han-byul are looked at quite favorably. If anything, it's helped their careers or brought them more positive attention.

If any of you guys ARE SHINee fans, I just want to say that REALISTICALLY, those two aren't gonna get married or anything. I mean it's possible of course, but HIGHLY unlikely. They're both SOO young with SOOO many future relationships to go through. So don't be too sad. =)

Alritey, answer away and don't forget to tune in next week on KPI to hear everyone's responses!

Your Two Cents: Curious About Korean Culture???

Hi my beloved readers/listeners~

How was everyone's week/weekend? Hope it was a good one full of laughter and REST! Haha I know I shouldn't be complaining because I'm still at a "young and fresh" age, but I gotta say, my body can't keep up with me like it used to. Whereas all-nighters were no problem before, now I can't do 'em anymore. LOL Rest is VERY important.

Anyways, it's the last Y2C for the month of October. MAN! Isn't that crazy? I've been doing some reminiscing about the year of 2010. I know we still have two full months left, but those months are going to FLY by! It's already been over 2 years since I came to Korea and started broadcasting. It's been about 9 months since I joined the KBS World team and started my posts on KPop Connection with DJ Young and KPop Interactive on Sundays. I've met AMAZING people, interview some very talented and sweet singers, and more importantly, gotten introduced to the international KPOP fan base (aka YOU ALL). So thankful for my life and the opportunities that come along with it. Let's all take a moment to just be thankful.

...

Okay! With that said and done...on to this week's Y2C question:

Do you have any curious questions about any aspect of Korean culture? For example, when I first started typing and texting in Korean, I didn't know what all the "ㅜㅜㅜㅜ" or "ㅠㅠㅠㅠ" were for. They're Korean emoticons for tears! LOL do you see it? the horizontal line represents the closed eyes while the vertical lines are the tears running. Another one was all the "~"''s that were used. They represent a sorta dragged out tone to something. For example, "what are you doing?" with a little "~" put at the end gives it a more "whatchaaaa dooooiiinnnggg??" kind of feel. I don't know if I explained that well, but anyways. So any questions on culture? typing methods? phrases? (i.e. what's with all the "hwaiting"'s?!) etc. etc. etc.

Throw me your questions and I'll try to answer as many as I can on this week's KPI. If you don't have any questions, what WERE some questions you had and how did you get them answered? Let me know~~~~~~~~

Your Two Cents: First Thing You'd Want To Do When You Visit Korea???

I've been getting a lot of emails (angela@kbs.co.kr) and tweets (www.twitter.com/itsangiepark) about how many of you are planning on visiting Korea within the next year or so. GREAT!!! Especially because the country currently has a VISIT KOREA campaign going on until 2012 (I think...). I can HONESTLY say that Korea is WORHT YOUR WHILE. It's an amazing country with so much diversity depending on what region you visit. I'd assume most of you are visiting the nation's capital, Seoul. Seoul is AMAZING. The food, shopping, sights, food, nightlife, food, culture, museums, food...LOL There's ALWAYS something to do. If you're bored, just grab a sandwich and some coffee, walk to a bustling area, and people watch! That's always fun too.

Many of you have never been to Korea, so here's this week's Y2C question:
What's the FIRST THING you want to do when you come to Korea???

If you HAVE been to Korea before, what is the best/most memorable thing you did on your visit(s)???

Let me know and of course, be sure to tune into KPI this week to hear everybody else's responses! This week, I have a SPECIAL giveaway for Y2C participants! ^^

After our STAR CHAT with Lim Jeong-hee, she was so kind to give me signed copies of her latest mini-album featuring the songs "On The Way To Break Up (featuring 2AM's Jo-kwon) and "This Can't Be Real". She's an AMAZING singer with such a beautiful, soulful voice so I think it's a real treat. I haven't decided yet how MANY copies I'll be giving away. I'm going to make that decision after I see how many people respond. ^^



Ok~~~ Answer away!!!