[movie 2006] Traces Of Love 가을로

[Guest bluenitesky]

im kinda watching it now, i find this movie really deep, there wasn't much talking though....

[Guest xXeunhaexP]

i agree with you bluenitesky, i saw this movie and i was amazed by the deep connotation and hidden messages in this movie even though there isn't a lot of talking between the characters. i must say the ending is really good and symbolic

[shirley]

*okay ..it is pretty hard to comments on the movie without really talking about the plot which is like such a give away .so er ..dun read if you dun want to be spoiled * ..........

ohhh the dvd does come with the diary feel like cover ..

but then i dun have that mini diary book as shown in the pictures but the booklet of the jounery is included .........

if you believe in destiny ..

then you will feel that gentle calling in this movie to re affirm your belief in fate

that things happen for a reason ...

it is all written in the stars ...that is destiny

it was breathtaking the scenery that it had captured .

the colours and scent of autumn was so amazingly captured in it full glory

i even love the natural lights ...nature does has its way to communicate with us

as long as we are wiling to listen to it ..

...i was so tempted to follow the jounery as well ..i wonder if i will be able to do so one day

[ but actually i feel wee bit disappoint the jounery was not more linked with the inner emotions of the travellers such that at times the scenery flashes by as if it was just a tourist documentary however i still enjoy the feel of the movie ..maybe it caught me in a vulnerable stage .and i just simply love autumn ...even when nature is preparing for winter it still shines so beautifully with it colors ..]

it was reallly quite a simple story ..

about a man who lost his love .ten years ago in a human tradegdy .that kills hundred

he never got to say goodbye ..and she is forever buried in the ruins ...

and whatmore ..he blame himself ..that he was the one who send her there

she had wanted to bring him on a jounery . her favoruite places ,

travelling with the man she loved and sharing her life with .

the journery begins towards the sea

with a heart that was once a desert but at the end of the journey

there will be a forest growing in that heart

that was what she had wish so much to do

but wil never be able to do

he did not know that ..till ten years later

her diary come to him

he embarked alone on the jounery which was meant for two

and on the way ...........

he met a woman

who will be the healer to his wounds

who suffered such great pains

that she cannot even sleep in the dark .

and trembled with such fear in enclosed areas

i like the way ...they interact with time ..the past and the present

how min joo is there ..on the same jounery from the past

while hyun woo and Se-jin travels ..here in the present

there an intersection of the memories of the three

i teared when he told sejin ...

does min joo know not a single day passes that i dont miss her

does she knows

i think that was the first time he confess of his own torment he carried with him all these years

that he send her there to her death .

will she forgive me ...

and then again i teared when sejin was saying she is so sorry .

because she had surivived while min joo didnt

how it must have been like hell for her to be buried alive in the ruins

in complete darkness and the only voice of minjoo was there to give her comfort

if not she will probably had gone mad

yet ..she surivied while min joo didnt

ten years she still cannot walk out of her phobia

so she took the jounery thrice

it give her a sense of calmness

as a hopleless romantic .

...i believed min joo send sejin to hyun woo with her diary

she know that hyun woo will need someone to tell him

..minjoo loved you till the very end .

sejin was her messenger ..

ya this is pure melodrama style ....

but i do love the ending ..scene .

that road ..and the words

.people will passes by this new road embracing the memories

life jounery are just like that ....memories are make .

.and buried beneath the path as you continue to journey on

it might be painful memories or fond memories

but u had to faced it and embraced it

as those are all part of you ..

i found Uhm Ji-won quite a delight in her role of sejin ..and kim ji woo .was so gentle as the guide on her jornuey ..er just one thing is that yoo ji tae ..hmm..i thought the

"his laugh was the most i love of him

" scene abit too lame --;; ...=he a nice guy always giving such a secured feeling ..but..i thought he was not given too much stuff to handle in this role...

this movie might not have the same intensity like bungee jumping ..but journey is still worthwhile ...it might create a gentle stir in your heart ...........

[rubie]

For everyone appreciating actress Kim Ji Soo, a new thread has just been created for her,

see you there!

Kim Ji Soo - 김지수 Official Thread

http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=117440

[rubie]

April 11, 2007

[DVD review]

'Traces' humanizes a modern trauma

Traces of Love

One of the poignant moments in “Traces of Love” is a splendid scene ablaze with autumn-tinted mountains in which Se-jin (played by Eom Ji-won) walks out of a tunnel after suffering a severe panic attack brought on by her memory of being trapped inside a collapsed building.

The scene vividly captures what director Kim Dae-seung may have been trying to achieve through his film ― the transcendent strength of nature to heal wounded souls.

His attempt might come across as passive or overly-cautious for people who still expect a critical diagnosis of history, but 13 years after the Sampoong Department Store collapse in Korea (the victims of which were never truly compensated), his option seems just, if not inevitable.

The film “Traces of Love” is based on this peacetime disaster, which took place in 1995, leaving 501 people dead. Woven into the story is a bribery scandal involving the building’s owner.

The film takes the tone of a melodrama, recreating the incident from the point of view of one of the victims, Min-ju (Kim Ji-soo), who died while visiting the department store to buy furniture for her new home with Hyeon-woo (Yu Ji-tae) before their wedding.

The film is gentle throughout, deliberately focusing on the painful aftermath for the survivors, the victims and their families, instead of the actual catastrophe itself.

Even when it comes to the computer generated details of the collapse, Kim stops at showing a few cracks in the ceiling and dropping concrete columns. The scene reminds viewers of the reality of the event, but it doesn’t make a spectacle of it.

Instead the film quickly changes gears, focusing on Hyeon-woo’s travelogue. He takes a long journey, visiting the country’s rivers, temples and mountains in the fall, places his girlfriend marked in her notebook for them to visit on their honeymoon. Min-ju had visited them in the past in her work as a television producer.

The film draws out people’s emotions by consistently overlapping alluring landscapes and the feelings of pain and loss seen on characters’ faces.

The film succeeds in soothing our minds, yet it also poses a sense of guilt. Viewers find themselves remembering the pain, which hit us so hard at the time of the disaster, without critical reflection.

But that seems to be the path the film chooses to take.

Despite the fact that Hyeon-woo is a prosecutor in charge of bringing those responsible for the building’s collapse to justice, the film blames no one for the incident, focusing more instead on the pain by featuring beautiful scenery and the music of Mozart and Handel.

Perhaps the film’s Korean title “Gaeulo,” which means “To Autumn,” faithfully reflects Kim’s sympathetic view toward the victims and the incident (the collapse took place in the summer).

It proposes the idea that in the end, the only remedy for any pain is to move on.

Traces of Love

Directed by Kim Dae-seung

Starring: Yu Ji-tae, Kim Ji-soo

Running Time: 114 minutes

Subtitles: English

Genre: Drama

By Park Soo-mee Staff Writer[myfeast@joongang.co.kr]

Source: English JoongAng Daily

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2874326

[rubie]

New York Asian Film Festival 2007

NYAFF 2007 FEATURE FILM PROGRAM

AACHI & SSIPAK Korea 2005

AFTER THIS OUR EXILE Hong Kong 2006

BANQUET, THE China 2006

BIG BANG LOVE, JUVENILE A Japan 2006

CITY OF VIOLENCE Korea 2006

CRUEL WINTER BLUES Korea 2006

DASEPO NAUGHY GIRLS Korea 2006

DEATH NOTE Japan 2006

DEATH NOTE: THE LAST NAME Japan 2006

DOG BITE DOG Hong Kong 2006

DYNAMITE WARRIOR Thailand 2006

EXTE Japan 2007

EXILED Hong Kong 2006

FREESIA: BULLETS OVER TEARS Japan 2007

GETTING HOME China 2007

HARD BOILED Hong Kong 1992

HELL'S GROUND Pakistan 2006

HULA GIRLS Japan 2006

I'M A CYBORG BUT THAT'S OK Korea 2006

MIRACLE ON 1st STREET Korea 2007

MEMORIES OF MATSUKO Japan 2006

NEVER BELONGS TO ME Korea 2006

NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE Japan 2006

RETRIBUTION Japan 2006

SHOW MUST GO ON, THE Korea 2007

TRACES OF LOVE Korea 2006

TROUBLE MAKERS China 2006

YO-YO GIRL COP Japan 2006

ZEBRAMAN Japan 2004

June 22 – July 8, 2007

at the IFC Center (June 22 – July 5)

and Japan Society (July 5 – July 8)

For further info

http://www.subwaycinema.com/

http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/010318.html

Source: http://www.subwaycinema.com/frames/nyaff07films.htm

[rubie]

June 19, 2007

Korean Films Attack the Big Apple

By Lee Hyo-won

Staff Reporter

Korean cinema will take a big bite of the Big Apple as the 2007 New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) begins Friday. The festival will feature more than 30 works from the East, of which almost a third are Korean. The event will take place at the IFC Center until July 5 and at Japan Society July 5 - 8.

"A 17-day-long festival will feature films from Park Chan-wook, Johnnie To, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Takashi Miike. This year's festival will introduce you to buffalo-busting action flicks from Thailand, cartilage-cracking gangster films from Korea, and the first gore flick ever made in Pakistan!" the festival said in a statement.

Dubbed "one of the city's most valuable events" by the New York Times, the film festival is America's leading showcase for Asian movies. Launched in 2002 by Subway Cinema, the festival has featured over 100 films from China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.

This year, Ryoo Seong-wan's old school action-packed "The City of Violence" (2006) and gangster films "Cruel Winter Blues" (2006) by Lee Jeong-bum and "The Show Must Go On" (2007) by Han Jae-rim starring Song Kang-ho ("The Host," 2006) will entertain audiences with kicks and blows.

Love will conquer all in director Park Chan-wook's ("Old Boy," 2003) quirky romance movie "I'm A Cyborg, But That's OK" (2006) starring pop star Rain and Kim Dai-seung's heartbreaking drama "Traces of Love" (2006) starring Yoo Ji-tae ("Old Boy").

Youn JK's kick-butt comedy "Miracle on 1st Street" (2007), Joe Beom-jin's grotesque animation "Aachi & Ssipak" (2006), E. J-yong's teen sex comedy "Dasepo Naughty Girls" (2006) and science-fiction "Never Belongs to Me" (2005) by cult filmmaker Nam Ki-woong will surely bring many laughs.

Each year, the film festival draws thousands of local fans and in 2006 some 9,000 people attended. The audience votes for one film to be crowned the NYAFF Audience Award. Korea's box-office smash "My Sassy Girl" (2001) and "Please Teach Me English" (2003) won the heart of viewers in 2002 and 2004 respectively.

This year's key feature is Korea's Mise-en-scene's Genres Film Festival (MGFF) lineup. The Asian festival has partnered with MGFF for the first time to bring award-winning horror, comedy, melodrama, science fiction and action short films

Presented with the support of the Korean Cultural Service New York, the shorts were selected by MGFF's committee/jury members, including directors Park Chan-Wook, Ryoo Seung-wan and E. J-yong.

The 6th Mise-en-scene's Genres Film Festival will take place in Korea June 27-July 3 at multiplex theater CGV Yongsan, central Seoul.

For more information about the New York Asian Film Festival and tickets, visit www.nyaff.org. To learn more about the Mise-en-scene's Genres Film Festival, visit www.mgff.org.

Source: hyowlee@koreatimes.co.kr

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2...6/135_5009.html

[rubie]

June 24, 2007

Short Films Think Tall

By Lee Hyo-won

Staff Reporter

Though running as briefly as six minutes, short films show that size is not a factor for capturing the limitless power of imagination. Andre Bazin, film critic and founding father of the French New Wave, called short films "the film of the future."

As the 6th Mise-en-scene's Genre Film Festival (MGFF) takes off in central Seoul June 27-July 3, more than 60 short films will shake the earth and paint the sky pink. The festival will celebrate unique works that go beyond national borders and "Beyond the Barrier of Genres," befitting its slogan.

First organized in 2002 by Director's CUT, a committee of young directors celebrated both in Korea and international circles, the festival aims to support rising new cinematic talent.

This year, 10 of Korea's greatest young directors teamed up to curate the festival and chose 60 innovative and stylish films for the national competition. Challenging conventional film genres, the works are roughly grouped as City of Sadness, Short Film about Love, King of Comedy, Extreme Nightmare or 40,000 Blows.

Directors Lee Hyun-seung ("Il Mare," 2000) and Park Chan-wook ("Vengeance" trilogy, 2002-2005) head the committee respectively as chair and vice-chair.

Other committee members include cinematic icons Kim Sung-soo ("Please Teach Me English," 2003), Huh Jin-ho ("Christmas in August," 1998), Kim Jee-woon ("A Bittersweet Life," 2005), Oh Seung-wook ("Kilimanjaro," 2002), Song Hae-sung ("Failan," 2001), E. J-yong ("Dasaepo Naughty Girls," 2006), Kim Dai-seung ("Traces of Love," 2006), Bong Joon-ho ("The Host," 2006), Jang Joon-hwan ("Save the Green Planet!" 2003), and Ryoo Seung-wan ("The City of Violence," 2006).

Heartthrob Jung Woo-sung ("A Moment to Remember," 2004) stars as himself in one of the Short Films about Love, where a teenage girl dreams about the actor. In 2002, "Love' b," directed by Jung, was the opening piece for the festival.

"Moving Self-Portrait" (2007) will inaugurate the event on Wednesday night. It is a collage of 30-second clips created by the directors participating in the competition. Viewers can explore various aspects of filmmaking, such as the fine line between 'filming' and 'being filmed.'

Outside of the competition, the festival will screen 16 foreign works bemusedly categorized as "Between Laughter and Sneer" or "Superheroes: Our Twisted Heroes."

"True Love" (2006) from Canada by Adam Brodie and Dave Derewlany, shows that relationships can be easier than you think and will make you laugh or sneer, or both perhaps. A gun-toting cupid forces two randomly selected people into a "shotgun wedding" and domesticated life in the suburbs.

Another opening piece, "Sushi Japan" (2005) by Kenji Tanaka, is probably the only movie in the world that combines raw fish with the Western genre. The director hopes to evoke thoughts like "something new" and "impossible to happen" in viewers.

Moviegoers can also tune into domestic out-of-competition programs. In "Seoul Short Film Festival Retrospective," award-winning short films will relive their glory days since the Seoul Short Film Festival ended 10 years ago.

"Cine-Nomad: Foreign Students Make Films in Korea" presents works by international students that offer their unique perspectives of contemporary Korean society.

The Mise-en-scene's Genres Film Festival has partnered for the first time with the New York Asian Film Festival, currently underway until July 8 in the United States. New Yorkers can see award-winning shorts from last year's festival, such as "A Talented Boy, Lee Jun-seop" (2001) by Shin Jane, the only winner of the MGFF Grand Prix.

Tickets for all movies cost 3,000 won except for opening and closing films (5,000 won) and night screenings (7,000 won). Tickets can be purchased on the site at multiplex theater CGV Yongsan, located near Yongsan train and subway stations in central Seoul, or online at www.cgv.co.kr.

Many of the Korean language films in the national competition pool have English subtitles. Visit the festival's Web site www.mgff.org for a complete screening schedule and more information, or call (02) 927-5696.

To learn more about the New York Asian Film Festival, visit www.nyaff.org.

Source: hyowlee@koreatimes.co.kr

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2...6/135_5303.html

[rubie]

Official site http://www.chunsafilmfestival.com/board/li...=mlist&ct=5

There's an update at empas.com relating to the 15th Chunsa Awards. If the gist are correct, Traces of Love is nominated in the awards. Yoo Ji Tae and Kim Ji Soo have also been nominated for Best Actor & Best Actress, respectively. Hope others can share more updates on the upcoming ceremony. The event is scheduled to be held on 14 September 2007, 7pm. Thanks to ylin-Everything LBH for the highlight.

Source http://news.empas.com/show.tsp/cp_tn/20070...E7+%B8%B6%0B%7D

[rubie]

September 14, 2007

The 15th Chunsa Film Award 2007

Credits & gratitude to nkw88 at koreanfilm.org for the winners' list in English

http://www.koreanfilm.org/dc/dcboard.php?a...17749&page=

The Winners' List

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b226/rub...ews/33503_1.jpg

^ Best Film: Once in a Summer

Juror Special Award: Herb

Best Director: Jo Geun-Sik (Once in a Summer)

Best Screenplay: Jang Min-Seok (Traces of Love)

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b226/rub...046581003_1.jpg

^ Best Male Actor: Cha Seung-Won (My Son)

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b226/rub...5175461_web.jpg

^ Best Female Actor: Kim Ah-Joong (200 pounds Beauty)

Best Cinematography: Park Hyun-Cheol (200 pounds Beauty)

Best Photography: Lim Jae-Young (Hwang Jin Yi)

Best Music: Shim Hyun-Jeong (Once in a Summer)

Best Editing: Park Kok-Ji (200 pounds Beauty)

Best Sound: Lee Seung-Cheol (200 pounds Beauty)

Best Costume: Jeong Ku-Ho (Hwang Jin Yi)

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b226/rub...5175457_web.jpg

^ Best Supporting Male Actor: Cho Han-Seon (Cruel Winter Blues) ; Oh Dal-Soo (Once in a Summer)

^ Best Supporting Female Actor: Uhm Ji-Won (Traces of Love)

Best New Director: Lee Jung-Bum (Cruel Winter Blues)

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b226/rub...765865483_1.jpg

^ Best New Female Actor: Lee Se-Eun (Once in a Summer) Best New Male Actor: Jeong Kyung-Ho (Into Starlight)

Organizing Committee Awards

Chunsa Grand Award: Shin Young-Kyun

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b226/rub...010421127_1.jpg

^ Korean Wave Cultural Award: Jang Nara

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b226/rub...5175037_web.jpg

^ Korean Wave Cultural Grand Award: Jang Dong-Keon, Lee Young-Ae

Great Filmmakers and producers: Lee Woo-Seok, Yu Hyun-Mok, Chung Chang-Hwa

Source: news.naver.com, images from empas.com

[rubie]

Wishing everyone

happiness in 2009

[Guest katherine04]

this is great!

simulation rachat de credit

[rubie]

November 12, 2010

Founder of largest English K-pop site 'Soompi'

Korean-American web developer creates first global online community devoted to K-pop, Asian entertainment

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia cathy@koreatimes.co.kr

Main page of the ultimate K-pop site “Soompi”

If you’re looking for news about a SuperJunior concert, reviews for a 2NE1 album, recaps of Korean drama "Sungkyunkwan Scandal" or simply anything about Korean entertainment, chances are you’ll find it on Soompi.com.

Soompi.com is the oldest and currently the largest English-language online community devoted to Korean and Asian entertainment, with a million unique visitors every month.

Soompi has come a long way from its early days as a personal online shrine devoted to K-pop started by Korean-American Susan Kang in 1998.

"I had recently graduated from college with nothing much to do. As a recent fan of both K-pop and the Internet (AOL was all the rage), I noticed that there weren't any English-language sites devoted to Korean pop music or TV dramas, so I purchased a book called `Make Your Own Website with Microsoft Word '97’, and the rest, as they say, is history," Kang said, now a 35-year-old mother living in Irvine, Calif., in an email interview with The Korea Times.

Kang’s original site, Soompitown, was fairly simple. She would just upload photos of her favorite K-pop acts like H.O.T., S.E.S., Shinhwa and FinKL and English translations of Korean magazine articles, as well as post CD audio samples and her own album reviews. Basically, Kang ran the website out of "love" for K-pop.

(If you’re wondering about the meaning of Soompi, it simply refers to a nickname that a roommate’s family gave Kang in college.)

In the early 2000s, hallyu or the Korean wave began spreading around Asia and international fans discovered Soompi, the first website that actually provided English-language information about their favorite Korean stars.

Soon Soompi became more and more popular, requiring more servers and more technical expertise. A team of volunteers helped moderate the forums and post content on the website, but Kang, who also worked full-time as a web developer, was running the website on her own as a hobby and it was starting to feel burdensome.

For one, it was getting expensive to pay for the server fees out of her own pocket, although it was partially funded by member donations and small ad buys.

Then came the fateful day, Oct. 5, 2005, when the entire Soompi website crashed. Its entire database of 80,000 members and millions of forum posts was gone. "I seriously thought of just making that the end of Soompi, as I'd been running the site as a hobby for seven years at that point, and was paying for the servers completely out of my own pocket," she said.

"The turning point was when we re-opened an empty forum with 0 members and 0 posts, and within 5 days, we already had 40,000 members. That's when I knew that Soompi was bigger and more important than just one person's hobby."

Soon, it became apparent that a more serious, business-oriented approach to Soompi was needed.

In 2006, Joyce Lan Kim, a lawyer then working for technology firms in Silicon Valley, joined Soompi to handle the business side, albeit on a part-time basis.

"I joined the company, working on advertising and thinking of ways the company can break even. Susan never started this with business in mind. It was always just about fun. It was about bringing K-pop to the people. But how we make this sustainable is our job," Kim told The Korea Times at a coffee shop in downtown Seoul, last week.

Last year, Kang and Kim both decided to leave their full-time jobs and focus on Soompi.

The 33 year old Kim, who studied at Cornell and Harvard universities and received a law degree from Columbia University, had no second thoughts giving up a law career. She sees Soompi as a good business opportunity with K-pop’s potential to expand around the world.

Soompi is may not yet be profitable, but there is no doubt it is an Internet success with 500,000 registered members, and attracts over one million unique visitors every month ("That's like a small city," Kim quipped.) Revenues are currently generated from ads, premium membership and affiliate programs, but not enough for the company to break even.

There may be other K-pop websites that attract more hits, but Soompi has the most activity among community members, such as posting content and comments on the site. "Our success comes from covering such a wide variety of topics - not only the latest K-pop news, but Korean dramas and variety shows, original fan fiction, our own member-run shops, beauty & fashion, among so much more," Kang said.

Aside from sections on entertainment news, fan clubs and beauty & fashion, Soompi also has its own weekly music chart and annual contests, such as Soompi Idol, Soompi Dance Idol, Soompi Ulzzang, fan fiction writing and graphics contests.

All contests were originally started by Soompi members themselves. This year, Soompi Ulzzang Contest, a modeling competition for Soompi members, has become an official event and sponsored by Korean entertainment company Sidus HQ.

Member feedback is invaluable to keeping Soompi relevant. Whenever new features are launched, Soompi looks at the comments from members and makes the appropriate tweaks. Members can also vote for which Soompi fan clubs should be created next, as well as recommend new forums and sub-forums.

Soompi is working to make the site more user-friendly. "It's not a hobby anymore. We have to do it for real. Functionality is very important for us. We are definitely working on making it easier to use, and on getting great content," Kim said.

In terms of technical innovations, the Soompi Street Teams Twitter application is being launched. This will make it easier for fans to get their favorite K-pop idols on Twitter’s top trending topics.

"We wanted to make it easier for everybody to join together and tweet in support of their celebs. Twitter is not just for K-pop, because it's for everyone... Each time a K-pop celebrity ends up as a Twitter topic, people go, `who is this guy?’ Like when (SuperJunior member) Kim Hee-chul was trending on Twitter, everyone was talking about him... We can expose more people to the world of K-pop," Kim said.

An Asian website

Soompi is no longer just devoted to Korean pop music, but Asian pop and entertainment in general. It is also very much a global community, with most members from the U.S., Canada, Australia, Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia.

The majority or 81 percent of Soompi members are Asian, while 8 percent are white, 5 percent are multi-ethnic and the rest are African-American, Hispanic and other ethnicities. The most surprising fact was 60 to 80 percent of the non-Asian groups said they "know some Korean."

"It’s mostly non-Koreans, as opposed to 7 or 8 years ago when majority were Korean-Americans. Now Korean Americans are a minority on the site. We have ever growing number of people who are not even Asian. We have Caucasians, African-Americans, Middle East, Latin American, South East Asians," Kim said.

Soompi stands out because of its tight-knit community and its members. "Soompi is very community-focused, not just information or gossip-focused. It feels like home to many, and there are many members who have literally grown up on the site ― from Junior High to High School to College to getting married and having children," Kang said.

Noticeably, the Soompi forums are relatively free from the anti-fans and trolls who frequent K-pop websites to post vitriolic comments that rile up fans.

"I think our biggest defining feature is our members. Our members are the ones who do the subtitles, episode recaps and organize fan meetings," Kim said. "We have good members."

Future of Kpop & Soompi

Perhaps it is not an exaggeration to say that Soompi has helped give a boost to K-pop and Korean entertainment’s popularity among English speakers.

But while K-pop is undeniably big in Asia, there is yet to be a real K-pop breakthrough in the U.S., despite attempts by Rain, Wonder Girls and Se7en. "Honestly, I'm not sure if the U.S. is ready to accept Asians as idols, as Asians are still widely portrayed as awkward geeks or kung fu masters on TV and film, but I do believe it's just a matter of 'when', not 'if'. I hope it's sooner than later," Kang said.

Looking back, Kang admitted being constantly amazed and inspired by the level of commitment and amount of time people will willingly volunteer to support their favorite idols. "Passion will drive people to do crazy and wonderful things," she said.

In the future, Soompi hopes to leverage its brand value as the oldest K-pop online resource, and to continue fanning the flames of K-pop and Asian pop fever around the world.

"In 10 years, I'll be 45 years old. I hope by then, the Soompi community will still be going strong, with the love for Korean and Asian pop being passed to a much wider audience. We'll still be providing the best place for people to express their fandom and meet others who share their passion," Kang said.

[rubie]

January 2, 2011

Soompi.com shows Hallyu where to go

By Yang Sung-jin (insight@heraldm.com) koreaherald.com

Soompi.com is the world’s biggest English-language online community dedicated to Korean pop culture. It boasts some 1.4 million visitors daily. More importantly, 90 percent of its members are non-Koreans.

The website is widely regarded as a promising social network venture that has secured a solid user base on the strength of Korean cultural content. Softbank of Japan has already invested in Soompi.com and other investors are lining up amid the outlook that the website will emerge as a key gateway to Asian pop culture for English-speaking audiences.

Soompi.com CEO Joyce Kim, who lives in San Francisco, said in an interview that Hallyu is still in the early stages of growth internationally and the website would help foster its development online as “the central online activity hub for all fans of Hallyu and Asian pop.”

Joyce Kim

As for Hallyu, Kim noted that the near absence of a legitimate distribution of Korean pop content is a serious problem that is often neglected by Koreans.

The following are excerpts from the e-mail interview with Kim.

Korea Herald: How did Soompi.com start, and how did you get involved in the site?

Joyce Kim: Soompi was started by my co-founder Susan Kang in 1998 as her own personal website dedicated to her interest in Korean dramas and music. During the initial first few years, Susan would scan Korean entertainment magazine articles, translate them into English and post them on the site. Slowly, a community began to grow around the site and Susan soon had people volunteering to help with the site. As the first Hallyu wave began to grow, the site also began to grow. Soon, there were hundreds of thousands of visitors each month.

I met Susan because she is the older sister of my best friend from law school. We initially started to work together on Soompi in 2006 when the site growth was really taking off which meant server expenses were also taking off. I was helping Susan set up the advertising system on the site and eventually we decided to officially create a company and work on Soompi together. At first, we both kept our full-time jobs (Susan as a coder and me as a lawyer) and worked on Soompi during our nights and weekends. But by the end of 2008, the site was so active that it was obvious that the site needed more support. We made the decision to leave our jobs in 2009 and work on Soompi full-time.

KH: If you define Soompi.com, what is it?

Kim: Soompi is an online fan community for Hallyu. Soompi’s greatest strength lies in our members. Ninety-nine percent of the content on Soompi is user-generated content so our members are the ones who find the information to share and discuss. They spend a great deal of time online answering each other’s questions. No amount of money or marketing can create the organic community that sites like Soompi have.

KH: Who are Soompi members?

Kim: Soompi members are mostly young Americans of many different backgrounds (Asian, Caucasian, black and Latino) followed by people in their teens and 20s in South East Asia (Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, etc). They are typically very fashionable and up on the latest trends since they follow entertainment so closely. When they come to Soompi, they are often looking for the latest news about Hallyu and to meet other passionate fans. Hallyu fans love to work together to do events and share their love for their idols.

KH: What aspect of Hallyu appeals to Soompi members?

Kim: Soompi members love the celebrities ― their personalities, their visuals, their songs ― all of it. In fact, many of our members (90 percent of whom are not Korean) have started to learn Korean to better understand the music and dramas. Hallyu has definitely started to grow beyond its typical Asian boundaries. I think we will see Hallyu spread to the U.S., Latin America and Europe in 2011. However, for Hallyu to be truly successful abroad, Korean entertainment companies need to better understand international fans better ― this is important for creating new fans and reaching out to new markets.

KH: What can Korean websites and firms interested in Hallyu learn from Soompi?

Kim: I would say two differences between Soompi and Korean sites are 1) we really take into consideration the community’s desires when we build new products ― meaning oftentimes we look at community feedback first when thinking about new features and 2) we push out features before they are 100 percent perfect ― sometimes it means it has bugs, but it also means we can get our full community reaction quickly and fix or change things as needed.

For entertainment firms working in the Hallyu industry, it is important to make the music and drama content easily available for international fans. People in Korea do not realize how hard it is for international fans to buy the music and dramas legally ― there are not good options available. If entertainment firms made their content for easily available for international purchase, then more international fans would buy the content. But at the moment, we cannot even easily register on Korean websites.

KH: To create new and successful services based on social network service, what should and shouldn’t Korean venture startups do?

Kim: I see many Korean startups that are testing or half-heartedly targeting the global market. The decision whether to go global should be made early as it significantly impacts the kind of team that needs to be built and the product. If you are building an SNS service targeting the international market, then you should create your team abroad.

KH: What was the purpose of your latest visit to Seoul, and what did you feel when you were in Seoul?

Kim: I visit Seoul at least once a year to meet with Korean entertainment companies and Korean Internet startups. On the entertainment front, there is strong interest in online and social media strategy from the entertainment companies. This is one of the big growth opportunities for Hallyu. But I think Korean entertainment companies will need to hire people with international Internet experience to really open that opportunity.