An online survey by Research Panel Korea was conducted between April 11 till April 15 with 22, 384 participants took part in choosing "The Most Successful Korean Advancement into Hollywood".
The result showed that actor Lee Byung Hun chosen as the #1 answer with a majority of 51% (11,540 people voting) followed by Director Park Chan-wook with 12% (2657), actress Bae Doo Na with 10% (2175)
The rest of the result comprised of singer-actor Rain (983) and Director Shim Hyung Rae with 4% (803) each. The list rounded up with Jeon Ji Hyun (451), Jang Dong Gun (437) and Dir. Kim Ji Woon with 2% (397) respectively.
1. Lee Byung Hun - GI Joe: Retaliation = 51% / 11,540 votes
2. Director Park Chan Wook - Stoker = 12% / 2657
3. Bae Doo Na - Cloud Atlas = 10% / 2175
4. Rain - Speed Racer = 4% / 983
5. Director Shim Hyung Rae - D-War = 4% / 803
6. Jeon Ji Hyun - Blood: The Last Vampire = 2% / 451
7. Jang Dong Gun - Warrior's Way = 2% / 437
8. Dir. Kim Ji Woon - The Last Stand = 2% / 397
[by Chloe Yun] National American daily newspaper USA TODAY referred to Korean actor Lee Byung hun’s power on American film industry on April 15.
USA TODAY mentioned that Hollywood movies are now targeting foreign markets and that many foreign actors are getting high attention. It then refers to Lee Byung hun as the central figure.
USA TODAY especially talked about Lee Byung hun’s role from the movie ‘G.I. Joe 2’—which was a much bigger role than his previous one from the 1st season—and spoke of his big influence in the foreign film market.
“Korean star Lee Byung hun has played a significant role in successfully opening the Asian film market, leading increase in overseas earning to 80.3 million,” said USA TODAY in their special article.
Moreover, Jon Hoeber, the film writer of Lee Byung hun’s next movie ‘Red 2,’ has also extolled the Korean star’s talent and predicted his further success. “He might have made his name in America with‘G.I. Joe 2,’ but he will make his name in the whole world this time with ‘Red 2,’ said the film writer.
‘G.I. Joe’ film producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has also spoke of the influential actor and said, “He is already a super star in Asia. His part got bigger and bigger as his English got improved. He never disappointed me.” (photo by BH Entertainment, bntnews DB)
Here's a look at how the rest of the world is buoying Hollywood:
Hollywood remains an American fixture, but it's becoming more of an international commodity as foreign markets feast on 3-D, big special effects.
LAS VEGAS — Even with Rihanna and Brooklyn Decker aboard, Battleship was sunk long before it reached U.S. shores last year.
The $200 million film inspired by a board game had no defense against American critics, who excoriated the picture for a stiff plot, weak source material and a wicked addiction to computer-generated effects. Fans agreed, docking the film at the box office with a take of just $65 million, making it one of 2012's biggest flops.
The rest of the world, though, was all aboard the Peter Berg-directed film, propelling it to $238 million and making it an international hit.
Where Americans once were the only game in town for Hollywood, U.S. audiences are taking a back seat to moviegoers across the globe — particularly in Asia. Just two decades ago, overseas box office routinely accounted for less than half of a movie's total haul. Today, international moviegoers make up almost 70% of a movie's overall business, the Motion Picture Association of America reports.
And as CinemaCon, the largest gathering of domestic theater owners, kicks off here Monday, exhibitors find themselves suddenly playing catch-up to the rest of the globe, which can barely build enough theaters and 3-D screens to meet demand.
From a financial perspective, do American moviegoers still matter? To a lessening degree, says Paul Dergarabedian, chief box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.
"It's like the blue-jeans industry," he says. "Once, Americans dictated the overseas market. Now, the market is influencing us."
Already, American moviegoers are feeling the international flair. Overseas box office, which once was a non-factor for studios, now typically accounts for 60% of a film's overall haul.
And foreign markets are getting the industry's highest-profile films first. Battleship opened in Asia and Europe more than a month before it reached the USA last May. One of last year's most anticipated films, The Avengers, opened May 4, a week after in premiered in 39 other countries.
While studios say some films must open first in foreign markets to thwart demand for pirated videos, the industry is finding the global cash hard to ignore. Over the past four years, international box office surged from $27.7 billion to $34.7 billion in 2012, according to the MPAA.
U.S. revenues also continue to climb, but that's largely because of rising ticket prices. Although last year set a domestic box-office record of $10.8 billion, attendance has dropped over the past decade, from 1.6 billion tickets torn in 2002 to 1.4 billion last year.
If the trend continues, analysts say, American audiences should brace for a larger diet of the fare that's hot internationally: Namely, films centered on big special effects and 3-D.
"Americans are still very important, because most of the product comes from here," says German-born Roland Emmerich, director of 1996's Independence Day and 2004's The Day After Tomorrow. The earlier film pulled in $817 million globally, including $511 million overseas. Tomorrow did $187 million domestically but $358 million in foreign markets.
He notes that even as its numbers dwindle, America remains the biggest single market for movies.
"You are the tastemakers," says Emmerich, director of this summer's White House Down, out June 28 (June 27 in Lebanon, New Zealand and Singapore). "At least until the Chinese take that over, too."
The Asian theatrical market is already nipping at the USA's heels. While European moviegoing has remained static over the past five years, business bustles in Japan and China.
According to the 2012 MPAA industry study, the Asian market grew 15% last year to $10.4 billion. In China, revenue skyrocketed 36% to $2.7 billion, surpassing Japan as the largest international market.
The foreign market, analysts say, has become an insurance policy of sorts for the industry's most expensive films, which have lost some luster with Americans but remain hot property for international moviegoers.
Take 3-D, which analysts say accounts for between 40% and 60% of a movie's U.S. take. But in Asia, where screens are being built at an average of nine per day, 3-D accounts for about 80% of revenues.
"China, Russia, Brazil, those markets have exploded," says Paul Hanneman, president of international distribution for 20th Century Fox. He says that international box office "used to be the poor stepchild because domestic (ticket sales) led the way. Now we see adventures, fantasy and blockbuster action films perform huge business" overseas.
The studio's Life of Pi, for instance, earned a healthy $124 million last year domestically. But the studio tweaked its promotion of the film by region to make it more palatable and wound up raking in an additional $484 million overseas, including $90 million in China.
In Europe and parts of Asia, Hanneman says, the studio focused its campaign on the spiritual elements of the best-seller adaptation. In the booming Latin American market, the studio played up the film's family element.
"You have to learn to work across cultures," Hanneman says. "There is a lot of money still to be made in this market. But the American market is still very important. I don't think you're going to see movies that appeal only internationally."
Still, observers say U.S. audiences will increasingly see films that cater to foreign tastes, including those featuring:
• More international casts. South Korean star Byung-hun Lee is a relative unknown here, but he's a hot action star in Asia and helped buoy the international debut of G.I. Joe: Retaliation, which did $80.3 million overseas — twice what it did domestically.
"You see the same thing in movies like The Fast and the Furious," Dergarabedian says. "There's an international cast that has a following most Americans don't even know about."
• Destruction of world landmarks. Foreign film fans can't get enough of things that go boom, but the targets need to be recognizable. The White House is in the cross hairs twice this year, in White House Down and last month's surprise hit Olympus Has Fallen, while Big Ben takes a fall in Retaliation. "If you blow up a house in France, no one cares," Emmerich says. "But if it's the Eiffel Tower, suddenly people pay attention."
• A cartoon flood. Along with 3-D, animation is doing gangbusters business across the globe. "With animation, you can add local talent," says Hanneman, whose studio raked in $2.8 billion internationally with its four animated Ice Age movies. "It can be dubbed by a star in your country."
Not that Americans are giving up the aisle seat.
"The buzz still starts here, the biggest stars are still from here," Dergarabedian says. "And $11 billion (last year's domestic box office) in business isn't chump change. We'll just have to accept that the movies have become a global business, and that doesn't have to be a bad thing."
We are not sure if this is an international version (with English subs) or if it's available for out-of-Korea purchases. As soon as there're something more promising with substantial info, we will surely post to share & update.
Actor Lee Byung-hun displays Pantech’s new Vega Iron smartphones at the company’s headquarters in Sangam, northern Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of Pantech
Pantech, the nation’s smallest phone-maker, unveiled a new flagship smartphone to challenge counterparts from Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, Thursday.
The new smartphone, named the Vega Iron, has metallic rims that are seamlessly interconnected and sports a 5-inch display. It supports long-term evolution (LTE) connectivity, like most of its counterparts in the market.
“We couldn’t have made the Vega Iron without Pantech’s accumulated technology and challenging sprit,” said CEO Lee Jun-woo at the company headquarters in Sangam, northern Seoul. “If we look at recent smartphones, every manufacturer is trying to make the best product but it isn’t easy to have a differentiated value.”
“The Vega Iron started from that avid desire to make a smartphone that only Pantech could make. We tried everything, from one-cell LCD development to having zero bezels along the way. The Vega Iron is a result of that, and we believe it is our best phone ever that can face up to any smartphone,” he added.
The company said the decision to put a metal “Endless Rim” was to create a unique design and increase the sturdiness of the handset. The bezel is only 2.4 millimeters thick.
The launch date will be set to coincide with that of Samsung’s Galaxy S4, expected to go on sale later this month or early May. “Our product is very different from our competitors and we expect great sales,” said Kim Joo-sung, senior executive vice president at Pantech, also at the conference. He said the company expects to sell more than 1.8 million of the phones.
Kim also said the company is targeting a 20 percent share for LTE smartphones, and 18 percent for total handsets. There were 21 million LTE subscribers in Korea as of March. “The Vega Iron will contribute heavily to our rise in market share,” said Kim.
The move to adopt metal was also a highlighted differentiation point from Samsung, which only uses plastic for handsets that have received mix response from consumers.
Specification wise, the Vega Iron packs all the recent high-end parts: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 600 with a processing power of 1.7 gigabytes, an in-cell display, 2G RAM, 32 gigabyte of internal memory and a 2,150 mAH battery.
Pantech said thanks to optimization, the phone’s battery life, one of the key things consumers want upgraded for smartphones, is effectively the same as a 3,000 mAH battery and recharges fully within 87 minutes.
The phone also has eye recognition that allows page scrolling, stopping videos and retaining brightness, similar to what is available on the Galaxy S4.
Eduwill, a company certifying those who are interested in pursuing careers in licensed real estate, civil service, social work and credit bank, conducted a survey from March 11 to March 22 asking its customers to vote for the celebrity couple they are envious of and what they think are important in a dating relationship.
Many deem personality as the most important factor in choosing a partner with 65.0% of the votes. Face and body figure is the next important gaining 12.2% votes. Style came in third with 9.0% votes quickly followed by economic ability with 8.3%. Education background barely made the list with 1.0%.
Flip through the gallery to see who are the top five envious celebrity couples! Do you agree with the couples?
1. Se7en & Park Han Byul (33.3% of the votes)
2. Rain & Kim Tae Hee (25.0% of the votes)
3. Ji Sung & Lee Bo Young (17.2% of the votes)
4. Lee Sang Soon & Lee Hyori (12.6% of the votes)
5. Lee Byung Hun & Lee Min Jung (11.9% of the votes)
From article here
Also, when Lee Min Jung was asked about her boyfriend Lee Byung Hun, she replied, "He has a lot of events overseas. It's good because I'm busy filming this drama as well."
Although long distance relationships usually have more cons than pros, actress Lee Min Jung revealed that long distance is not such a bad thing when it comes to dating actor Lee Byung Hun.
The actress attended the press conference for her new SBS drama ‘All About My Romance‘ on the 16th and shared, “Because I have a busy filming schedule as well, I think that the fact that [Lee Byung Hun] has many overseas activities is a good thing.”
When asked about Lee Byung Hun’s Hollywood film ‘G.I. Joe 2‘, the actress commented, “I watched the film prior to its premiere. I don’t think I’m on the level to say anything about Lee Byung Hun’s acting,” revealing her respect for him as an actor as well.
Lee Min Jung plays the role of Green Justice Party representative Noh Min Young in 'All About My Romance' which airs every Wednesday and Thursday at 10 PM KST.
Have you watched the G.I. Joe: Retaliation movie that features Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Bruce Willis? If no, you must go and watch it. It is a good movie. Those had watched the G.I. Joe: Retaliation movie should know who is the guy that makes the appearance at the Pantech Vega Iron event.
He is the Korean star, Byung-hun Lee or Lee Byung-hun. In the movie, he acted as the Shadow Storm character with two samurais. But you can have a look at how the Shadow Storm without the mask on. The Shadow Storm with a pair of Pantech Vega Iron instead of his weapons. Check out more on the specs of Pantech Vega Iron with the spec sheet.
Pantech Vega Iron comes with 5-inch 720p HD display, 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal memory, a 13-megapixels main camera, a 2.1-megapixels secondary camera, a MicroSD slot up to 1TB in size and 2150mAh battery. It runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.
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Actor Lee Byung-hun poses at a press conference for the upcoming release of the new smartphone Vega Iron by Pantech.[JoongAng Ilbo]
Actor Lee Byung-hun, a model for the Vega Iron by Pantech, introduced the new smartphone at a press conference yesterday. It will be released as early as the end of this month.
Actor Lee Byung-hun holds two new Vega Iron smartphones.[JoongAng Ilbo]
Actor Lee Byung-hun waves to fans at a press conference for the upcoming release of the new smartphone Vega Iron by Pantech. [JoongAng Ilbo]
Despite busy schedules and many trips around the world, the relationship between Lee Min Jung and Lee Byung Hun seems to be on solid ground.
During the past few months the actor has traveled to a dozen countries promoting his new movie, "G.I. Joe 2," while she stayed in Korea filming the SBS drama, "All About My Romance."
At a press conference for her drama, Lee Min Jung was asked if her boyfriend's traveling makes it harder for them to be a couple. Min Jung did not seem to think so. "Because I have a busy filming schedule as well, I think the fact that he has many overseas activities is a good thing," said Min Jung.
Byung Hun is currently earning rave reviews for his role as Storm Shadow, while Min Jung is earning praise for her portrayal of Green Justice Party representative Noh Min Young.
The couple met through an acquaintance and began dating more than a year ago but only went public with their relationship last August. "I denied the news in April because at the time I was neither ready for the public to know nor prepared for the aftermath of the news getting out," said Min Jung. "Most of all, because my parents and my agency both were unaware of the situation, I had no choice but to be even more careful."
However, after much discussion, the couple did go public.
Before leaving Korea to film "RED 2," Lee Byung Hun wrote a letter to his fans, saying that he had met someone he wanted to be with. "Now, she has become the person who is most important to me," he wrote. "And I want to continue this relationship in a serious manner. She's a woman I can talk to, and she's the only woman who can make me smile."
He added that, "Looks don't last very long. I've always thought that it's most important to have something in common when you're in love."
Although he is 42 and she is 31, he considers her very mature for her age. "She seems to understand the emotions that you can only understand at my age," he said.
The two were spotted together in Las Vegas last fall, although they insisted they were both there for work.
When asked if they planned to get married," he smiled and said, "That's something I want to know as well."
Busy schedules can create problems in relationships especially among celebrities who must travel so much. It was the reason cited for Byung Hun's breakup with actress Song Hye Kyo. But his relationship with Lee Min Jung seems to be growing stronger despite their being apart.
Pantech unveiled its Vega Iron LTE smartphone on Thursday. It boasts a body made entirely of metal that can act as an antenna to boost reception and the world's thinnest bezel at 2.4 mm. on each side.
It also features a five-inch HD screen, 1.7GHz quad-core CPU, 13 million pixel built-in camera and Gigabit WiFi support that is three times faster than the current WiFi standard and four times faster than LTE, the firm claimed.
Actor Lee Byung-hun poses with the Vega Iron at an event to unveil the gadget in Sangam-dong, Seoul on Thursday.
The Vega also has an eye-tracking feature like Samsung and LG devices. It prevents dimming of the screen when in use and pauses video if users look away.
The phone is scheduled to hit shelves as early as at the end of this month, though the price has not yet been set.
Pantech, which ranks third in the Korean smartphone market, aims to reclaim the second spot with the the Vega Iron and the Vega No. 6 Full HD, which was released in February.
"G.I. Joe: Retaliation” stormed the Chinese box office with $33 million this weekend, Paramount reported Sunday.
In all, the studio’s 3D toy soldier sequel marched off with $40 million from 62 foreign markets this weekend, and in the process raised its international total to $211 million, with Japan still to come.
With its $111 million North American total, “Retaliation” has now taken in $322 million globally, surpassing the $302 million that the original, “G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra,” ran up in 2009.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - APRIL 18: South Korean actor Lee Byung-Hun attends the launch of the Pantech New Flagship Smartphone, The VEGA 'IRON' on April 18, 2013 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Han Myung-Gu/WireImage)
After previously giving a box-office boost to both the "Fast & Furious" and "Journey" franchises ("Fast Five" and "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" far out-grossed their predecessors worldwide), Johnson has worked a similar kind of magic on the "G.I. Joe" series, as "Retaliation" has now officially bested "The Rise of Cobra" at the box-office with over a global take of over $320 million - a significant jump over the latter's $302 million (though it should be noted that unlike "Retaliation," "Cobra" did not enjoy the benefit of those 3D surcharges).
"Retaliation's" overseas performance is no doubt what put the sequel over the top, with a full two-thirds of the film's receipts coming from foreign markets. Domestically the film has grossed slightly over $111 million to "Cobra's" $150 million, and it probably won't top out at much more than $120 million before all is said and done. Nevertheless, the former cost significantly less to produce than its predecessor, making this a clear win for Paramount - it's no wonder, then, that they're already planning a third installment.
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Last edited by katt on 18-4-2013 11:36 PM 
