A new Miss Korea is crowned

by javabeans

The new Miss Korea has been crowned, and she is Kim Ju-ri, a 21-year-old studying at the Bolshoi Ballet school in Russia. The Miss Korea Pageant took place on the...

Tags: Miss Korea

Point-counterpoint: Pursuing beauty in 200 Pound Beauty

by javabeans

In last week's Open Thread, a back-and-forth developed between two commenters that caught my eye, because it dealt with a point that had been at the back of my mind...

Tags: 200 Pound Beauty, Kim Ah-joong

Happy endings: An adoption story

by javabeans

Adoptee Soo-hoon (Sonny) with actor Lee Wan Mea culpa. I admit I've looked upon celebrity involvement in charity promotion and public campaigns with a skeptical eye, as I did in...

Tags: good deeds, Lee Wan

Jo Sung-min concedes in the custody war

by javabeans

Jo Sung-min is officially ending the ugly custody battle for his and Choi Jin-shil's children. He gave a press conference to announce that he is giving up all claims to...

Tags: Choi Jin-shil, Jo Sung-min, lawsuits

Actress faces jail time for adultery

by javabeans

I hadn't intended on posting about actress Ok So-ri's current adultery case, because South Korean law is one subject that I freely admit is beyond me. But the news has...

Tags: lawsuits

Help a reader out: Seoul recommendations

by javabeans

Reader Sheryl is heading to Seoul soon and wrote in to ask for recommendations on great places to visit. Since it's been a while since I've been to Seoul, I...

Happy Chuseok weekend

by javabeans

Geez, how fast time flies -- I can't believe it's been nearly a full year since the previous Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving, which is among the biggest holidays of the...

Swimmer Park Tae-hwan awash in congratulations

by javabeans

As we know, Koreans sure have a fierce sense of cultural pride (sometimes to uncomfortably myopic degrees). So it's no big surprise that all are elated with Olympic gold medalist...

Tags: Girls Generation, Kim Yuna, Park Tae-hwan, Wonder Girls

Pageant drama!

by javabeans

Ooh, more Miss Korea drama. (There’s always drama surrounding a Miss Korea pageant, isn’t there? Or, I suppose, any pageant.) First there was all that shrewish chatter that...

Tags: Miss Korea

Passing the Miss Korea torch studded tiara

by javabeans

2007 Miss Korea Lee Ji-sun crowns the new Miss Korea, Na Ri. The 52nd Miss Korea Pageant took place on August 5 in Seoul, at which Na Ri was awarded the top...

Tags: Miss Korea