Talk of the Town: JYJ’s Uphill Battle

Over the past week, a series of statements were made to condemn KBS’s decision to ditch JYJ from a special concert program made in support of Jeju Island’s bid to be named one of the new seven wonders of nature. What are your thoughts? How should JYJ respond to this issue? Should they spend more time on acting (since at least that seems to be working)? Or should they continue with their album releases and world tours, as there’s still a massive fan base for them? What is the best solution?

Talk of the Town: SM Entertainment’s Growing Influence in K-Pop

One of the most trending topics in K-Pop last week was SM Entertainment’s (SME) growth in stock price value. It was reported that Lee Soo Man, founder and chairman of SME, saw his total share value for SME surpass 110 billion won ($100 million USD) for the first time on July 13th, reflecting his growing prominence in the overall K-Pop industry. He currently owns 24.43% of SME’s total stocks, which saw its closing price end at 27,500 won ($26 USD) per share on KOSDAQ that day. It was the highest value SME has ever seen since entering KOSDAQ in 2001, and also the most value Lee Soo Man has had so far.