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Three kpop acts were honored with awards at this year's MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2012 (MTV VMAJ).

The awards show was held on June 23rd at the Convention Center Makuharimessae in Chiba, Japan. Girls Generation won the Best Album Award, 2PM took home the Best Group Video Award, and 2NE1 was awarded the Best New Artist Video Award.

The MTV VMAJ picks the most popular artists in 16 different categories over the past year. The prior mentioned three categories are some of the most coveted honors.

2PM for example were up against the likes of Coldplay, Ikimono Gakari, Maroon 5, and Monkey Magic in the Best Group Video category.

As for 2NE1, though the group are far from newbie status in Korea, they only officially debuted this past year in Japan. They battled out big acts like LMFAO and James Blake for their win.

2PM and 2NE1 also performed on stage for this year's ceremony. As for Girls Generation, due to their hectic schedules, they weren't able to attend the show.



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Girls Generation, 2PM, 2NE1 Win At 2012 MTV VMAJ

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Korea's national younger sister seems to be doing well in other countries as well. She'll be holding her first concert in Japan.

The young singer will be holding on September 17th at the Tokyo Forum A Hall in Japan. This is only after six months since she first debuted in the neighboring country.

She'll be releasing her next Japanese single "You And I" on July 18th. This is the Japanese version of the hit Korean song from the end of last year, composed by Lee Min-su and penned by Kim In-na.

After releasing "Good Day" in Japan last March, the song reached 8th on the Oricon Singles chart. Not too shabby of a debut.



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IU To Hold First Japan Concert

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Ultimate balladeer K.Will is showing off his popularity in Japan.
His two concerts scheduled for Osaka on June 21st and Tokyo on June 23rd have completely sold out, surprising even the industry officials in Japan.
K.Will wrapped up his tour in Korea, and has been preparing for his Japanese stops. Almost as soon as the tickets went on sale, all 3,000 seats for both concerts were bought out.

This is quite a feat for any artist, but especially so for ballad singers. The singer has been getting requests for additional tickets.
Starship Entertainment released a statement saying that with the ferverous support from Japanese fans, they're planning a special event for the fans after the concerts.
2NE1 Announces Dates of New Evolution US Tour
Blackjacks over in the United States are getting revved up to snatch up tickets to the first ever 2NE1 world tour.

Two US tour dates have been announced.
- August 17th, 2012 Newark, New Jersey; Prudential Center
- August 24th, 2012 LA, California; Nokia Theater LA Live
Tickets will go on sale starting June 23rd at 10:00 AM PDT.



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K.Will's Japan Concerts Sold Out

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The youngest member of Big Bang is planning for a solo career over in Japan starting in September.

Seungri and Daesung made an appearance on a Japanese radio program called "All Night Nippon" on June 19th, where Seungri revealed his future plans. He said that while the other members will be pursuing solo activities in Korea, he will be staying in the neighboring country from July to September to work on a variety of his own solo works. He added that he hoped to be making appearances on many Japanese programs.

A Japanese media outlet spokesperson did state that there were no final decisions on which programs Seungri would be appearing on, but he indeed was prepping to show up on variety programs. However, he will not be performing solo on music programs.

A Big Bang rep confirmed this saying, "There have been no confirmations. Seungri will begin his solo activities by starting on a variety show."

After Seungri's solo stint, he will be rejoining his group to continue the Big Bang world tour in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines.



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Big Bang's Seungri To Debut As Solo Artist In Japan

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Imagine one stage with Big Bang, TVXQ, Super Junior and U-Kiss. This and more will be taking place at the biggest music festival in Japan, A-Nation.

Those four representative k-pop groups have been confirmed to be performing at the A-Nation festival, which will be taking place from August 18-26. TVXQ will be performing August 19th and the 25th in Osaka and Tokyo, while Big Bang will be hitting the stage on the 26th in Tokyo.


A-Nation has been running for the past ten years as one of the most representative summer festivals in Japan. This year, other popular Japanese music acts on the list are Every Little Thing, Exile, TRF, AAA, and Do Ad Infinity.



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Big Bang, TVXQ, Super Junior, U-Kiss To Perform At A-Nation

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2NE1 Heads To Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival

The ladies of 2NE1 are once again taking their act onto the international stage.

The group will be attending the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in Cannes, France this year, along with Korea's top advertising agency Cheil Worldwide.

The festival will have a "Korean Wave Through The Digital Wave" theme, where the popular idol group will serve as joint public speakers at one of the seminars, aiming to further promote k-pop. The seminar will be on June 18th at the Theatre Debussy.

SJ Kimm of Cheil Worldwide South-East Asia will also be a guest speaker.



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2NE1 Heads To Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival

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The untouchable group Big Bang has been getting a lot of spotlight for their world tour, set to visit 25 cities in 16 countries lasting until this December. The tour will be partially for a good cause as the group has decided to donate a part of the concert proceeds to UNICEF so that children in Africa can get vaccinated for the measles.

YG Entertainment signed a written agreement with the Korean branch of UNICEF in Changseong-dong of Seoul on June 14th.

A YG rep said, "We've decided to donate enough of the tour proceeds to vaccinate 600,000 children in Africa against the measles for the 600,000 fans that will be attending the tour concert." It costs 350 won per vaccination, thus the group's donation is expected to be about 210 million won.

Big Bang's leader G-Dragon added, "We decided to do this to show some love back to the world for all the love we've been receiving from all around the world. We hope that many kids will receive the vaccinations and live healthy lives."



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Big Bang To Donate Part Of World Tour Proceeds To UNICEF

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CNBLUE's leadman Jung Yong-hwa will be holding a special fan meeting in Japan with actress Park Shin-hye before the broadcast of their drama "Heartstrings" on Fuji TV in Japan.

The fan meeting is scheduled for July 16th at the Tokyo International Forum, and will be held twice in that one day. There will be a special video reel of the drama prepared along with an interview segment featuring the two young leads. "Heartstrings" already aired in Korea
from June to August of 2011, about college students dreaming of becoming musicians.

Japan's Fuji TV picked up the project and will start airing it next month.

In related news, CNBLUE is prepping for their Japanese third single titled "Come On", to be released August 1st.



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CNBLUE's Jung Yong-hwa and Actress Park Shin-hye To Hold Japanese Fan Meeting

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2NE1 has created another record: the first Korean girl group to embark on a world tour.

"New Evolution" will be the title of this big musical endeavor, with Seoul, Korea being the first stop on July 28-29th at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena. The girls announced they will be making stops in 10 cities across 7 countries in Asia, the Americas, and Europe.

Despite the number of boy groups that have already held world concert tours, 2NE1 will be the first female group to do the same.
It has been announced that 2NE1, a girl group that has already achieved domestic popularity, will become the first girl group to hold a world tour!

The tour will be in collaboration with the company, Live Nation, which was also the brains behind Big Bang's world tour.

Tickets for the first concert in Seoul will go on sale June 26th via online sites.


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2NE1, First Korean Group To Hold World Tour

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As if YG Entertainment wasn't a big enough entity already. The entertainment giant will be launching its own eBay store called, the YG Store.

The new eBay store will serve as an outlet for overseas fans to get their hands on Big Bang's special edition album, not to mention other YG artist memorabilia.

With YG Store's opening, Big Bang will launch their very own special corner under eBay Celebrity, making them the first Korean artist to make such a move. Through this corner, the group will make items like signed CDs available and then donate the proceeds to charity.

Though YG is unique in launching such a project, eBay Korea's Na Yong-ho mentioned that there are currently 10,000 collectibles related to Hallyu or Korean Wave stars on eBay. This just goes to show the level of popularity that Korean entertainment has achieved.

YG also commented, "With the rise in the demand from international fans, we hope to make it easier for them to buy merchandise through the opening of this eBay store."




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YG Entertainment Launches Big Bang YG Store On eBay

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After having their comeback date be postponed, ZE:A will finally be making their long-prepared return to the music scene.

The group's comeback date was originally slotted for June 21st until member Jun-young hurt his right ankle. In order to have all the members on board in one piece, Star Empire decided to push back the comeback date indefinitely. However, ZE:A fans will be pleased to hear that the agency updated their official website with the newly revised date of July 4th.
rescheduled the comeback date to July 4th.

The shooting of the group's music video will begin June 10th with Jun-young's condition having greatly improved.


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ZE:A To Make July Comeback

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U-Kiss's AJ falls within the top 1% of college students in the world.

Recent reports have revealed that AJ was accepted into the elite Ivy Leage institution, Columbia University on the East coast of the United States.

AJ first debuted in 2008 through the group Paran (Blue), and was later picked up as a new additional member to the group U-Kiss. Despite his hectic schedule, he managed to squeeze in regular study sessions to achieve such a notable academic feat.

That's not all that's been keeping him busy. The young entertainer also started composing and writing song lyrics, even officially registering himself as a song composer in Japan last year in June. The title song off of J-Kiss's special album , "Believe" was even composed by him. U-Kiss will start actively promoting "Believe" on June 7th with their first performance scheduled for M! Countdown.

When asked which out of his entertainer lifestyle and academics was more challenging, he answered that it was easier for him to study.

According to his management, nh Media, ever since the shocking news of his acceptance to Columbia hit the circuits, AJ has been receiving offers from private education academies and educational content companies. There are even requests for him to give special lectures on
what it takes to get into a prestigious university.

According to a US News ranking in 2012, Columbia University comes in at fourth place among American colleges.


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'AJ' (U-Kiss Member) Accepted Into Columbia University

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Music Video Blue - Big Bang

Blue - Big Bang [MV]

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Music Video Baby I'm Sorry - B1A4

Baby I'm Sorry - B1A4 [MV]

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Music Video I Wonder If You Hurt Like Me - 2AM

I Wonder If You Hurt Like Me - 2AM [MV]

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Music Video Falling - John Park

Falling - John Park [MV]

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Music Video Fantastic Baby - Big Bang

Fantastic Baby - Big Bang [MV]

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Music Video Sherlock - SHINee

Sherlock - SHINee [MV]

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Music Video Hey You - CNBLUE

Hey You - CNBLUE [MV]

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Music Video Time Is Up LED - Apple

Time Is Up LED - Apple [MV]

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Music Video I'm Bad Boy - Tritops

I'm Bad Boy - Tritops [MV]

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Music Video Painkiller - SPICA

Painkiller - SPICA [MV]

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Music Video Bad Girl, Good Girl - Miss A

Bad Girl, Good Girl - Miss A [MV]

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Music Video Russian Roulette - SPICA

Russian Roulette - SPICA [MV]

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Music Video Will Think of You - Davichi

Will Think of You - Davichi [MV]

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Music Video Mazeltov - ZE:A

Mazeltov - ZE:A [MV]

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Music Video U.F.O - STELLAR

U.F.O - STELLAR [MV]

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Music Video Goodbye Baby - Miss A

Goodbye Baby - Miss A [MV]

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Music Video Let This Die - Brian Joo

Let This Die - Brian Joo [MV]

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Music Video Somebody Else - Se7en

Somebody Else - Se7en [MV]

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Music Video Hakuna Matata - Piggy Dolls

Hakuna Matata - Piggy Dolls [MV]

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Music Video She Is A Flirt - Baby Soul & YooJia

She Is A Flirt - Baby Soul & YooJia [MV]

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MUSIC VIDEO NALINA - BLOCK B

NalinA - Block B [MV]

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Music Video KNOW HER - PIGGY DOLLS

Know Her - Piggy Dolls [MV]

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Music Video ONE MORE DAY - CHOCOLAT

One More Day - Chocolat [MV]

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Music Video HOOT by GIRLS GENERATION

Hoot - Girls Generation [MV]

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Music Video NOBODY by WONDERGIRLS

Nobody - Wondergirls [MV]

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Music Video TREND by PIGGY DOLLS

Trend - Piggy Dolls [MV]

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Music Video MADONNA by SECRET

Madonna - Secret [MV]

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Music Video NO ONE by F. CUZ

No One - F.Cuz [MV]

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Music Video TELL ME by WONDERGIRLS

Tell Me - Wondergirls [MV]

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Music Video TONIGHT by BIGBANG

Tonight - Big Bang [MV]

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Music Video LUPIN by KARA

Lupin - KARA [MV]

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Music Video I NEED A GIRL by TAEYANG

I Need a Girl - Taeyang [MV]

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Music Video MARSHMALLOW by IU

Marshmallow - IU [MV]

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Music Video LOVE IS MOVE by SECRET

Love is Move - Secret [MV]

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Music Video ROLY POLY by T-ARA

Roly Poly T-ara [MV]

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Music Video SO COOL by SISTAR

So Cool - Sistar [MV]

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Music Video NUMBER 1 by BIG BANG

Number 1 - Big Bang [MV]

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Music Video WATCH OUT by ZE:A

Watch Out - ZE:A [MV]

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Music Video GEE by GIRLS GENERATION

GEE - Girls` Generation [MV]

The Korean wave, (Hangul: 한류; Hanja: 韓流; RR: Hallyu) refers to the significant increase in the popularity of South Korean entertainment and culture starting in the 1990s, in Asia, and more recently in other parts of the world. As one put it, it represents a surge in the international visibility of Korean culture. The term was coined in mid 1999 by Beijing journalists surprised at the fast growing popularity of Korean entertainment and culture in China. Hallyu primarily consists of three forms of media: pop music (K-pop), television dramas (K-drama) and movies (K-movies). The wave is more than a mere cultural phenomenon;[citation needed] it has proven to have a considerable impact on the Korean economy, as well as on the political and cultural influence of South Korea. For example, in 2011 based on international activity the Korean wave added approximately USD$3.8 billion dollars of revenue to the South Korean economy.


What is Hallyu Wave?

Hoi Hoi Korea

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