kpopotd2

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December Wrap Up

Wow. It has been a whole twelve months since we have started this blog and now we are on the final, official post of the year! A mega-post compiling the top songs of the past year, as well as official departures and disbandments of groups from 2019, will be up on our main blog @kpopsunbae​ (make sure to go and follow us there for more content, although it will be quite a bit different than what we put on this blog). 

As some of you may know, this blog (as well as the previous one, @kpopotd​) are project blogs that end once the year is done. This means that while we will no longer post on this blog it will remain as an archive. We will however be back with a third blog in the future as a continuation of this blog (it will cover 2016 and onwards!). This does not mean that we will go completely off grid once 2019 is done though! 

This coming year of 2020 has a lot in store for us, your K-Pop Sunbaes! We currently have a website to overhaul, an Instagram to properly launch, and of course we will continue releasing podcast episodes! Remember to follow us on Twitter too, our handle there is @kpopsunbaes (updates will be on there and you can interact with us too!). 

On a final note, we are so appreciative for the love that you all have given this blog over the past year. It has been such a fun experience and the three of us have had a blast working together on the blog, having meetings, and eventually completing just under 900 posts. We hope you will continue to support and follow us in our upcoming endeavors. We wish you all a very Happy New Year! 

새해 복 많이 받으세요!

❤ JR, Min, and Onyx 

NEWS:

December 5, 2010: Lee Young-hee, a well-known social activist, dies of cirrhosis at 81. December 20, 2010: The Republic of Korea Marine Corps stars to hold live-fire drill exercises on Yeonpyeong Island. North Korea responds by saying they will not retaliate.

December 12, 2011: An incident occurs where a Chinese fisherman, who was illegally fishing, is confronted by two SK coast guards. He stabbed them and one died from the injuries. The fisherman was sentenced to thirty years in jail and a fine in April of 2012. December 19, 2012: The 2012 presidential elections were held in which Park Geun Hye is elected as the first female president of South Korea. She would eventually be impeached and removed from office due to corruption in 2017.

Album of the Month 2009 - 2015:

2010 - GD & TOP by GD & TOP

2011 - The Boys by Girls’ Generation 

2012 - Winter Poetry by Shin Hyun Seung

2013 - Miracles in December by EXO

2014 - Exology Chapter 1: The Lost Planet by EXO

2015 - SING FOR YOU by EXO

DRAMAS:

December 2009: Father’s House (This show was a year end special that brought in over 15% viewership ratings and garnered generally good reviews. It stars Choi Min Soo, Moon Jung Hee, and Kim Soo Hyun.)  December 2009: Will it Snow for Christmas (This melodrama brought in around 10% viewership ratings. It stars Go Soo and Han Ye Seul.)

December 2010: Athena: Goddess of War (This action/spy drama is a spin off of the hit show IRIS. It’s in the same universe as IRIS, but stars Joo Woo Sung, Cha Seung Won, Soo Ae, Lee Ji Ah, and Super Junior’s Choi Siwon. IRIS’s cast also made cameos throughout. It averaged around 15% viewership ratings.) December 2011: What’s Up? (This musical drama stars Lim Joo Hwan, BIGBANG’s Daesung, Lim Joo Eun, Kim Ji Won, and Jo Jung Suk.)  December 2011: Vampire Idol (This sitcom style drama stars Lee Jung, Davichi’s Kang Min Kyung, Lee Soo Hyuk, Kim Woo Bin, and Hong Jung Hyun. There are also a couple idols as supporting characters including ZE:A’s Kwanghee and Girl’s Day Bang Minah.) 

December 2012: School 2013 (This is the fifth installment of the popular “School” drama series. This iteration stars Jang Nara, Choi Daniel, Lee Jong Suk, Park Se Young, and Kim Woo Bin. It did pretty well, bringing in over 10% viewership ratings.) December 2013: Prime Minister and I (This 17 episode drama stars Lee Beom Soo and Girls’ Generation’s YoonA. The main OST is a song called “Footsteps” sung by SHINee’s Taemin. The show brought in over 5% viewership ratings and won two awards: the Best Couple Award for the main characters and an Excellence in Acting Award for YoonA.) December 2013: You Who Came From the Stars/My Love from the Star (This hit romance/fantasy drama stars megastars Kim Soo Hyun and Jun Ji Hyun. The duo had previously acted together in the movie The Thieves. Dal Shabet’s Serri and Subin, former miss A member Suzy, and former 2NE1 member Dara make cameos throughout. Lyn, K. Will, Younha, Hyorin, Huh Gak, Sung Si Kyung, and Kim Soo Hyun all participated in the OSTs. The show did incredibly well and ended up selling out products that the characters wore, being the highest rated drama of it’s time (not only in South Korea but throughout Asia), and bringing in over 20% viewership ratings.) 

December 2014: Healer (This action drama stars Ji Chang Wook and Park Min Young. The show averaged around 7% viewership ratings, but while it only did moderately well in South Korea it boosted Ji’s international fandom immensely.)  December 2015: Remember- War of the Son (This thriller stars Yoo Seung Ho, Park Woo Sung, Park Min Young, Min Namkoong, and Jung Hye Sung. K. Will, Jooyoung, Jang Jane, Jang Han Byul, and Bobby Kim participated in the OSTs. It averaged around 15% viewership ratings, and won a few awards at multiple award shows.

FILMS:

December 23, 2009: Jeon Woo Chi: The Taoist Wizard (This fantasy/action film stars Gang Dong Won, Im Soo Jung, and Kim Yoo Seok. A 2012 K-drama spin-off was made with the same main character played by Cha Tae Hyun, although the rest of the show’s plot was different. It was the third best selling movie of the year.)  December 9, 2010: Finding Mr. Destiny (This movie adaption of the musical of the same name, stars Gong Yoo and Im Soo Jung. It did well at the box office, bringing over a million admissions.)  December 1, 2011: Spellbound/Chilling Romance/My Girlfriend Can See Ghosts (This rom-com stars Son Ye Jin and Lee Min Ki. It was the 7th biggest movie of the year.) December 25, 2012: The Tower (This disaster movie stars Sol Kyung-gu, Ki Sang-gyung, and Son Ye-jin. The movie did very well at the box office and become the first movie of 2013 to hit five million theater admissions. It was sold to multiple countries and eventually got an English dub with voice actors such as Buba Kachow, Erin Fitzgerald, and Todd Haberkorn.)

December 11, 2013: Way Back Home (This movie, which is based on the true story of Jang Mi Jeong, stars Jeon Do Yeon and Go Soo. It follows the story of a woman who unknowingly attempted to smuggle drugs out of Paris and is caught, and how she eventually got back to Korea. It did fairly well, bringing in just under two million theater admissions.)  December 18, 2013: The Attorney (This law drama, which was inspired by a true story, stars Song Kang Ho, Kim Young Ae, Oh Dal Soo, ZE:A’s Im Si Wan, and Kwak Do Won. It became the 8th best-selling movie in Korea of all time with over 11 million admissions. It won many awards at various award shows.)  December 24, 2013: The Suspect (This action/thriller starring Gong Yoo was a box office hit, bringing in over 4 million admissions. It received praise from various western newspapers and reviewers.) December 31, 2014: The Tenor - Lirico Sprinto (This movie, which is based on the true story of Bae Jae Chul, stars Yoo Ji Tae, Yusuke Iseya, and Cha Ye Ryun. The movie took eighteen months to film and six years to fully complete.)

HAPPY STUFF:

December 12, 2012: Sungah was added to the line-up of Nine Muses. Her first comeback with them would be with “Dolls”.

SAD STUFF:

December 21, 2009: Hangeng leaves Super Junior and files a lawsuit against SM Entertainment. December 11, 2009: Inyoung and Jungah leave Jewelry to pursue solo careers.

December 24, 2012: Trinity leaves GLAM.  December 21, 2013: Sohee leaves Wonder Girls to focus on her acting career.

December 2014: Sunye leaves Wonder Girls and says she will retire from the industry.  December 31, 2014: Jooyeon contract with Pledis Entertainment ends and she graduates from After School the following year.

December 12, 2013: Singer Kim Ji Hoon, half of the duo Duke, passes away due to suicide at age 40.

POST OF THE MONTH:

iKON - Dumb & Dumber

[kpopotd2]

December 31st, 2014, PDE released their 2nd single: Jal-Tang

Pungdeng-E (풍뎅이) is a K-pop hip-hop trio. They mostly make more comedy songs and the members, Red, Blue and Yellow are known for not taking themselves too seriously. ‘Jal-Tang (I Cannot Afford The Time) was their followup to ‘’Altang’’.They all rap in their local dialects and so far they’ve released well over 10 singles, their newest one being ‘’Super Market’’.   

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December 30th, 2009, HAM released their 2nd single: Girls, Falling In Love

HAM (햄) aka Heart & Mind, was a group active from 2009 to 2011. The group was formed by LeeYeon Entertainment, and they debuted trough the MNet show ‘’Hellow, we are the new group HAM’’. The group consisted of Miyu (미유), Ga Hyeon (가현), Hyo Ni (효니) and Su Jin (수진). They released 3 singles together before Miyu left the group in late 2010, the remaining trio continued to release songs, with their newest one being: ‘’Lower Your Sight’’ from 2011. Sometime after this release the group stopped promoting, they never officially disbanded, but it’s safe to assume that they have by now.

The only member to continue in the entertainment industry, that we could find, is Sujin, who changed her stage name to Li-V and re-debuted in the girl group BBde Girl, which was active from 2012 to 2013, with the newest single:  ‘’Halo’’

Honorable Mentions: 2013 - Kim So-Jung (김소정) - You Were, You Are         A single release for: ‘’You Where, You Are, Pt. 1′’

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December 30th, 2013, T.O released the single: Lie

T.O (티오) born Go Hyun Woo (고현우) on June 3rd, 1992. He was initially a trainee under B2M Entertainment, before he in 2013 debuted in the group M.Pire (엠파이어) which was under the label: CMG Chorok Stars. ‘Lie’ was his first solo single, and since it’s release he has appeared on some drama OST’s. M.Pire disbanded in 2015

Honorable Mentions: 2010 - Untouchable (언터쳐블) - 3rd Minialbum         Their 3rd mini-album, with the single: ‘’단 한사람’’ 2011 - Joo Suc (주석) - Sun & Star         A single release for: ‘’Sun & Star’’ 2015 - Jun.K (준케이) - Love Letter         A single release for: ‘’Love Letter’’

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December 28th, 2009, Cosmos released their 3rd album: Hanei Sky

Cosmos (코스모스) was a indie band formed in 1997. Kim Sang-hyuk (김상혁) is said to be the founder of the band, he used to play at bars in Hongdae in the late 90s. Consmos originally consisted of Kim alongside Yang Yong-joon (양용준), Hang Young-soo (한영수) and Park Dong-hoon (박동훈), though this lineup didn’t last long, and Kim became the only member. Some time later Jung Woo-min (정우민), Lee Won-yeol (이원열) and Nam Jung-ik (남정익) joined the band and this became Cosmos’ final lineup. The band released a total of 3 albums, with ‘Hanei Sky’ being their last release. Their first album, ‘’Standard’’ came out in 2000 and their followup album ‘’One And Only’’ came out a year later along side the EP: ‘’Because of You’’. The 7 years between album releases are pretty unaccounted for, but they did not seem to release any music at this time.

Honorable Mentions: 2011 - Story Seller (스토리셀러) - XX         Their first album, with the single: ‘’18th Area’’

(Note: This post was mistakenly released a day late, on the 29th of December.)

[kpopotd2]

December 29th, 2014, SONAMOO debuted with the EP: Deja Vu

Sonamoo (소나무) is a group formed by TS Entertainment. The group debuted as a 7 member girl group. Upon release ‘Deja Vu’ topped the Gaon Albums Charts. The group followed up this debut with ‘’Cushion’’, released the following year, which showed a completely different side of the members. They went on to release 5 more singles (as of writing this post).  In 2019 Nahyun (나현) and Sumin (수민) filed lawsuits to terminate their contracts with TS Ent.

Honorable Mentions; 2014 - The SeeYa (더 씨야) - Crazy Love         A single release for: ‘’The song of LOVE’’

[kpopotd2]

December 28th, 2015, Big Brain released: Brain’s 1st Respect

Big Brain (빅브레인) is a R&B group who debuted in 2015. The group is made up of Sang Hoon (상훈), Jin Young (진용), Byeong Eun (병은) and Hong Hyun (홍현). The group was actually formed back in 2010, when they where all students, and they used to go under the name The Man. Their official debut happened in October of 2015, with the release of: Billionaire Sound. 

Honorable Mentions: 2015 - Pretty Brown (프리티브라운) - No One Like Him         A single release for: ‘‘No One Like Him’‘

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December 28th, 2010, Girl Story debuted with: Pinky Pinky

G.Story (걸스토리) aka Girl Story was a group who only had one release. The group was formed by Antz Star Company, and they where marketed as the youngest girl group ever, with an average age of 9,75 years old. The members where given the stage-names: Secret, Lovely, Sally and Cutie. The group stopped activities around 2011, they never officially disbanded, but they likely did at some point. Secret, born Kim Chae-young (김채영), was called Little Minzy and released one single before fazing out of the entertainment world. Cutie, born Lee You Jeong (이윤정) went on to appear in a couple of movies. Lovely, born Kim Yuri (김유리) went on to acting in dramas. Sally, born Kim Hye-in (김혜인), was a part of some complation albums for children and also appeared on some TV-shows.

[kpopotd2]

Today there isn’t any post, so please take it easy today

[kpopotd2]

December 26th, 2012, Dr. Gimm released the single: Slow

Gimm Baksa (김박사) aka Dr. Gimm, born on August 20th, 1985. He was a part of New Block Babyz (뉴블락베이비즈) and in 2010 he released his first solo singles. He currently works as a composer and producer and has worked with groups like Brown Eyed Girls.

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December 26th, 2012, eAeon released: Realize

eAeon (이이언), born on December 19, 1975. In 2010 he released his first single under the name eAeon, which was a cover of ‘’All I Want For Christmas’’. He didn’t release a new single under this name until 2012, starting off wit; ‘’슬픈 마네킹’’ and ending with ‘Realize’.

[kpopotd2]

December 26th, 2014, Vasco, Shannon and Giriboy released: Breath

Shannon (샤넌), born Shannon Areum Williams Lees on May 26th, 1998. In her youth she was in Theatre school and appeared in musicals. In 2011 she appeared on Star King, and was recruited by Core Contents Media after the show. And in the same year she started featuring on other artists’ songs. It wasn’t until 2015 that she got to release her first album ‘’Eighteen’’. 

PS. If you’re wondering why this post is mainly about Shannon, while the song is a collab song, it’s because Giriboy and Vasco both have posts written about them individually, but Shannon does not. 

[kpopotd2]

Merry Christmas from Us to You!

Hey everyone, it's admin JR! It's probably pretty late to be putting this up but it's still Christmas in Chicago so we'll say it counts 😉 So from all of us at K-pop Sunbae, we want to wish you a Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

[kpopotd2]

Today is a time for peace and love

[kpopotd2]

December 24th, 2015, The Barberettes released: Lonesome Christmas

The Barberettes (바버렛츠) is currently a retro Doo-wop duo. The name Barberettes comes from the group being heavily inspired by a capella barbershop music. They started out as a trio: Grace Kim (김은혜), Ahn Shin-ae (안신애) and Park So Hee (박소희). Shin-ae and Grace had previous experience from singing for jazz bands and So Hee was a vocal student under Shin.ae who formed the group. 2015 was a good year for the group, it started off with one of their covers being used in a Shinhan Card commercial, which they recieved a lot of attention for. In March they appeared at the SXSW festival, where they held tree shows, and they got written about by mutliple magazines. Following all this they where chosen to perform at Midem in France and at the opening ceremony of the Jecheon International Music & Film Festival as well as at the K-Music Festival in London. Tough in November of 2015 Grace left the group and was replaced by Gyeon-sun (경선). ‘Lonesome Christmas’ was the trios first release with a new member.

Honorable Mentions: 2014 - Bebop (비밥) - Special Day          A EP with the single: ‘’Ordinary Day’’

[kpopotd2]

December 24th, 2015, iKON released: WELCOME BACK

iKON (아이콘) is a group formed by YG Ent. in 2015. In 2013 B.I (비아이), Bobby (바비), Jinhwan (진환), Ju-ne (준회), Donghyuk (동혁) and Yunhyeong (윤형) appeared on WIN: Who Is Next, as Team B, of which they didn’t win. A year later Team B appeared on Mix & Match, a show to determine the final lineup of iKON. The line-up who ended up debuting was the entirety of Team B alongside Chanwoo (찬우). The groups first album was split into two parts, with the first part being released in October and the full album being released in December. The album featured a total of 7 singles released over the span of 4 moths, with the main singles that came along with the album release being: ‘’Dumb & Dumber‘’ & ‘’What’s Wrong’’.

Honorable Mentions: 2010 - GD & TOP - GD&TOP         Their first album, with the singles: ‘‘High High’‘, ‘‘Oh Yeah’‘ & ‘‘Knockout’‘

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December 23, 2013 Son Dam-bi released her thirteenth single: Red Candle

Son Dam-bi (손담비) born on September 25, 1983, is an actress and singer currently under Pledis Entertainment. Son debuted in 2007 with the single “Cry Eye” after gaining popularity for being in a commercial with Nam Hyun Joon. She has also acted in various K-dramas and movies, and has appeared in various reality shows.

Honorable Mentions: 2010 - Zia (지아) - Tears Falling in Winter        Her fifth EP, with the title track: “Don’t Go”