The Iceberg

Unfortunately she didn’t sing.

I’ve never been able to understand why Korean audiences are willing to accept that the majority of their “above ground” performers don’t sing at a live concert. I mean, sure, it was nice to see Ivy shake her thang on stage, but c’mon! she’s supposed to be a singer! On the other hand, the concert was free. And the choreography was better than anything Britney Spears has done recently.

At any rate, she does have one of the nicest bodies in the lip-synching business. Have a look for yourself.

Much to my dismay, she didn’t wear a skirt for last night’s performance, but she looked good anyway. Here is some video that I shot. Don’t be put off by the ballad (or the jacket) at the beginning. It gets better.

Yesterday I received word that a student whose father is a famous Korean trot singer has started attending the high school where I work, so out of curiosity I performed an Internet search and came across these photos.

No, she is not the student. She is racing model Ji Yoon Mi (지윤미). Her photos were listed along the side of the page where I did my search. I liked them, so I’m posting them.

The student is actually male and, to respect his privacy, I won’t say his father’s name. But I will tell you this: apparently the son is about to embark on a singing career of his own. If that were to somehow, someway, result in Hyolee (or Ji Yoon Mi) paying a visit to my school, more power to him.

I guess there are a few people out there who do give a rat’s ass about the Miss Universe pageant (won by Miss Japan - Riyo Mori…Miss Korea was the third runner-up). I woke up this morning and checked out the hits for the blog and was surprised to see that the number of visitors yesterday had jumped by over 2000. The majority of them came here through some variety of a search for Miss Korea - Honey Lee. Today there have been over 3000 more visitors than the daily average, and there’s still time left in the day.

I decided that I would be irresponsible to not use the opportunity that has been bestowed upon me - this temporary spike in traffic - to send a message that needs to be heard out to the world.

Viewers of the Miss Universe pageant - those of you who witnessed the speeches and smiles and evening gowns and bikinis and stumbles and falls - sure, it appeared as if the contestants were bosom buddies and all is well in the world (of beauty queens). But did you know that there has been a long-running feud between Miss Korea and Miss Japan?

The controversy revolves around a special technique involving breast (or “tracts of land” for you Monte Python fans) implants developed by a Western plastic surgeon residing in East Asia. I won’t bore you with the details of the technique, they are not pertinent to the story. What is important is that both Miss Korea and Miss Japan lay claim to being the first to discover the good doctor’s “tracts of land” method. To pay homage to the doc (and themselves) the women decided to give their new “tracts of land” names. Miss Korea called her left one “Dok” and the right one “do”, while Miss Japan refered to her’s as the “Takeshima Tatas”. For awhile, neither made much of the other’s claim of being the first. But then one day they realized the economic benefits and that’s when the “Tastes Great - Less Filling” squabble began. (Wait, that’s another dispute…sorry).

Will the two ever be able to get along? One never knows. Perhaps they will find common ground someday. Why, there have already been signs of agreement between the two women. When asked what they thought of the man who performed their surgeries, Dr. Leopold Liancourt, both answered with a resounding, “(Dr.) Liancourt Rocks!”

Jeon brought home the award for her work in the movie “Secret Sunshine”. Read the Yonhap News article here.

Did I mention that she is my favorite Korean actress? Way to go, Do-yeon baby, YEAH!

By the way, check out this photo. Take your slimy eyes off of my Do-yeon, you greasy-cheesy French actor, you. Anyone who has to wear a “star” pin on his lapel obviously isn’t one. That’s right, I’m talkin’ to you!

(Sorry, got a little carried away again.)

The Miss Universe Pagent is set to start on May 28.  I really couldn’t give a rat’s ass about it, but I figured now’s a good time to show you some photos of Korea’s representative, Honey Lee (이하늬).

The following information was taken from the official Miss Universe website:

What are your interests and what do you enjoy doing the most?
I love to learn foreign languages including English, ancient Hebrew, Chinese, and Japanese. Moreover, I enjoy dancing and traveling. I also play various musical instruments as well, including the Kayageum, which is a Korean traditional instrument, violin, piano, and flute.

What do you want the judges to know about you?
I am eclectic. I am a 3rd degree black belt in Taekwondo, a competitive skier and a scuba diver. I am a professional player of Kayageum and have released 4 CDs and played in more than 25 countries worldwide, including concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York City. I am already an ambassador of culture for Korea and was recently named a Kayageum prodigy by the Kumho Art Center, the most prestigious musical foundation in Korea. I am in graduate school at Seoul National University, the top university in Korea. When I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree (also from Seoul National University), I received my honors degree from there. My volunteer work includes work for UNICEF, Compassion and World Vision (an NGO) and I sponsor a child. My future goals includes work with the U.N.

Read more about Miss Lee here.

The Chosun Ilbo, the Marmot’s Hole, and Lost Nomad have all reported on the latest celebrity “breast exposure” - this time involving singer and body extraodinaire Daham of the pop duet “Foxy”. But only The Iceberg gives you the actual goods. Click and enjoy. (Not safe for work!)

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Say hello to television and movie actress Kim Gyu-ri (김규리). Read More »

Say hello to Sports Seoul’s 2006 World Cup VJ Yoon Hye-jin. Miss Yoon is a 21-year-old student at Kyung Hee University. Displaying her impressive background in journalism (her major is Hotel Management), Miss Yoon unveiled every important detail from top to bottom before, during, and after the World Cup. Due to Miss Yoon’s hard work and talent, we were able to gain insight into the summer event from angles few can present. Hye-jin, for your body of work, The Iceberg thanks you.

Two months ago I reported that photos of Korean singer/actress Unee, a favorite at The Iceberg, were mistakenly described by Singaporean media as images of a Mongolian model who had been murdered in Malaysia. Thankfully, at the time, it was all a mix-up and Unee was alive and well.

Today, the news is not so good. Unee took her life yesterday.

As one who has experienced the loss of a friend through suicide recently, I’d like to stress that this is not something to be flippant about. My condolences to Unee’s family and friends.

Rest in peace, Unee.

I don’t know actress Lee Mi-yeon (이미연) personally, so I can’t say this with 100 percent certainty, but if this interview with the Chosun Ilbo is any indication, Ms. Lee may not be the nicest person in the world. Some quotes from the article left me shaking my head. For starters:

“Acting has produced the biggest energy and the greatest pain in my life. I can’t promise you that I’m going to be an actress for the rest of my life. When I fall out of love with acting, I’ll quit immediately.”

Oh please promise, Mi-yeon, that you’ll be an actress for the rest of your life. Pretty please! We need you. At least promise that you’ll continue to appear in commercials at least three times a year.

“It is dangerous for an actor to feature in too many TV commercials.”

Of course, this doesn’t apply to her,

“People seem to have been looking out for me even during my break because of my healthy image.”

Whew! That’s a relief. Now that that’s settled, let’s move on to her latest television drama, “Crazy Over Love”. The premise seems a stretch; she plays a woman who falls in love with the man who killed her fiance in an accident the day before the wedding. Wow! That must have taken some serious acting to pull that off. I mean, even Ms. Lee admits,

“I still think nothing is more difficult than love.”

Damn straight! Making love work is hard enough in the most ideal of circumstances, let alone when it involves exchanging sweet nothings with the person who is responsible for KILLING YOUR FIANCE. Personally, I’d have trouble putting that out of my mind whenever the time came to drop my drawers to the floor, but Ms. Lee disagrees,

“Well, love isn’t rational. I don’t think such things are impossible.”

Suhweet! There is a Korean proverb that says, “Just because there is a goalkeeper doesn’t mean you can’t score a goal.” Add Ms. Lee’s philosophy to the equation and you can take it a step further: Rub out the goalkeeper and you can score as many goals as you damn well please.

(Thank you, God, for replacing the love of my life with the man responsible for his death.)

But I digress. Confronted with such a difficult role, isn’t it important to develop on-screen chemistry with the male lead? Umm, maybe not. Here are Ms. Lee’s thoughts on singer-turned-actor co-star Yun Gye-sang,

“It’s more difficult to partner with Yun than with more experienced actors such as Han Seok-gyu or Park Shin-yang. I have to think more this time.”

Ouch! Take that, Mr. Yun! Don’t quit your day job. Hehehe.

(For you doubters out there, I’ve provided a couple of photos of Ms. Lee thinking more on the set of her new drama.)

Difficult as it may be to believe, Ms. Lee was not always the quality actress that she is today,

“I still feel sorry that I started my career when I was completely unprepared.”

Indeed, she was so unprepared that she was duped into becoming the Korean Demi Moore™ (”St. Elmo’s Fire” version).

But she persevered, and by combining self-confidence and a positive attitude…

“I picked out a movie based on a novel by the famous writer Gong Ji-young and made a fresh start. I think it was at that time that my performance improved. I received a lot of praise. In ‘Number 3′ (1997) and ‘Whispering Corridors’ (1998), people thought I was in a supporting role, but I felt I played the lead.”

with hard work…

“I still can’t forget how hard it was when I did interviews with young girls eight times a day for ‘Whispering Corridors.’”

she became the woman whom today we all beg to promise us she will never give up acting.

Alas, life is not perfect for Ms. Lee. When one is as beloved as she is, nasty rumors borne of jealousy are naturally unavoidable. Whenever Ms. Lee is confronted with such rumors, she no doubt looks and feels something like this…

One such evil, nasty, and entirely whacked rumor is that she berates younger colleagues if they don’t give her enough respect. Ms. Lee says that couldn’t be further from the truth,

“People who really know me say I’m really a gentle woman. - (Refer to previous photo…See?) - But since an actor called me the female Choi Min-su, things have got quite nasty. I’ve never scolded young actors. If I were really like Choi Min-su, going my own way without minding how others view me, life would be much easier.”

Exactly! However, a word of advice to all of you young punks out there. Mind your “nays” and “yos”, lest you be gettin’ the look that goes a little somethin’ like this…

As I mentioned at the start of this post, I don’t know Lee Mi-yeon personally, so my evaluation of her character could be completely off base. So, Mi-yeon, if you read this, I’d be happy to get to know you over dinner and (many) drinks…all in the name of truth and accuracy.

Sorry…Mi-yeon “Ssi”…