jusunlee: hyo-lee, pop icon extraordinaire of 2003, is set to appear in two hong kong movies, likely performing alongside veteran actor jackie chan. the hong kong entertainment company, emperor group, had previously offered the korean dancer/singer two onscreen roles for more than $1 million, and hyo-lee inked a contract with the group to make her hong kong screen debut. she will be shooting the two movies later this year.

jusunlee: korean pop sensation boa's 'valenti' was one of the best-selling albums of 2003 in japan. 'valenti', a live recording of her earlier japanese tours, sold more than 1.2 million copies since its release in july last year. based on the sales of records from november 2002 to november 2003, the 17-year-old korean signer ranked fifth, and was the highest-ranked among female singers in japan. boa shot to stardom in japan with the title song of her first solo album, "listen to my heart", in 2002.

jusunlee: pop singer park ji-yoon will likely be engaged in a lawsuit. jyp entertainment, which previously represented park, has asked her to return a portion of the advance it gave to her, amounting to some 230 million won. initially, park's contract with the agency ran from january 2000 to the end of february 2003, but she broke her relationship with jyp in the middle of february 2003, when her last album, "twenty one" gave rise to a controversy over its sexually provocative lyrics.

jusunlee: ballad singer lee soo-young will cap off her music career in korea and move her stage to japan. after holding the 'adieu concert' at kyunghee university on feb. 7-8, the 23-year-old singer plans to temporarily halt all activities in the local music scene at least for two years to rise to meet her new challenge in the japanese pop scene. lee has enjoyed staying popularity since her debut album 'i believe' sold 250,000 copies in 1999. she sold more than 400,000 copies of her 5th album, 'this time' last year, despite the moribund record market.

jusunlee: sean, member of the popular hip-hop duo jinusean, asked his girlfriend jeong hye-young to marry him during the group's new year's concert in seoul, in front of some 5,000 audience members who later welcomed the surprise proposal with hearty cheers. at the multi-rap group concert 'yg family and mboat relay concert' early on the morning of jan. 1, the rapper jumped off the stage and ran to jeong to ask her for her hand in marriage. to everybody's joy, the actress accepted his proposal by nodding her head.

jusunlee: boy band shinhwa released a new album, 'winter story', which mostly contains cheerful dance music. eric, the main vocalist of the group, produced a rap portion of the title song, 'young gunz'. to promote the new album, the six-member band is now staging a concert in six major cities across the nation to give a total of 12 performances.

jusunlee: park jin-young, korea's top producer and dance singer, has joined hands with hollywood mainstream artist will smith in a new album. it marks the first time a korean music producer has staked his career as a composer on the world-renowned pop star's new work. park, the nations' most prolific hit singer-songwriter, who first recorded his music in smith's personal studio on dec. 11th, will add two more compositions to the american rapper's new album, which will likely be released in may next year. will smith himself will set the songs to park's music.

jusunlee: the pop duo yurisangja has been warming hearts this chilly season with a charity concert for less fortunate teenagers. the warm-hearted singers, who recently released their 7th album, 'family', held concerts to collect funds for flood victims last year. the duo have invited orphans, disabled students and teenagers who lead a hard life supporting their family to this concert of love, running until the end of the year. collected proceeds will be used for neighbors in need.

jusunlee: actress ha ji-won is now challenging the taiwanese music market as a singer. the 25-year-old korean star, who already caused a stir in taiwan as 'archer', the female character of the popular online game 'priston tale', has recently received an album sale offer by avex, the biggest japanese record agency in taiwan. the new album contains 'home run', the theme song of her debut album released in may this year.

jusunlee: k-pop superstar seo taji has once again surprised the local music scene, as tickets for seo's january 29th concert in seoul completely sold out just ten minutes after being put on sale. concert organizers seemed delirious about his staying popularity, saying, "it is a rare phenomenon." currently, the 31-year-old pop idol is in japan, putting the final touches on his new album, with which he will return to his home country on jan. 24, 2004.