United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban KiMoon, SNSD, as well as other Hallyu stars will be joining hands and working together to help African children.

The Korean Red Cross Society and Korean UNICEF committee will be launching the ‘Help African Children’ project at Seoul Plaza Hotel on August 12th.

According to Korean Red Cross Society on August 9th, the event will involve participation from UN Secretary-General Ban KiMoon, SNSD, f(x), SHINee and other SM Entertainment’s Hallyu stars, Korea’s national swimmer Park TaeHwan, marathoner Lee BongJoo, actors and actresses such as Kim YoonJin, Shin HyunJoon and other well-known Korean stars.

To kick off the campaign, Ban KiMoon’s message to request support for Africa is echoed through the slogan ‘Together For Africa’.

During the next 3 months, there will be donations and fund raising activities in support of the children of Africa, according to Red Cross representatives. About $5 million is expected to be raised from this campaign.

Through the funds raised, emergency relief activities could be carried out to help African children through the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement as well as UNICEF.

Credit: Chosun.com
Photo: Daum

In response to Cyworld’s decision to stop providing music by SM artists since July 20th, SM Entertainment stated, “SK Communications has single-sidedly stopped providing (music by SM artists).”

SM has revealed on SMTOWN’s homepage, “Cyworld, which is operated by SK Communications, has suddenly stopped providing music by our artists. We take this situation really seriously and we feel sorry for the users who use their services.”

SM continued, “SK Communications has informed us on July 11th that SK Communications will provide background music on Cyworld free of charge starting from July 20th. Thus, SM sincerely responded to them by stating that providing musics freely will involve the consideration of the future price of the music contents as well as global platform. Therefore, it is impossible to give an answer in such a short time.”

In respond to SM, SK Communications said that if SM were not able to give approval of “free music” right away, then SK Communications would have to stop providing SM artists’ musics on Cyworld. Subsequently, when SK Communications started providing “free music” on July 20th, they also stopped providing SM artists’ musics.

On the other hand, SM stated, “We sincerely apologize to the fans for creating a inconvenience because of this unexpected incident.”

Credit: Sports Chosun
Translated by: Taengfan@fanwonder.com

After making a history by performing at Europe’s first ‘SM Town Live World Tour’ concert in Paris, The girls made a brief stop back in Korea on June 15th and boarded a plane to Japan through Gimpo Airport this evening (June 16th). The girls are set to resume their ’1st Japan Arena Tour’ at the National Yoyogi Stadium in Tokyo on June 17th and 18th.

After that, the girls will have a week’s break before attending the 2011 MTV VMAJ on June 25th where they are in contention for awards in 3 categories. However, before heading to the prestigious event, 4 Soshi members will be recording MBC’s variety program ‘Yoo JaeSuk and Kim WonHee’s Come To Play’, which means, they will be flying back to Seoul again.

On June 16th, a production staff of ‘Come To Play’ said, “On June 22nd, there will be a recording session with SM Entertainment artistes at Ilsan MBC Dream Center for the Korean Wave Special Edition of MBC ‘Yoo JaeSuk and Kim WonHee’s Come To Play’”.

According to the staff, a total of 12 artistes from SM Entertainment are expected to appear on this special episode. They are TVXQ, 4 members from Super Junior, 4 members from SNSD and 2 members from f(x). Besides the grand appearances on the show, this is also the first time SM Entertainment artistes appear on such talk show together.

‘Come To Play’ Korean Wave Special featuring SM Entertainment artistes is expected to receive great response from viewers all around the world.

Credit: newsen.com/tvdaily.co.kr

On April 26th, tickets for ‘SM Town Live World Tour in Paris’ which will be held at Le Zenith de Paris on June 10th sold like hot cakes.

Tickets were on sale through European ticketing sites livenation.fr, fnacspectacles.com, etc. In just 15 minutes, Europe proved to the whole world that the demand for Kpop is just as explosive. All the tickets sold online were grabbed.

Due to the overwhelming response, signatures are being collected on Facebook through a petition to have a Flashmob in front of the Louvre Museum on May 1st. It was reported that 4,000 signatures have been collected up to this moment.

‘SM Town Live World Tour’ had achieved great success through concerts in Seoul, Tokyo, LA and Shanghai. Even before the concert kicks off in Paris, early signs have indicated such great interest among European music fans towards the first ever SM Town concert in Europe. Once again, this confirms SM Entertainment’s capacity in placing itself as a global brand.

Come June 10th, SM Entertainment’s top artistes such as SNSD, TVXQ, Super Junior, f(x), etc. will heat up the stage and captivate the European music fans with their hit songs as well amazing performances.

Credit: seoulntn.com/osen.co.kr

UPDATE 1: SM Entertainment to consider adding one more concert

More than 300 European fans carried out a flashmob at Louvre Museum on May 1st to request for another SM Town concert in Paris. The flashmob which was covered by various Korean media caught the attention of SM Entertainment.

On May 2nd, regarding the issue of adding another date, SM Entertainment’s representative said, “The request came not only from French fans but also Kpop fans from within Europe. Before we decide to add another concert, we will have to check a lot of things such as the artistes’ schedules, hotel and flight arrangements as well as concert equipments. Nevertheless, we will look into all possibilities”.

Credit: mk.co.kr/sportschosun.com

UPDATE 2: Paris is getting another concert

The organizers of SM Town Live World Tour in Paris had confirmed that an additional concert will be held on June 11th at Le Zenith de Paris. Bravo! Looks like the flashmobs paid off well for the French fans.

Credit: Nanoumoi@Twitter

SNSD might be travelling to the ‘Land of Passion’ South America this summer.

SNSD and other SM Entertainment artistes including BoA, TVXQ, Super Junior, SHINee, f(x), etc might possibly be going on a South American tour this July. According to an official from the music industry, there is a plan for SM Entertainment artistes to have a concert in South American countries such as Brazil, Chile, etc in July. The South American concerts will be part of the ‘SM Town Live World Tour’ kicked off last year.

SM’s plan to tour South America was also fueled by the artistes huge popularity in the region. In February this year, in a survey entitled ‘Which artiste will have a concert in Brazil?’conducted via a TV broadcast, SM Entertainment artistes, namely Super Junior, BoA, SNSD and SHINee grabbed the top 4 spots. In addition to that, in November last year, Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange (KOFICE) conducted a survey to find out Brazilian fans’ choice of famous Korean singers. The results – Super Junior in 1st place, SHINee, BoA and SNSD were in 2nd, 4th and 5th place respectively.

Music industry official said, “SM’s ripple effect is really great. Not only in US, Japan, China, the artistes have managed to make impact even to Europe and South America and this is such a rare phenomenon for Korean artistes. Isn’t this the way of the true ‘World Stars’?”.

Credit: sportsseoul.com

Korea’s main entertainment agency SM Entertainment’s expansion in its real estate business will take place in KyungBuk. SM’s plan is to create a large scale visual and cultural tourist spot. Visitors may actually see how SM artistes’ dorms look like.

On April 27th, according to the real estate industries, SM and Fides Development had chosen MoonKyung City as the location for the development of the theme park. They will be developing around 888,186㎡ of area and the project will be completed around 2016 with investment involving 354.2 billion Won.

The development will start in the SaeJae area, which covers an area of 35,894㎡. Until 2012, Around 43 billion Won will be spent to develop the film studios , leisure complex, and visual support area.

Furthermore, a star zone for SM’s artistes will be developed where fanmeetings, fan signings and other events will be held. The facilities will also include stages for performances, water parks, spas and accommodations similar to the dormitories of stars like TVXQ and BoA.

SM Entertainment’s CEO,Kim YoungMin stated, “Korea’s cultural contents are not only accepted in Asia, but the whole world. We participate in this development because I feel the need to put Korea’s cultural advantages in one place.”

Credit: segye.com/yna.co.kr
Translated by: Taengfan@fanwonder.com

Due to the recent massive earthquake in Japan, ‘SM Town Live in Tokyo Special Edition’ scheduled to be held on April 9th and 10th at Tokyo Dome has been postponed. The ‘SM Town Live in Tokyo Special Edition’ concert features top SM Town artistes such as BoA, TVXQ, Super Junior, SNSD, f(x), Kangta, Kim Minjong, etc.

However, due to the aftermath of the quake, Japan is currently focusing on recovery and restoration activities and in view of the complexities in terms of power and supply of equipments at the moment, the decision to postpone the concert was made. The official announcement of the postponement was made through SM Entertainment Japan’s official website on March 23rd.

SM Entertainment stated, “Future schedules, refund procedures,information and other announcements will be made available on SM Entertainment Japan’s official and mobile websites. On behalf of SM Entertainment and its artistes, we pray for speedy recovery and restoration of the affected areas”.

Credit: mtstarnews.co.kr

UPDATE 1: New dates announced

On April 27th (morning), SM Entertainment announced through a press release, “The concert has been postponed to September 3rd-4th and we will be meeting the Japanese fans then”.

Credit: mydaily.co.kr

SNSD will be making their Korean comeback in the second half of the year.

According music industry specialists on April 13th, SNSD might be making their appearance on the Korean music scene again as early as September 2011 with the release of an album containing new songs. Currently, the girls are already in the process of recording the new songs for the album.

Since SNSD released 3rd Mini Album ‘Hoot’ in October 2010, the possibility of SNSD releasing another album in the space of a year is great. Each of SNSD’s releases seem to create different kinds of syndromes among fans and the news about the possibility of release is hot enough to get fans excited.

Regarding this matter, SM Entertainment’s representative cautiously said, “SNSD’s comeback to domestic stage in the second half of the year is likely. However, whether it is yet to be decided if the comeback date will be in the month of September”.

Before their Korean comeback, SNSD will be busy with their Japanese activities from May to July. SNSD will be releasing their new Japanese single, ‘Mr.Taxi’ on the 27th this month, followed by the scheduled 4-city tour concerts in May.

Credit: star.mt.co.kr

After the massive earthquake in Japan, the price of SM’s share was on a downward trend. However, since the past 2 days, it has been gaining back some tremendous momentum.

On April 5th, SM’s stock, rose by 6.35% (1,150won) and closed at 19,250 won. Today’s trading volume increased by almost twice, from 740,000 shares (yesterday) to 1.27 million shares.

Massive influx of buyers was reported at Samsung Securities, Kiwoom Securities, Daewoo Securities, NH Investment Securities and other domestic securities.

Due to the massive earthquake in Japan on March 11th and following concerns and speculations that Korean Wave may come to its end after the quake, SM’s shares plunged from 20,000 won per unit to 16,000 won per unit.

However, as the month of April kicked off, SM’s shares showed some positive signs where it rose 4% yesterday and 6% today, closing near to 20,000 won. The recovery was mainly due to the recent announcement of the release of SNSD’s Japanese single ‘Mr. Taxi’.

According to SM Japan, HMV and other music sites, SNSD’s 3rd Japanese Single ‘Mr.Taxi’ will make its entrance to the market on April 27th.

Credit:fnnews.com
Translated by: fanwonder/Taengfan@fanwonder.com