BIGBANG’s T.O.P shared a sweet message for his close friend Lee Byung Hun!

On December 6, T.O.P took to Instagram to reveal that Lee Byung Hun had gifted him with a signed copy of his new book “Actor Lee Byung Hun.” The star posted a video of himself opening the book to show off the handwritten message inside, which read, “To my dongsaeng [younger brother or friend] Choi Seung Hyun [T.O.P’s given name].”

T.O.P affectionately wrote in the caption in English, “So proud of U my mentor.”

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A post shared by T.O.P (@choi_seung_hyun_tttop)

T.O.P and Lee Byung Hun first became friends while filming the hit drama “Iris” together in 2009, and they have remained close ever since.

Watch Lee Byung Hun in his film “Inside Men” with subtitles below!

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Top Photo Credit: Xportsnews

Melon has released its overall chart results for the past decade!

On December 1, Melon—Korea’s largest music streaming service—revealed its chart of the top 100 songs of the 2010s (the 10 years from 2010 to 2019).

IU was the artist who landed the most songs on the chart by far, with 11 of her songs making it into the top 100. BOL4 came in second place with five songs, while TWICE and Park Hyo Shin tied for third with four songs on the list each. BTS, BLACKPINK, Paul Kim, and Busker Busker came next, with each artist landing three songs on the chart.

Congratulations to all of the artists who made the chart! The full list of 100 songs is as follows:

1. Busker Busker’s “Cherry Blossom Ending”
2. IU’s “Through the Night”
3. Park Hyo Shin’s “Wildflower”
4. BTS’s “Spring Day”
5. IU’s “Friday” (featuring HISTORY’s Jang Yi Jeong)
6. Ailee’s “I Will Go to You Like the First Snow”
7. IU and HIGH4’s “Not Spring, Love, or Cherry Blossoms”
8. Paul Kim’s “Every Day, Every Moment”
9. MC the Max’s “No Matter Where”
10. Naul’s “Memory of the Wind”
11. MeloMance’s “Gift”
12. VIXX, Sung Si Kyung, Park Hyo Shin, Seo In Guk, and Lee Seok Hoon’s “Because It’s Christmas”
13. IU’s “Meaning of You” (featuring Kim Chang Wan)
14. Yoon Jong Shin’s “Like It”
15. Heize’s “You, Clouds, Rain” (featuring Shin Yong Jae)
16. TWICE’s “Cheer Up”
17. BOL4’s “Galaxy”
18. IU’s “Merry Christmas in Advance” (featuring Thunder)
19. Im Chang Jung’s “Love Again”
20. Urban Zakapa’s “I Don’t Love You”
21. Soyou and Junggigo’s “Some”
22. iKON’s “Love Scenario”
23. IU’s “Good Day”
24. San E and Raina’s “A Midsummer Night’s Sweetness”
25. Shaun’s “Way Back Home”
26. Han Dong Geun’s “Making a New Ending for This Story”
27. Kim Bum Soo’s “Last Love”
28. BTS’s “DNA”
29. Red Velvet’s “Red Flavor”
30. Im Chang Jung’s “The Love I Committed”
31. Primary’s “Johnny” (featuring Dynamic Duo)
32. IU’s “Palette” (featuring G-Dragon)
33. BOL4’s “Tell Me You Love Me”
34. Lee Juck’s “Don’t Worry”
35. Busker Busker’s “Yeosu Night Sea”
36. IU’s “You & I”
37. Crush’s “Beautiful”
38. BLACKPINK’s “DDU-DU DDU-DU”
39. TWICE’s “TT”
40. Paul Kim’s “Me After You”
41. Nilo’s “Pass”
42. Jang Deok Cheol’s “Good Old Days”
43. BOL4’s “Hard to Love”
44. Lee Hi’s “Breathe”
45. Dean’s “D (Half Moon)” (featuring Gaeko)
46. WINNER’s “Really Really”
47. Jung Seung Hwan’s “If It Was You”
48. BOL4’s “Travel”
49. BTOB’s “Missing You”
50. BLACKPINK’s “As If It’s Your Last”
51. BIGBANG’s “BANG BANG BANG”
52. Park Hyo Shin’s “Snow Flower”
53. Wanna One’s “Energetic”
54. Seo In Guk and Jung Eun Ji’s “All for You”
55. BLACKPINK’s “Playing With Fire”
56. Zion.T’s “Yanghwa Bridge”
57. Jung Joon Il’s “Hug Me”
58. Oh Hyuk’s “A Little Girl”
59. GFRIEND’s “Me Gustas Tu”
60. BEAST’s “On Rainy Days”
61. BOL4’s “Some”
62. Woo Won Jae’s “We Are” (featuring Loco and Gray)
63. PSY’s “What Would Have Been” (featuring Park Jung Hyun)
64. Heize’s “Don’t Come Back” (featuring Yong Junhyung)
65. Taeyang’s “Eyes, Nose, Lips”
66. Paul Kim’s “Rain”
67. GFRIEND’s “Rough”
68. IU’s “BBIBBI”
69. Park Hyo Shin’s “Breath”
70. Baek A Yeon’s “Shouldn’t Have…” (featuring Young K)
71. Taeyeon’s “I” (featuring Verbal Jint)
72. Hyukoh’s “Wi Ing Wi Ing”
73. MOMOLAND’s “BBoom BBoom”
74. Kyuhyun’s “At Gwanghwamun”
75. Davichi’s “This Love”
76. TWICE’s “Like OOH-AHH”
77. MC the Max’s “Wind That Blows”
78. GFRIEND’s Yuju and Loco’s “Spring is Gone by Chance”
79. Han Dong Geun’s “Amazing You”
80. IU’s “Twenty-Three”
81. TWICE’s “Dance the Night Away”
82. 4Men’s “I Can’t” (featuring Mi)
83. Busker Busker’s “Love, At First”
84. Sung Si Kyung’s “Every Moment of You”
85. Roy Kim’s “Only Then”
86. Lee Sun Hee’s “Meet Him Among Them”
87. Suran’s “Wine” (produced by BTS’ Suga)
88. IU’s “My Old Story”
89. BTS’s “Blood Sweat & Tears”
90. AKMU’s “200%”
91. Zico’s “Boys and Girls” (featuring Babylon)
92. Maktub and Gu Yoon Heo’s “Marry Me”
93. Primary’s “Question Mark” (featuring Dynamic Duo’s Choiza and Zion.T)
94. MAMAMOO’s “Starry Night”
95. AKMU’s “Last Goodbye”
96. Park Won’s “All of My Life”
97. Naul’s “Living in the Same Time”
98. Zion.T’s “Eat”
99. 10cm’s “What the Spring??”
100. Gummy’s “You Are My Everything”

What were your favorite songs of the past decade? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) has announced its latest batch of official certifications!

Earlier this year, the RIAJ implemented a new certification system for online streaming of songs, as an addition to its pre-existing certification systems for physical album shipments and digital download sales. According to the new system, songs are certified silver once they reach 30 million streams, gold at 50 million streams, and platinum at 100 million streams.

In the RIAJ’s newly announced batch of certifications (dated October 2020), BTS’s hit single “Dynamite” received an official gold certification after surpassing 50 million streams—making it the fastest song by a Korean artist ever to achieve the feat. It is also BTS’s second track to earn a gold streaming certification from the RIAJ, following their 2019 song “Boy With Luv.”

BTS also received a silver certification for their 2018 title track “IDOL” after surpassing 30 million streams. Apart from “Dynamite” and “Boy With Luv,” which have now both been certified gold, BTS has also gone silver in Japan with “DNA,” “Fake Love,” “Lights,” and “Stay Gold.”

Meanwhile, TWICE earned official silver certifications for both the Korean version of “TT” and their recent Japanese song “Fanfare.” TWICE has previously gone silver in Japan with the Japanese version of “TT,” as well as their songs “YES or YES,” “What Is Love?“, “Likey,” “MORE & MORE,” “Dance the Night Away,” and “Heart Shaker“—in addition to going gold with their hits “Feel Special” and “FANCY.”

Finally, BIGBANG earned their very first RIAJ streaming certification with their 2015 hit “BANG BANG BANG.”

Congratulations to all three artists!

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Rapper Swings clarified that he was not offended by BIGBANG’s T.O.P uploading a photo of him with doodles on it, after the image belatedly became a subject of controversy.

Last December, T.O.P had uploaded a cropped photo of Swings with doodles on his face to his Instagram stories without any further explanation. Recently, the photo resurfaced and some people criticized T.O.P for what they called disrespectful behavior.

On November 22, Swings responded in his own Instagram stories, first commenting that it had been about a year since T.O.P had posted it. Swings then wrote the following:

I wasn’t really upset about it at the time either, and personally I like T.O.P, since I find him endearing. I’m worried that people might see him in a bad light as this becomes a hot topic again. To be honest, I just felt great when T.O.P uploaded it because I’d made it to T.O.P’s Instagram, so I felt like I was awesome. Don’t criticize T.O.P about it. I was a meme king, particularly back then. LET THE BOY HAVE SOME FUN.

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The Korean Business Research Institute has revealed this month’s brand reputation rankings for individual idols!

The rankings were determined through an analysis of the consumer participation, media coverage, interaction, and community awareness indexes of 1,453 idols, using big data collected from October 21 to November 21.

BTS’s Jimin held onto his spot at the top of the list this month with a brand reputation index of 9,463,655. High-ranking phrases in Jimin’s keyword analysis included “BE,” “military service,” and “ARMY,” while his highest-ranking related terms included “charming,” “confident,” and “be together.” His positivity-negativity analysis revealed a score of 81.06 percent positive reactions.

Kang Daniel rose to second place in this month’s rankings with a brand reputation index of 7,491,445, while MAMAMOO’s Hwasa came in third with a total index of 6,421,285.

Finally, BTS’s Jungkook and V rounded out the top five for November at fourth and fifth places respectively.

Check out the top 30 for this month below!

1. BTS’s Jimin
2. Kang Daniel
3. MAMAMOO’s Hwasa
4. BTS’s Jungkook
5. BTS’s V
6. HOTSHOT’s Ha Sung Woon
7. EXO’s Baekhyun
8. BTS’s Jin
9. Ong Seong Wu
10. Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon
11. Park Ji Hoon
12. BTS’s RM
13. SHINee’s Taemin
14. BTS’s J-Hope
15. ASTRO’s Cha Eun Woo
16. TWICE’s Chaeyoung
17. TWICE’s Jihyo
18. Red Velvet’s Seulgi
19. BTS’ Suga
20. Girls’ Generation’s YoonA
21. GFRIEND’s Eunha
22. TWICE’s Nayeon
23. Super Junior’s Kim Heechul
24. NU’EST’s Minhyun
25. BIGBANG’s G-Dragon
26. aespa’s Winter
27. aespa’s Karina
28. TWICE’s Jeongyeon
29. GFRIEND’s Umji
30. BLACKPINK’s Jennie

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On November 19, Seungri’s third hearing for his eight charges took place at the Ground Operations Command’s general military court in Yongin.

Seungri has been indicted on eight charges including purchase of prostitution services, prostitution mediation, embezzlement, violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (an additional charge for embezzlement of a sum exceeding a certain number), violation of the Food Sanitation Act, habitual gambling, violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, and violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes.

Starting with this hearing, the court will call in 22 witnesses every Thursday until December. The witnesses who were asked to attend the hearing on November 19 were Jung Joon Young, former Yuri Holdings CEO Yoo In Suk, former Burning Sun MD (promoter) Mr. Kim, and a woman referred to as “A,” but only Mr. Kim was present at the hearing this day. Mr. Kim is serving his sentence of four years for charges including indecent act by compulsion. Jung Joon Young’s reason for non-attendance was poor health, while Yoo In Suk’s reason was his upcoming sentencing hearing in December. The court will request their attendance on December 10.

In response to a question related to Seungri’s prostitution meditation charges, Mr. Kim said, “I only did what was instructed by Yoo In Suk (not by Seungri).”

Mr. Kim testified that when he visited Seungri’s home in 2015, he saw Yoo In Suk with two women and also saw him engage in sexual intercourse with a woman. He added that he had never seen Seungri performing sexual acts with a woman nor illegally filming footage.

Mr. Kim explained, “A friend I’ve been close with since I was younger was Seungri’s classmate in university, so [Seungri and I] became close as all of us hung out together. I used to be a club MD, and then I operated a ramen restaurant chain as well as a bar with Jung Joon Young and Choi Jong Hoon.”

He repeated that Seungri had not mediated prostitution services, saying, “In the police investigation, I referred to Seungri and Yoo In Suk as one entity, but thinking about it now, it was Yoo In Suk. When the Japanese acquaintance [at Seungri’s Christmas party] was matched with a prostitute, I accompanied [the prostitute] to the hotel entrance as per Yoo In Suk’s instructions. I couldn’t remember clearly during the police questioning, so I said that Yoo In Suk, Seungri, and Madam A had planned it. Now that I’m asked about it after speaking about the situation, I remember it was Yoo In Suk’s doing.”

Mr. Kim continued to testify, “Seungri had lots of concerts abroad, so he didn’t respond very quickly in our group chat room. As a celebrity, he was conscious of people and once told his friends to be careful with their words and actions. He enjoyed hosting grand parties like ‘The Great Gatsby,’ but he has never once spoken about his sexual desires.”

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The Korean Business Research Institute has revealed this month’s brand reputation rankings for individual boy group members!

The rankings were determined through an analysis of the consumer participation, media coverage, communication, and community awareness indexes of 653 boy group members, using big data collected from October 13 to November 13.

BTS’s Jimin topped the list for the 23rd consecutive month with a brand reputation index of 5,192,015 for November. High-ranking phrases in his keyword analysis included “Filter,” “ARMY,” and “innovator,” while his highest-ranking related terms included “surpass,” “award,” and “release.” Jimin’s positivity-negativity analysis revealed a score of 80.02 percent positive reactions.

ASTRO’s Moonbin rose to second place this month after seeing a staggering 257.28 percent increase in his brand reputation index since October. The idol scored a total index of 3,954,327 for November.

Finally, NCT’s Jaehyun came in at a close third with a brand reputation index of 3,870,841, marking a 32.53 percent rise in his score since last month.

Check out the top 30 for this month below!

1. BTS’s Jimin
2. ASTRO’s Moonbin
3. NCT’s Jaehyun
4. BTS’s V
5. ASTRO’s Cha Eun Woo
6. EXO’s Kai
7. BTS’s Jungkook
8. BTS’s RM
9. BTS’s Jin
10. BTS’ Suga
11. NCT’s Doyoung
12. SHINee’s Taemin
13. NCT’s Taeyong
14. NCT’s Mark
15. BTS’s J-Hope
16. NCT’s Jungwoo
17. ASTRO’s MJ
18. NCT’s Jaemin
19. TXT’s Soobin
20. TXT’s Yeonjun
21. NCT’s Jisung
22. NCT’s Haechan
23. TXT’s Taehyun
24. NCT’s Jeno
25. NCT’s Chenle
26. TXT’s Beomgyu
27. MONSTA X’s Minhyuk
28. EXO’s Baekhyun
29. SEVENTEEN’s Jun
30. AB6IX’s Lee Dae Hwi

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