Think you are a K-pop genius? That may very well be so, but our latest K-pop quiz will put that to the test. There’s nothing as simple here as “what group is Umji a member of?” (Gfriend) or “what year did 2NE1 debut?” (2009). Know how many members there are in Super Junior? Too bad!! Oh no, this is all about the little facts, that only the most fanatical K-pop lovers will know.
Take the quiz and let us know how well you fared in the comment section! A word of warning: Most of KultScene’s very knowledgeable team of writers did pretty poorly when taking this quiz so… Take your time while answering the questions!
What was your favorite (or least favorite!) question? Have any other random bits of trivia you think we should have included? Share your thoughts and results in the comment section below or on Facebook, or Tweet us your results @KultScene. Be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.
https://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/IMPOSSIBLE.jpg7681024Tamar Hermanhttp://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/KULTSCENE-LOGO-2018-TRANSPARENT-RED.pngTamar Herman2016-11-14 18:03:392016-11-14 18:11:11This is the hardest K-pop quiz ever
New media emerges so quickly that copyright and liability laws continue to be reframed to fit the evolving scene; it’s not easy to decide what’s considered fair use and what’s copyright infringement in media that didn’t exist 10 years or even 10 weeks ago. The question is always out there and the landscape of entertainment law that is here today may be changed tomorrow. When we think about transnational media laws, particularly in regards to K-pop and other pop culture exports that surpass national boundaries, there’s a bit of a juggling act going on. Luckily, that’s what people like David Kim arefor.
Los Angeles based entertainment attorney, actor, and musician David Yung Ho Kim is often asked for his advice on the evolving legal ramifications of new media. It’s a large part of what he does for legal practice, The Hollywood Lawyer, which focuses on film, television, music, licensing, new media, and talent representation.
Yet Kim might never have been a lawyer had his father not insisted. “He sat my brother and me down,” said Kim over the phone. “He told my brother, you be a doctor. Then he said, You be a lawyer.” At the time Kim was more interested in politics and entertainment, so he hoped for a way to combine law with his interests. However, he knew he did not want to work in Washington, D.C., where the world of politics would take him.
After graduating from University of California, Berkeley, with cum laude honors, he studied law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City. Then he practiced law in a variety of capacities, including serving at the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office, working at JYP USA, and in the Business and Legal Affairs Division of CJ Entertainment America. After serving as in-house legal counsel for an LA-based talent management and film production company, Kim launched The Hollywood Lawyer.
“I thought, I could do this on my own, so I started my own entertainment practice,” he said. Established less than two years ago, the practice currently employs two other attorneys and two support staff. “The entertainment part happened because I already had friends in the Korean entertainment industry, singers, and actors,” said Kim. “I ended up doing their legal work as well. Everything aligned and in a way I became the go-to-guy for Korean entertainment stuff in LA.”
Kim was prepared for the legal challenges posed by new media. After working as a research assistant to Professor Robert Brauneis, a scholar in the area of copyright and trademark law, Kim was well versed in intellectual property rights. He also had friends working in digital media. “They would occasionally ask me questions about their entertainment contracts and other legal issues related to their careers and I thought this could be another practice,” said Kim.
Copyright law is not only about major entertainment companies cracking down on singers making cover songs on YouTube. It’s also about protecting independent artists from having their rights infringed in a variety of media. “If you’re not a big studio and not a big production company, independent creatives get their stuff ripped off. There’s so much content out there now. It’s hard to keep tabs on each and every piece. We are in an age of content explosion. It’s hard to monitor what’s being infringed on and what’s original.”
But as many copyright questions as digital technology raises, Kim agrees that it helped make the Hallyu an international phenomenon. “It definitely worked to K-pop’s advantage,” he said. “When the Wonder Girls went on Youtube [in 2009], it was on its ascent. You might visit any random Asian country and everyone would know who the Wonder Girls were. Technology solidified K-pop’s presence in Asia.”
Timing also has something to do with the promotion of Hallyu. “Any other country could have done it but I feel like the timing was perfect,” said Kim. “K-pop found its niche. Other countries in Asia were not producing so much of their own content so Korean content exploded in popularity. They wanted the music and the dramas. At the same time there was a digital explosion as well in the U.S. but because there was already so much content being produced in the U.S., Korean content did not enter the market as strongly here as it did in Asia.”
But the time for the Hallyu to conquer the U.S. may soon be approaching. “It’s all in the timing,” said Kim. “Psy may have been a flash in the pan, but recently America has slowly become aware of the fact that its content is a little too homogeneous. Consumers are looking for something different, something that is new and hip. Yes, Girls’ Generation appeared on David Letterman [in 2012]. Yes, Stephen Colbert did his “Rain!!!!” thing [in 2007] and yeah, that was funny, but the timing wasn’t right. Now is the perfect time. America is ready to connect with the Hallyu as long as the Hallyu can connect with American culture.”
The same weekend that this interview took place, American late night talk show host Conan O’Brien and Korean-American actor Steven Yeun took part in a k-pop video with J.Y. Park. Within three days that video received over one million hits.
Kim is a K-pop fan, citing Red Velvet as one of his favorite new groups although he says he tends to prefer iconic kpop acts such as SS501. And although he started watching dramas with his family at the age of six, these days he rarely has time to indulge in a marathon. Every now and then someone tells him he must watch a drama and he gives in. The last one he saw was “You Who Came From The Stars” and before that it was “My Lovely Kim Sam Soon.” “They’re very addictive,” he said.
Although the past few years have seen several K-dramas optioned for U.S. adaptation, Kim suggests that they may require significant alteration to appeal to a wider U.S. audience. “Korean variety shows have a better chance being adapted for over here,” he said. “Even among my clients, some players in the industry are carefully watching the Korean entertainment industry now and have variety shows in development. Dramas and sitcoms do have cultural elements embedded in them and it would be a little harder for U.S. audiences to connect with them, but who knows?”
Besides his busy law practice, Kim is also an actor and a musician. He’s landed a few acting gigs, some commercials, but he’s still a Hollywood hopeful. “I’m waiting to snag a regular role,” said Kim. Fortunately, he won’t have to wait tables while going on auditions.
What do you think about the complexities of international law and K-pop? Share your thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.
https://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Untitled-design-2.jpg7681024Joan Vos MacDonaldhttp://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/KULTSCENE-LOGO-2018-TRANSPARENT-RED.pngJoan Vos MacDonald2016-04-12 11:03:272016-04-13 13:11:18The Hallyu Attorney: Entertainment Lawyer David Kim Talks About New Media, K-Pop & More
Fans of K-pop often look at situations and criticize. Criticizing is one of netizens (Internet citizens) favorite pastimes. But what happens when a popular, well-loved Korean celebrity does something wrong to a woman he is in a relationship with? For that matter, what happens when a popular, well-loved American athlete does something wrong to a woman he is in a relationship with? Despite thousands of miles apart, holding different careers, and having many cultural differences, the cases of Kim Hyun Joong and Ray Rice force us to draw attention to the fact that victims of domestic violence are continuously blamed throughout the globe.
Throw those women under the bus the moment it seems like they did something less than exemplary; many netizens act as if these women essentially deserved to be abused. Palmer-Rice for spitting on Rice and “causing the problem,” Choi for dragging Kim’s name through the mud and then getting pregnant.
On February 22, a local Korean magazine published an article about Korean star Kim Hyun Joong getting back together with his ex-girlfriend, Choi, who had filed violence charges against him in 2014. It became apparent that fans of the singer, both Korean and internationally, were willing to forgive him the moment that the blame could be placed on Choi- for accepting Kim back after the two settled the case. Instead, blame was put on Choi, with comments saying she was essentially a gold digger, or saying that she’s insane, insanity that isn’t to be pitied.
American football player Ray Rice’s girlfriend at-the-time, now wife, Janay Palmer faced similar victimization after Rice was caught on camera knocking her out. Initially, the video wasn’t made public, and the NFL initially suspended Rice for two games. After TMZ published the video on September 8, 2014, showing Rice violently smacking Palmer, Rice’s contract with the Baltimore Ravens was terminated.
No similar video was released to the Korean public regarding Kim and Choi’s relationship, but pictures showing Choi with bodily harm and text messages where Kim apologized to Choi for harming her were made public. Choi dropped the suit, but Seoul courts forced Kim to pay 5 million KRW (around $4,600) after indicting him on the charges.
The Baltimore Ravens’ official Twitter account spoke for Palmer, now Rice, in May, allegedly apologizing for her role in the incident.
The September 8 release of the video changed perspective, but the initial victim blaming gained wide recognition. The couple spoke publicly on NBC’s Today Show to discuss the hardships that the two have faced as a couple since the incident, and the missteps that the pair and NFL made as they tried to quiet the incident.
Most comments on the original TMZ video were critical of Rice, and supportive of Palmer. Some were the opposite, saying that she deserved being hit.
Slightly reversed, but the Kim-Choi situation once again is highlighting victim-blaming. Kim Hyun Joong was initially dragged through the Korean media for abusing her, and Korean netizens could not forgive him. Then, after the news broke that Choi is likely pregnant with Kim’s baby, the tables turned; comments began criticizing Choi for planningthe whole situation so as to stay with her abuser.
Hitting a domestic partner, or anybody, in an abusive manner is never alright. Rice and Kim both harmed the women who supported them, and in both cases the woman returned to her partner. No matter the circumstance neither woman is to blame for her actions, since there’s psychological research that shows why people, seemingly illogically, stay in abusive relationships. but the Ravens’ tweet essentially forcing Palmer-Rice to apologize for being abused and netizens accusing Choi of planning to get pregnant in order to trap Kim into a relationship are both missing the point that people who are in abusive relationships have a hard time leaving.
The Palmer-Rice incident started a national conversation about domestic violence in the NFL. During the 2015 Super Bowl, the most widely watched televised show ever, a commercial played, highlighting the fact that the average, uninvolved party has a hard time understanding what is going on in abusive relationships.
Even though the commercial is a step to begin the discussion about domestic violence and sexual abuse, the global consensus is that people do not understand, psychologically, why a person would not leave an abusive relationship. But people who are dependent on one another don’t think logically; love is not logical. Rather than trying to help the women, comments on the Kim-Choi, Rice-Palmer affairs act as if the women both behaved with complete, psychological independence, blaming the women for accepting back men who have abused them.
Rice hit Palmer. Kim hit Choi. Both became highly publicized abuse cases, and the public turned against both women, turning them into co-perpetrators rather than sympathizing with the victims of domestic violence.
CNN’s Mel Robbins wrote an in-depth analysis of the Rice-Palmer (now Rice) incident, highlighting the fact that we cannot forget that Rice abused his now-wife, and pointing out that victims will rarely leave their spouses for a variety of reasons.
“I’m sure he apologized later to her and felt sorry. That’s part of the cycle of abuse: violence then a honeymoon period, only to be followed by violence again. Katie Ray-Jones, president of the National Domestic Violence Hotline and the National Dating Abuse Helpline, has said an abused woman will leave a relationship approximately seven times before she leaves for good because of the psychological damage that batterers inflict. There are countless reasons victims recant their stories or stay in an abusive relationship: low self-worth, financial worries, fear, even love. Instead of wondering why a victim stays, the world would do better to focus on punishing the batterer.”
Both Kim and Rice were high profile stars in their respective realm of entertainment before the abuse scandals, and faced initial heat. But as long as people defend celebrities who abuse their partners, and place any amount of blame on victims, there will be bystanders who see the incidents and think that the victims truly deserve what they received. It’s a troublesome trait in our society that we see the fall of a beloved celebrity because of a domestic abuse scandal as more pitiful than the fact that a man beat a woman, physically, verbally, and psychologically.
Since becoming entrenched in domestic violence scandals, the two have faced setbacks in their career, but are still active. Rice is a free agent in the NFL and Kim released a new Japanese album, “Still.”
Disclaimer: I am no fan of the NFL, (or most sports) and am only writing as a general observer. Please comment below if I have facts wrong.
What do you think about what’s going on with celebrity abuse scandals? How do you feel about Kim Hyun Joong? Share your thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.
https://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/11004878_10155427574650019_1147369917_n.jpg720960Tamar Hermanhttp://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/KULTSCENE-LOGO-2018-TRANSPARENT-RED.pngTamar Herman2015-02-24 17:00:332015-02-24 17:02:22Victim Blaming In Kim Hyun Joong & Ray Rice Cases Minimize Realities of Domestic Abuse
