091230 FOCUS: 10 Awards - Top 10 News of 2009
Top 10 News of 2009
Two former presidents and a king passed away. One wrong remark during an entertainment show took the entire country by storm. Such unbelievably enormous incidents were played out in unbelievable directions during 2009. Thus, the top ten news of 2009 selected by <10 Asia> may seem like the ten most incredulous news of the year. But one could say that what these ten news stories have in common is that they carry the flow of Korea’s pop culture. Can you really believe that all these things happened within a span of one year?
News 1. Actress Jang Ja-yeon commits suicide
On March 7, one little known actress wrote in her suicide note, “I am a weak, powerless actress. I want to be free from this pain” and killed herself. It was actress Jang Ja-yeon, who was appearing in KBS TV series “Boys Over Flowers” at the time. The suicide note, which was 12 pages long on A4-sized paper, explained that she had been physically abused by her agency, forced to drink and provide sexual services. It also listed names of high-ranking executives in the industry, including a head of media company, television drama director and owners of business companies. People started calling the note “The Jang Ja-yeon List”. The incident brought to surface how badly aspiring actresses and female celebrities in general have been violated and the ugly power of the media. But due to slow, passive investigation by the Korean authorities, the truth never came to light. Of all people who were under investigation, only two people involved in the incident -- former head of Jang’s agency and former manager who exposed Jang’s suicide notes -- were indicted and the suspects whose names were listed in the documents were all cleared of charges and let go. Was the death of Jang Ja-yeon a suicide or a homicide?
News 2. Korean media laws revised
In March, the two political parties of Korea’s National Assembly agreed that they would put the issue of media law revision to vote in June. And the consequent, crazy uproar that took place at the National Assembly in July was almost half-expected. Amidst all the physical fighting between the two opposing party members, the material bribery and proxy votes, the Grand National Party officials passed the bill allowing for media law revision. With the new media law, businesses and daily newspaper publications can own up to 10 percent of the shares of a public network and companies can jump into the new media businesses. Of course, nobody knows for sure what kind of consequences such a decision will bring. What we do know, however, is that there is nothing reasonable about what had happened during the revision process; a large number of proxy votes got the new bill passed, a government official who had protested against the new bill led a labor strike among media employees, the ruling of Korea’s Constitutional Court which said the passing of the new bill stood viable even if it admitted people’s voting rights had been violated during the process.
News 3. Michael Jackson dies
2009 could be called “the year of loss” since we lost so many people who have influenced our lives. And the death of Michael Jackson was a big loss to everyone around the world. He was the one and only “King of Pop” who had conquered the world, but he died a lonely death amidst all the rumors. Now all we can do is show Michael Jackson’s performances to our children because we might never see such an entertainer ever again. The King may be dead but pop music lasts forever.
News 4. Jae-beom leaves idol group 2PM
One cannot say that Park Jae-beom was right in writing “I hate Korea” on his blog during his teen years. One may not approve of what he did and may even criticize him for it. But was it so wrong that he had to leave Korea amidst requests for suicide petitions? In just four days after the news of what he had written broke out, Jae-beom quit his group 2PM. Everything that had happened was a violent storm cooked up by a minimal number of extreme netizens and the media which was busy upping the number of visitors. There are people in this country who want to deport a boy over what he had written as a teenager. Really, how could they mess with someone’s life so carelessly?
News 5. Korean stars make Hollywood debut
A long time ago, Sonokong and his monks headed west in search of India for more advanced Buddhism. And in the age of globalization, Korean stars also headed west to Hollywood, which is the world capital of the entertainment business. 2009 was a year when the long journey to Hollywood produced some tangible achievements. Rain -- who was under pressure to become a global star after making TIME Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” list in 2006 -- proved himself by playing the title role in action movie “Ninja Assassin”. And Lee Byung-hun, who seemed somewhat stuck in the Hallyu star label, also made himself known around the world by playing Storm Shadow, the most impressive villain in “G. I. Joe”. People criticized the Wonder Girls’ of neglecting the Korean music market when they made their U.S. debut, but they made quite an achievement -- they entered the Billboard Hot100 chart within a year of their debut.
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