A few fun pictures from the week. Enjoy the Hot Clicks of Hyori’s new Soju ad campaign, John Cho’s son and ice fishing in Korea.

So who do the Korean boys want to date?  Netizens were asked which “Female celebrity you would most want to have a date with on Korea’s first snowfall of the year.“  Well, according to an Internet poll that was conducted last week, Jessica of the very large girl band SNSD was the winner with 30% of the 792 votes.

John Cho is a MAN!
John Cho sure had a man week. He was selected as one of People Magazine’s Sexiest Men (for the second time) and he showed up at GQ’s Men of the Year ceremony at the Chateau Marmont. And he’s having a good career year with a big part in Star Trek and on ABC’s FlashForward. Not bad for a guy who smoked pot in Harold and Kumar and coined the acronym “MILF.”

What are the hottest flats in South Korea?
According to an article in the Korean Economic Daily, the hottest flats worn by Korean women are from Tory Burch. Maybe that’s why the Wonder Girls showed up at her shop during Fashion Week.

There Was a Korean that Walked the Victoria’s Secret Show
Chanel Iman is partially Korean and she strutted her stuff down the Victoria’s Secret lingerie show in New York last week. It’s referred to as the Super Bowl for supermodels.  How many Korean girls have that kind of bootie?!

You Know You’re Famous When TMZ Decides To Film You
Ken Jeong who broke out this year with his full frontal nudity in The Hangover was spotted by TMZ because they like hanging out at LAX and in front of LA nightclubs.

What’s wrong with Lindsay Price?  She’s had some bad luck because Eastwick is the 4th show that featured Lindsay Price and was canceled.  Ouch!  We want Lindsay to succeed because she’s Korean of course, but man she’s had some tough luck.  She was previously on the supposed can’t miss “Lipstick Jungle,” but the writer’s strike ended up undermining its potential.  Now that’s bad luck.  To make things worse, her boyfriend from “How I Met Your Mother” just dumped her.  Don’t worry Lindsay – your luck will turn around.  For more on Lindsay’s bad luck, go to NY Magazine.

What’s wrong with Oldboy?
Korean movie “Oldboy” is a cult classic and a former winner of the Grand Prix prize at the Cannes Film Festival, so it should be an easy success story when Hollywood gets its chance to remake it. Right?! Apparently not. Stephen Spielberg was trying to make and direct this film with Will Smith in the lead role. It doesn’t get heavier than those two Hollywood heavyweights, but negotiations have broken down with the current rights holder (Mandate) and it’s back to a holding pattern. For the full story, go to the LA Times.

So where’s the best resort in South Korea?

The Hilton Namhae Golf and Spa Resort was named Korea’s leading golf resort and Korea’s leading resort in the 2009 World Travel Awards. The winners are chosen based on votes by travel agencies and tourism experts from around the world.  This is the third year running that the Hilton Namhae Golf and Spa Resort has won the awards in both categories.

What’s wrong with the next generation? According to the Korea Times, a recent poll conducted in South Korea reveals that 65% of Korean housewives don’t know how to make kimchi.  I wonder what that would be among Korean-Americans? Apparently there’s an uptick lately on making home grown kimchi, and the leading reason is the Swine Flu.

The Gmarket poll shows that the widespread swine flu epidemic is the biggest reason behind people’s newfound interest in the fermented vegetable dish.

“Fermented food is believed to help strengthen the human immune system, so kimchi is emerging as a good solution among health-conscious individuals,” says Baek.

Moon Bloodgood Goes Topless
Moon Bloodgood became the most popular gal this past weekend with the Internet abuzz with her deleted topless scene from this past summer’s “Terminator: Salvation.” You may need your nighttime goggles.

It’s Not Korean but it’s Ewoks!
This isn’t related to Korean things but this video was hilarious with Al Roker and the Today Show getting upstaged by costumed Ewoks. These guys are drunk and they have fun with themselves. Check out the second half of the video and watch it till the end where Roker gets humped by the Michael Jackson dancing Ewok.

David Chang was making kimchi on national television this week on the Today Show, and we all know that Korea is trying to evangelize the wonders of Korean food.  So there’s a lot of news bits about Korean food overall, but are we taking it a little too far with kimchi donuts?  Really?  I know you all have kimchi on the side next to the turkey at Thanksgiving, but imagine eating kimchi with custard.  Well Dunkin Donuts just launched the kimchi donut in South Korea or kimchi croquette.

The Wonder Girls are Trending Up
The Wonder Girls were in the top ten trending topics on Twitter. Say that 5 times real fast. That’s right, the lovable teen Kpop group from South Korea not only made it to the top 100 on the Billboard charts in the U.S., they became a top tenner on Twitter this weekend. We’re going to guess Rain as the next Korean entity to become a Top Ten Trending Twitter Topic (TTTTT).


There are Three Ways to Say “Thank You” in Korean
According to the Korea Times, there are three ways to say “thank you” informally in Korean, depending on where you live. This is a result of the Korean language evolving as Koreans have spread out across the world.

For North Koreans it is “고마와,” for the Koryo-saram in Central Asia it might be “아슴챠이타” and in standard Korean, based on the dialect of Seoul, it is “고마워.” On top of this, the occasional English “thank you,” can be heard.

I wonder if there are three different ways to say “Can I have your number?”

Korean Wave of Plastic Surgery
Do you want to look like Lee Byung Hun or Hyori? Koreans are famous like Brazilians for plastic surgery. Well, Kpop and Korean dramas seem to be the rage lately and all of Asia is enamored with the singers and actors.  It also helps that we’ve got some good looking Koreans. Anyway, looks like Asians (that are not Korean) are opting for surgery to look more Korean, this according to the Plastic Surgery Channel.

People from China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore and Hong Kong are flocking to Korea these days for facial bone contouring and cosmetic surgery on their eyes and noses.

The trend was reportedly spawned by what many are calling the “Korean Wave” – the rising popularity of Korean celebrities.

Asians from other territories want to look more like popular Korean actors and musicians. And they’re willing to travel and pay up to three times more for plastic surgery than they would in China.

Currently, the number of foreign patients in Korea is 33 percent higher than it was in 2008, and they reportedly spend twice as much money as regular Japanese tourists.

What are you going to watch when you go home for Thanksgiving?  It better be Ninja Assassin and it’s heavy Korean cast with Rain in the lead role.  Someone at the studio must think it’s going to be a big hit because they spent a pretty penny on commercials during the baseball playoffs and now a big billboard went up in Times Square.

Naked Play in Korea is all the buzz
It’s gotten pretty progressive in South Korea. The buzz across the Pacific is a play that bares it all during the bedroom scenes.  Is it pornography – a naked Korean Woman in a play?  It’s called 교수와 여제자 and it looks like a lot of middle-aged men are the ones buzzing.  For the rest of the pics, go to Chosun.com.

Obama, Harold & Kumar
We all know that President Obama is the first real U.S. President that represents diversity. Here’s a picture with Obama and some Asians, including one of his trusted aids – Eugene Kang in the far back. You may also recognize Kal Penn of Harold & Kumar fame on the right.

Video of the Day: Weird Wildlife at the DMZ
A South Korean MBC TV crew recently returned from an 18-month shoot that took them beyond the barbed wire and gun-turrets to record a documentary on the rare species that have made it an oasis from human interference.

“One of the things that makes it so special is that it has nearly all the eco-systems you’ll find in Korea,” Mark Strickson, a zoologist and producer of the documentary for NHNZ told CNN.

The fall air is crisp and it’s going to get dark quicker real soon because it’s daylight savings this Sunday (Nov 1).  At least we gain an hour of shuteye because we “fall back.”  As temperatures cool down, we have some “Hot Clicks” for you.

What do all female Kpop stars have in common?
According to Ningin, you need half-moon eyes to become a “kasoo” (singer) in Korea.  Apparently such eyes correlate to looking pretty and being able to sing to become a Kpop star.  Ningin picks their top ten most beautiful, multi-talented female singers.

Would you wear this hanbok?
No bra required.  It’s the latest concept that came out of Seoul’s Fashion Week.  You’ll definitely get the attention of everyone in the room when you show up at the next party.

Would you get plastic surgery?
According to a survey of 232 women by the Chosun Ilbo, nearly 90 percent of Korean women would have plastic surgery to feel better about themselves. Nearly 60% of the respondents had plastic surgery already, with eyelid surgery leading the way.

Do you think the Koreans were scared when they saw Bob Sapp walking the streets of Seoul?
South Korea got a nice visit from mixed martial artist, hulkin’ Bob Sapp. Not often do Koreans see a 341 lb 6’4″ man walking the streets of Seoul. He made an appearance this past weekend on the Star King show. It was quite comical with him dancing around to Kpop. He was a good sport for showing his gentler side.