December Wrap Up
Wow. It has been a whole twelve months since we have started this blog and now we are on the final, official post of the year! A mega-post compiling the top songs of the past year, as well as official departures and disbandments of groups from 2019, will be up on our main blog @kpopsunbae (make sure to go and follow us there for more content, although it will be quite a bit different than what we put on this blog).
As some of you may know, this blog (as well as the previous one, @kpopotd) are project blogs that end once the year is done. This means that while we will no longer post on this blog it will remain as an archive. We will however be back with a third blog in the future as a continuation of this blog (it will cover 2016 and onwards!). This does not mean that we will go completely off grid once 2019 is done though!
This coming year of 2020 has a lot in store for us, your K-Pop Sunbaes! We currently have a website to overhaul, an Instagram to properly launch, and of course we will continue releasing podcast episodes! Remember to follow us on Twitter too, our handle there is @kpopsunbaes (updates will be on there and you can interact with us too!).
On a final note, we are so appreciative for the love that you all have given this blog over the past year. It has been such a fun experience and the three of us have had a blast working together on the blog, having meetings, and eventually completing just under 900 posts. We hope you will continue to support and follow us in our upcoming endeavors. We wish you all a very Happy New Year!
새해 복 많이 받으세요!
❤ JR, Min, and Onyx
NEWS:
December 5, 2010: Lee Young-hee, a well-known social activist, dies of cirrhosis at 81. December 20, 2010: The Republic of Korea Marine Corps stars to hold live-fire drill exercises on Yeonpyeong Island. North Korea responds by saying they will not retaliate.
December 12, 2011: An incident occurs where a Chinese fisherman, who was illegally fishing, is confronted by two SK coast guards. He stabbed them and one died from the injuries. The fisherman was sentenced to thirty years in jail and a fine in April of 2012. December 19, 2012: The 2012 presidential elections were held in which Park Geun Hye is elected as the first female president of South Korea. She would eventually be impeached and removed from office due to corruption in 2017.
Album of the Month 2009 - 2015:
2010 - GD & TOP by GD & TOP
2011 - The Boys by Girls’ Generation
2012 - Winter Poetry by Shin Hyun Seung
2013 - Miracles in December by EXO
2014 - Exology Chapter 1: The Lost Planet by EXO
2015 - SING FOR YOU by EXO
DRAMAS:
December 2009: Father’s House (This show was a year end special that brought in over 15% viewership ratings and garnered generally good reviews. It stars Choi Min Soo, Moon Jung Hee, and Kim Soo Hyun.) December 2009: Will it Snow for Christmas (This melodrama brought in around 10% viewership ratings. It stars Go Soo and Han Ye Seul.)
December 2010: Athena: Goddess of War (This action/spy drama is a spin off of the hit show IRIS. It’s in the same universe as IRIS, but stars Joo Woo Sung, Cha Seung Won, Soo Ae, Lee Ji Ah, and Super Junior’s Choi Siwon. IRIS’s cast also made cameos throughout. It averaged around 15% viewership ratings.) December 2011: What’s Up? (This musical drama stars Lim Joo Hwan, BIGBANG’s Daesung, Lim Joo Eun, Kim Ji Won, and Jo Jung Suk.) December 2011: Vampire Idol (This sitcom style drama stars Lee Jung, Davichi’s Kang Min Kyung, Lee Soo Hyuk, Kim Woo Bin, and Hong Jung Hyun. There are also a couple idols as supporting characters including ZE:A’s Kwanghee and Girl’s Day Bang Minah.)
December 2012: School 2013 (This is the fifth installment of the popular “School” drama series. This iteration stars Jang Nara, Choi Daniel, Lee Jong Suk, Park Se Young, and Kim Woo Bin. It did pretty well, bringing in over 10% viewership ratings.) December 2013: Prime Minister and I (This 17 episode drama stars Lee Beom Soo and Girls’ Generation’s YoonA. The main OST is a song called “Footsteps” sung by SHINee’s Taemin. The show brought in over 5% viewership ratings and won two awards: the Best Couple Award for the main characters and an Excellence in Acting Award for YoonA.) December 2013: You Who Came From the Stars/My Love from the Star (This hit romance/fantasy drama stars megastars Kim Soo Hyun and Jun Ji Hyun. The duo had previously acted together in the movie The Thieves. Dal Shabet’s Serri and Subin, former miss A member Suzy, and former 2NE1 member Dara make cameos throughout. Lyn, K. Will, Younha, Hyorin, Huh Gak, Sung Si Kyung, and Kim Soo Hyun all participated in the OSTs. The show did incredibly well and ended up selling out products that the characters wore, being the highest rated drama of it’s time (not only in South Korea but throughout Asia), and bringing in over 20% viewership ratings.)
December 2014: Healer (This action drama stars Ji Chang Wook and Park Min Young. The show averaged around 7% viewership ratings, but while it only did moderately well in South Korea it boosted Ji’s international fandom immensely.) December 2015: Remember- War of the Son (This thriller stars Yoo Seung Ho, Park Woo Sung, Park Min Young, Min Namkoong, and Jung Hye Sung. K. Will, Jooyoung, Jang Jane, Jang Han Byul, and Bobby Kim participated in the OSTs. It averaged around 15% viewership ratings, and won a few awards at multiple award shows.
FILMS:
December 23, 2009: Jeon Woo Chi: The Taoist Wizard (This fantasy/action film stars Gang Dong Won, Im Soo Jung, and Kim Yoo Seok. A 2012 K-drama spin-off was made with the same main character played by Cha Tae Hyun, although the rest of the show’s plot was different. It was the third best selling movie of the year.) December 9, 2010: Finding Mr. Destiny (This movie adaption of the musical of the same name, stars Gong Yoo and Im Soo Jung. It did well at the box office, bringing over a million admissions.) December 1, 2011: Spellbound/Chilling Romance/My Girlfriend Can See Ghosts (This rom-com stars Son Ye Jin and Lee Min Ki. It was the 7th biggest movie of the year.) December 25, 2012: The Tower (This disaster movie stars Sol Kyung-gu, Ki Sang-gyung, and Son Ye-jin. The movie did very well at the box office and become the first movie of 2013 to hit five million theater admissions. It was sold to multiple countries and eventually got an English dub with voice actors such as Buba Kachow, Erin Fitzgerald, and Todd Haberkorn.)
December 11, 2013: Way Back Home (This movie, which is based on the true story of Jang Mi Jeong, stars Jeon Do Yeon and Go Soo. It follows the story of a woman who unknowingly attempted to smuggle drugs out of Paris and is caught, and how she eventually got back to Korea. It did fairly well, bringing in just under two million theater admissions.) December 18, 2013: The Attorney (This law drama, which was inspired by a true story, stars Song Kang Ho, Kim Young Ae, Oh Dal Soo, ZE:A’s Im Si Wan, and Kwak Do Won. It became the 8th best-selling movie in Korea of all time with over 11 million admissions. It won many awards at various award shows.) December 24, 2013: The Suspect (This action/thriller starring Gong Yoo was a box office hit, bringing in over 4 million admissions. It received praise from various western newspapers and reviewers.) December 31, 2014: The Tenor - Lirico Sprinto (This movie, which is based on the true story of Bae Jae Chul, stars Yoo Ji Tae, Yusuke Iseya, and Cha Ye Ryun. The movie took eighteen months to film and six years to fully complete.)
HAPPY STUFF:
December 12, 2012: Sungah was added to the line-up of Nine Muses. Her first comeback with them would be with “Dolls”.
SAD STUFF:
December 21, 2009: Hangeng leaves Super Junior and files a lawsuit against SM Entertainment. December 11, 2009: Inyoung and Jungah leave Jewelry to pursue solo careers.
December 24, 2012: Trinity leaves GLAM. December 21, 2013: Sohee leaves Wonder Girls to focus on her acting career.
December 2014: Sunye leaves Wonder Girls and says she will retire from the industry. December 31, 2014: Jooyeon contract with Pledis Entertainment ends and she graduates from After School the following year.
December 12, 2013: Singer Kim Ji Hoon, half of the duo Duke, passes away due to suicide at age 40.
POST OF THE MONTH:
iKON - Dumb & Dumber