Korean actress Song Ji-hyo says she visits Malaysia often for work and pleasure
South Korean actress Song Ji-hyo (pic) says she loves coming to Malaysia, adding she often visits the country for both work and for holiday.
The 43-year-old is in Kuala Lumpur today (May 2) as part of the promo tour for her three-episode BBC documentary Deep Dive Korea: Song Ji-hyo's Haenyeo Adventure .
'I love Malaysia,' she tells StarLifestyle during our interview at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur earlier today.
She was previously in town for Running Man Run 2 U Live In Kuala Lumpur tour in February.
'I come here not only for work but also secretly for a holiday as well. Malaysia is one of my favourite countries to visit.'
According to her, she has the most female fans in Malaysia.
'There are a lot of faces that I recognise whenever I come here, and they welcome me so warmly.
'Thats why whenever I come here, I look forward to seeing them. And sometimes I see them in Korea too. Like they travel to Korea to see me as well. So I always look forward to coming to Malaysia, because I receive such a warm welcome.'
She fondly shares of a male fan in Malaysia who calls her eonni .
'Eonni is what a female calls another female. But this man calls me eonni,' she says with a smile.
The actress also shares that she never misses a chance to have satay when in Malaysia. She's also tried other food such as meatball soup, rose-flavoured drink and eating at local restaurants recommended by locals.
Besides interview with press, Song also made an appearance at the Aurum Theatre at TRX to showcase the first episode of the documentary.
In the series, Song tries her hand at free diving to retrieve shellfish from deep within the sea. Along the way, she learns just how tough and amazing the Jeju Island's legendary haenyeo truly are.
The documentary will premiere on May 11 at 9pm on BBC Earth (Unifi TV Ch 501/ Astro Ch 554).
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
35 minutes ago
- The Sun
TV graphics put fun into South Korean election count
SEOUL: Two candidates vying to be president vigorously plunge a toilet, kick a football, then pop open a soda -- it can only be South Korean election night, where whacky graphics strive to make vote-counting fun. 'Harry Potter', 'Squid Game', a rigorous spinning class... no reference is too small or too bizarre to be mined by broadcaster SBS for outlandish CGI-animated graphics to attract viewers -- and, the journalists behind it say, make politics more accessible and engaging. Thanks to a dozens-strong specialist team at SBS, the dry work of tallying millions of ballots on the evening of June 3, after South Koreans vote for their next leader, will be transformed into an Olympic-level spectacle. 'The pressure is on,' SBS broadcast journalist Son Hyoung-an, who has been working on the election graphics team since before the poll was announced, told AFP. 'Everyone is asking us what we will do next, and they are excited to see what we'll bring to the table,' said Son. The tradition began around a decade ago, when South Korean networks noticed they could get more eyeballs on election night by leaning into the country's strong K-pop and K-drama tradition, and by trying to make politics fun and entertaining. It started with simple 2D visuals -- the most striking of which showed candidates walking up a building horizontally -- but, with an enthusiastic response, it has grown in scale and scope. Now, most Korean networks run sophisticated animated sequences that show the candidates' faces and body movements -- with their permission -- using actors to create the movements, then splicing the real faces on top. - Snap election - This year's poll posed a particular challenge, as it is a snap election after ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached and stripped of office over his abortive martial law declaration, meaning that SBS's election team had hardly any time to prepare. 'We need to do five months worth of work in a matter of weeks,' Son told AFP, adding that convincing the super-busy candidates to spare them a few minutes to film their faces for the graphics was tough. The front-runner, liberal Lee Jae-myung, ran in 2022 and lost to Yoon by the narrowest margin in the country's history -- meaning SBS already had footage of him from their previous coverage. The challenge was with Kim Moon-soo, the conservative former labour minister and ruling People Power Party nominee -- but his team said he was too busy and kept rejecting the election graphics team requests. Eventually, they secured three minutes with him in front of a green screen. Then they just had to come up with the graphics. One of this year's themes is 'Squid Game', with the animations showing Lee and Kim competing in classic childhood games from the hit Netflix series, from 'red light, green light' to 'ddakji'. 'Even the smallest ideas are welcome,' SBS journalist Kim Deok-hyun, told AFP. 'We gather personal memories, joyful moments - anything the team finds entertaining -- without filtering or holding back.' One team member had a particularly good spinning class and suggested it could work for election night. In the graphic, both candidates' heads bob furiously as they ride indoor bicycles, their vote share rising with each pedal stroke. For voters frustrated by the country's political turmoil, another sequence features a sound effect known in Korean as 'bbeong' -- the noise a fizzy drink makes when opened, or the thwack of a football, or the gurgle when a toilet is unclogged. - Rap battle - SBS is particularly well-known for its election graphics, but all South Korean networks do it -- with one rival channel going viral last year for a rap battle between candidates. 'It does make you wonder, can we go this far with people who might become the president?' said Kim. But the journalists behind SBS's offerings say that the purpose of the graphics is to create a 'flow' to engage viewers and keep them hooked on the democratic process. Early in the day while voting is underway, coverage is more restrained, but once exit polls are out 'we'll roll out fast-paced, high-energy items, with rapid-fire summaries to help viewers follow the evolving picture', said Kim. 'We want people to look forward to our election night coverage, the way they anticipate a new film, thinking, 'I can't wait to see what they do this time'.' Experts agree that graphics can help keep viewers -- and voters -- engaged. 'Eye-catching graphics could be valuable, if they serve to draw attention not just to visuals but to substantive content that helps elevate the political discourse in our country,' Kim Seo-joong, a professor at Sungkonghoe University told AFP.
Hype Malaysia
4 hours ago
- Hype Malaysia
P Girls: What We Know So Far About P NATION's Upcoming Girl Group
2025 is about to see a bunch of highly anticipated K-pop debuts. One of the groups that fans have been waiting for is P NATION's girl group, nicknamed P Girls (피걸즈). As the first girl group under South Korean hitmaker PSY's (싸이) wing, it's no surprise the group is already making waves amongst K-pop fans. While there's no exact debut date yet, recent updates indicate that P Girls will be debuting very soon. While we wait for news on their long-awaited debut, here are some things to know about the group: I-dle Member Soyeon Is In Charge Of Creative Direction And Song Production If i-dle (아이들) leader Soyeon (소연) is taking part in the production, there's no doubt that P Girls' debut will be epic! In a recent 'Knowing Bros' episode, the songwriter confirmed she will be P Girls' main producer and has produced their debut song. As the group's producer, Soyeon is also in charge of their creative direction. PSY Has Already Hinted At The Debuting Members In April 2025, PSY had netizens excited when he dropped a video of P Girls on his Instagram. The video, titled 'The Future Of 'P Girls'', showed four female trainees dancing to a powerful choreography to Beyonce's 'PURE/HONEY'. In the comments, some said the group gave off similar vibes to BLACKPINK in their pre-debut days. One Of The Members Has Appeared In A Kids' Singing Competition Following the release of the pre-debut dance clip, netizens quickly recognised one of the trainees as former 'WE KID' contestant Jo Yi-Hyun (조이현). While in the children's singing competition, Jo Yi-Hyun became popular for her voice and visuals. Netizens who saw her as a child praised her growth, noting that she has gotten prettier since her time on the 2016 show. The Group's Name Is Rumoured To Be 'Baby DONT Cry' While the group is nicknamed P Girls, their official name might be unconventional. In April 2025, fans noticed that P Nation had submitted the trademark for the name 'Baby DONT Cry' and an image depicting two cherries on a stem. Many believed these two submissions were for the new girl group, particularly their name and logo. Sources: Allkpop, Instagram, Koreaboo, Twitter What's your Reaction? +1 0 +1 0 +1 0 +1 0 +1 0 +1 0
The Star
a day ago
- The Star
G-Dragon concert ticket bots and scalpers kept at bay
G Dragon also announced a world tour to go along with his new album. — Handout PETALING JAYA: As Malaysia's concerts and events continue to generate substantial profits, they are increasingly attracting the attention of unscrupulous parties seeking to exploit the booming industry. During South Korean singer G-Dragon (pic)'s three-day concert ticket sale, over 600 million attempts, suspected to be from ticket bots and scalpers, were thwarted by the event organiser. In response to the huge traffic and malicious attempts to breach its ticketing platforms, Star Planet managing director Datuk Alan Foo said they implemented advanced bot detection and verification measures, including Captcha, to safeguard the integrity of the sales process. 'Our ticketing platform's global security and traffic management system – including Cloudflare and Queue-it – successfully blocked over 600 million malicious or suspicious requests,' he said. Foo acknowledged that due to the overwhelming demand of over 4.5 million users entering the virtual waiting room, some scalpers managed to get through the security measures put in place. For this, he said Star Planet had identified transactions associated with unauthorised resale and invalidated those tickets. 'We strongly advise fans not to purchase tickets from unofficial sources to avoid the risk of cancellation and disappointment,' Foo added. He also confirmed that there may be another round of ticket sales once the unauthorised tickets were identified and cancelled by the organiser. G-Dragon, whose real name is Kwon Ji-yong and a member of South Korean idol group BigBang, is widely known as the King of K-Pop. The singer's entertainment agency Galaxy Corporation said in a statement that fraudulent tickets or tickets resold at a price exceeding the official sale price will be invalidated. Checks on social media found that scalpers were selling his concert tickets in Kuala Lumpur for more than RM20,000. For the record, the most expensive ticket for the artiste's tour in Malaysia, scheduled next month, is about RM1,300, which includes exclusive perks. This prompted backlash from fans, calling out the organiser for allegedly failing to curb the problem, and demanding accountability and transparency. One of them was Siti Aishah Hashim, 29, who was devastated after she could not buy pre-sale tickets despite joining his fan club. She found them resold at inflated prices online by scalpers. Another fan Shahril Nazdi, 30, urged the organiser to take action against those found securing the tickets through illegal channels. Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations chief executive officer Saravanan Thambirajah said a law to oversee the scalping issue should be expedited, referring to a proposal in 2023 when a similar problem occurred during British rock band Coldplay's concert ticket sales. 'Countries like the United Kingdom and Singapore have already enacted targeted legislation to deal with this issue effectively. Malaysia, too, must move in this direction,' he said. In 2023, the government, through the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry and the Communications Ministry, said it would study the legal provisions to prevent scalping. Pertubuhan Mesra Pengguna vice-president Azlin Othman advised consumers to always go for recognised channels when buying concert tickets. She also urged the government to expedite the enactment of a law to curb scalping and further protect consumers. Meanwhile, the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry said it is actively looking into specific legislation to curb the issue and is committed to taking into account the interests of stakeholders. 'This is to ensure that enforcement could be done effectively and this approach is important before a legal framework is finalised,' it said in a statement to The Star. The ministry advised consumers to lodge complaints against scalpers through its official channels.
