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History

Pre-debut

The members were professionally trained primarily in singing and dancing, but some members were also selected to be trained in acting and modeling. Many of the members already had made names for themselves in the Korean entertainment industry through their participation in magazine ads, television commercials, and small television appearances. For nearly two years, Korean websites speculated about which of the female SM Entertainment trainees would be placed into the group^{[citation needed]}. Before the official release of the group name, Girls’ Generation, it was rumored that the group would be named “Super Girls”

Debut and first album

On July 19, 2007, Girls’ Generation had their first performance on M.NET’S M!Countdown. Although this performance was never broadcast on television, many videos were shot by fans and uploaded onto the internet. The song the girls performed was called “다시 만난 세계 (Into the New World)”, which ended up being their first single.

On August 2, 2007, the single “다시 만난 세계 (Into the New World)” was released. This single included two other songs, “Beginning” and “Perfect For You (소원)”, later renamed as Honey for their self-titled debut album “Girls’ Generation”. An instrumental of “Into the New World” is also included.

The group began promoting the single soon after its release. On August 5, 2007, Girls’ Generation made their debut performance on SBS’s Popular Songs, performing their first single. Although it was their first televised performance, it was lip-synched, making netizens doubt their live performance capabilities A few days later, on August 11, Girls’ Generation did their first live performance on MBC’s Show! Music Core, which was met with mixed reviews. The day after, the group performed live for the second time on KBS’s Music Bank. This performance also had mixed reviews by netizens.^[ Despite this, on October 11, 2007, Girls' Generation won first place with their popular song, "Into the New World" in M!Countdown, beating Lee Seung Gi by a couple of votes.

During their debut, there were various behind-the-scenes documentaries showcasing the girls. Girls' Generation Goes to School (소녀...학교에 가다) began airing on July 27, 2007 on MNET. There were a total of nine episodes, with seven focused on their performances, one "behind-the-scenes" look at the girls' world, and the last being a bonus episode of the girls performing at Sunny's high-school. Another show, broadcast on MTV Korea, shows each of the girls at home.

After a short break, their first full album was released on November 1, with the lead single "소녀시대 (Girls' Generation)", a cover of Lee Seung Chul's hit. Promotion for the single started in early November. Marked by cutesy dance routines and vocals, "Girls' Generation" was a hit for the group, and the album has sold 121,143 copies to date, placing 12th in the year-end charts.^[1] In January 2008, Girls’ Generation began promoting their second single, “Kissing You”. The music video featured Donghae from Super Junior. This song achieved the #1 spot in the three main TV music rankings—SBS Inkigayo, M.Countdown! and KBS Music Bank^{[citation needed]}.

On March 13, 2008, the album was re-released, now titled Baby Baby. A third single, “Baby Baby”, was used to promote the album throughout March. As of April 2008, the girls have ceased promotion of their album; however, a digital EP featuring Jessica, Tiffany, and Seohyun was released on April 7, 2008, titled Roommate. The single from the mini-album is “오빠나빠” (literally “Bad Brother”, although contextually it refers to an older male (boy)friend).

The group marked their first North American appearance by performing at the annual Korean Festival Dream Concert held at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California. The concert featured a slew of other Korean pop and folk singers, including management mates TVXQ and Super Junior-T. The concert took place on May 17, 2008.

Girls’ Generation, along with fellow SM artists such as TVXQ, BoA, Super Junior, SHINee, CSJH the Grace and other SM artists participated in SMTown Live ’08. The concert took place on August 15, 2008. The tour will expand its route to South Korea, Thailand, and China.

2008: Fashion design and comeback

It was announced in September 2008 that Girls’ Generation would be starring in a reality show on M.Net. Titled Factory Girl, the show chronicles the girls working as interns at Elle Korea. The program began airing on October 8, 2008

So Nyeo Shi Dae announced at the Asia Song Festival conference that their second album was to be released in late November 2008 (instead of October). However, it was revealed that their second album is scheduled for a 2009 release.

History

Korean debut

Wonder Girls performing “Irony” at Hanyang University in May 2007. From left to right: Sohee, Hyuna, Ye-eun, Sunye and Sunmi.

The Wonder Girls debuted on February 10, 2007 on Show! Music Core, singing “Irony”, the hip-hop single from their debut mini-album, The Wonder Begins. The mini-album went on to become a minor hit, selling 11,454 copies in 2007.^[3]

Throughout the rest of 2007, however, the Wonder Girls were beset by various injuries and health problems. On June 25, Sohee was sidelined for a month after tearing a knee ligament falling off a motorcycle during the filming of 뜨거운 것이 좋아 (I Like It Hot).The remaining four members continued performing until late July, when Hyuna was removed from the group due to their concern over her health—in particular, chronic gastroenteritis which had her hospitalized briefly in March and April.

Rise to popularity

Wonder Girls performing “Tell Me” at Halla University

On September 5, 2007, Good Entertainment, the talent agency for the popular boy band Shinhwa, sent their trainee Yubin to JYP Entertainment as a replacement for Hyuna. She made her debut three days later in the group’s live performance of “Tell Me” on Music Bank .

Their first full-length album, The Wonder Years, was released the following week, on September 13, 2007, with “Tell Me.” Due to the last-minute addition of Yubin, the album version does not contain her part. However, the performance version of the song was reworked to include a bridge with Yubin’s rap. The single was a hit and reached number one on various Korean television and internet music charts, including KBS’s Music Bank.

The choreography for the song was simple and widely imitated: by October, many fan performances of the dance circulated on video sharing sites such as YouTube and Daum, including one by a group of policemen who were eventually profiled on SBS’s Star King. The dance became so popular it was known as the ‘Tell Me Virus’ and earned them the title of ‘Korea’s Little Sisters’.

Wonder Girls had an extensive promotional schedule for their album and in December 2007 they began performing the second single from the album, “이 바보” (“This Fool”). They made numerous appearances on variety and game shows, sang live on radio, at music festivals, on music shows, and in special joint performances with other groups such as Big Bang. MTV has also aired three seasons of The Wonder Life, a reality TV series starring the girls. In January 2008, however, they ceased promotion of their album to prepare for their concert in United States that was scheduled for March 2008. ^[7]

Overseas expansion

Wonder Girls at a May 2008 fan meeting in Bangkok.

The Wonder Girls have had several showcases in China shortly after their debut in 2007 and have been receiving Chinese language lessons.

In February 2008, the Wonder Girls joined their producer Park Jin-young for his month-long concert tour through Korea and the United States (including New York City and Los Angeles) as special guests, and took the opportunity to film the music video for “Wishing on a Star” while in New York City. Park had stated that the concerts were also meant to be a showcase for his other protégés, such as Min, G-Soul, and Lim Jeong Hee^.

The Wonder Girls held a fan meeting in Bangkok, Thailand in May 2008, attracting over 10,000 fans. Organizers stated that it was one of the most successful events for a Korean artist in Thailand.^{[citation needed]} The group also performed at the 26th annual Chuseok festival in Flushing, Queens, New York on September 21, 2008, joining other artists in the JYP family.

Also, the Wonder Girls performed “Nobody” and “Tell Me” in Singapore on November 4, 2008, attracting over 6,000 fans.^{[citation needed]}

Return to Korea

Wonder Girls performing “So Hot” at the M Super Concert in June 2008.

In May 2008, over the course of 5 days, a picture of each member, sporting their new “sexy” image, was released starting with Ye-eun and ending with Sohee. Following this a preview track from the upcoming single was released. There were rumours that past member Hyuna would be returning to the group; JYP Entertainment confirmed that this was not the case.

Their new single, “So Hot”, was released on May 22, 2008; the song topped online charts in the next few days.^[12][13] They began their comeback performances on May 31, 2008 on MBC’s Music Core, performing “So Hot” and “This Time”. The full single was released on June 3, 2008, containing the title track, the rap version of “Tell Me”, “This Time”, and “You’re Out”. Due to vocal cord problems, Yubin lip-synched her parts under doctor’s orders until late July. She has since then made a full recovery and continues to perform live. ‘So Hot’ received #1 on the first comeback performance.

It was announced that promotional activities for “So Hot” would end at the end of July 2008, and that the group would instead prepare for their third mini-album, to be released the end of September. Recently, they were featured on Virgin Media’s website and one of the top 10 ‘Girl-bands to watch’ as well as having a stunt of publicity from Perez Hilton who blogged about ‘Nobody’ and ‘So Hot’ on his blog.

Wonder Girls performing “Nobody” at the 2008 BICHE opening ceremony in October.

In September 2008, various hints and teasers were put up on their official website, including a teaser trailer that was also put up on JYP Entertainment’s Official YouTube account. The full music video was then released on September 22, 2008, with the single, “Nobody”, being digitally released on the same day. They made their comeback the following weekend on Music Core, Music Bank, and Inkigayo. The song went to #1 on KBS’ Music Bank, staying there for four consecutive weeks,and also won Cyworld’s “Song of the Month” award in September and October 2008.^[15]

It was announced in early November 2008 that the Wonder Girls would have their own makeup line, consisting of 6 different “Wonder” products,^[16] and a reality show airing on M.Net, titled Wonder Bakery, in which the girls would pair up with aspiring chefs competing to win a cash prize.^[17] It was also revealed that the Wonder Girls have made ₩12 billion (equivalent to $9 million) as a group.

At the 2008 M.Net MKMF Awards, the Wonder Girls won three awards, including “Song of the Year” and “Best Music Video” for “Nobody”, and “Best Female Group”.

BoA’s multilingual skills (she speaks Japanese and conversational English along with her native Korean and has recorded songs in Mandarin Chinese) have contributed to her commercial success in South Korea and Japan and her popularity throughout Asia. She is one of only two non-Japanese Asians who have had million-selling albums in Japan and is one of only two artists to have six consecutive number-one albums on the Oricon charts.

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Career

2000–2002: Debut

At the age of thirteen, after two years of training, BoA released her debut album ID; Peace B in South Korea on August 25, 2000. The album was successful, entering the Top 10 of the South Korean charts. Meanwhile, her Korean record label, SM Entertainment, made arrangements with Japanese label Avex Trax to launch her music career in Japan.

In early 2001, BoA released her first mini-album Jumping into the World. After its release, she took a hiatus from the Korean music industry to focus on the Japanese market. During this time she struggled to solidify her skills in Japanese.

BoA began her Japanese music career singing at the Avex-owned club Velfarre^. In 2001, she released her debut Japanese single, a Japanese version of the song, “ID; Peace B” (originally from the eponymous album). The single reached the number-twenty position on the Oricon chart and was followed by “Amazing Kiss”, “Kimochi wa Tsutawaru”, and “Listen to My Heart”; the last became the singer’s first single to enter the Oricon chart’s Top Five. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, BoA recorded the charity single “The Meaning of Peace” with Kumi Koda as part of Avex‘s Song+Nation project to raise funds for the families of the attack victims.^[7] Her Japanese debut album, Listen To My Heart, was released on March 13, 2002. The album was a breakthrough in BoA’s career: it debuted at the top spot on the Oricon and became an RIAJ-certified million-seller as well as the first album by a Korean artist to top the charts. A single, “Every Heart -Minna no Kimochi-”, was released on the same day as the album. After the release of Listen to My Heart, BoA released her second Korean studio album, No.1, a month later. To further her name in Japan she released her Korean mini-album Jumping in the World and her sixth single “Don’t Start Now” on the same day.

After the release of Don’t Start Now and Jumping into the World. BoA released her seventh single “Valenti”. Valenti became a Top Five single for the artist, peaking at the number-two position on the Oricon. BoA released two more singles “Kiseki / No.1″ and “Jewel Song / Beside You -Boku wo Yobu Koe-”, both which also peaked at the number-three position. At the end of the year, BoA released her second Korean mini-album Miracle.

2003–2005: Commercial success and image change

BoA’s second Japanese studio album, Valenti (2003), became her best-selling album, with over 1,249,000 copies sold.^[10] In support of the album, BoA launched BoA 1st Live Tour Valenti, her first Japanese concert tour.^[11] Later on that year, she released two Korean albums, Atlantis Princess and the mini-album Shine We Are!. Her third Japanese studio album, Love and Honesty (2004) was a musical “change in direction” for the singer, as it contained a rock single (“Rock With You”) and contained “harder” R&B. Though the album failed to match Valenti in sales, it topped the Oricon chart for two weeks and became RIAJ-certified triple-platinum. Her first compilation album, Best of Soul (2005), however, sold over a million copies, making BoA the first non-Japanese Asian singer to have two million-selling albums in Japan. In support of the album, BoA held a tour, Live Concert Tour 2004: Love & Honesty The tour, which started in Saitama and ended in Yokohama, spanned nine performances and attracted approximately 105,000 attendants.

BoA reinvented her image on her fourth Korean album, My Name (2004); she left the “cute” and “youthful” style that had characterized previous years and presented herself as “sexy” and “sultry”.^[6] Her fifth Korean album, Girls on Top, continued her image change. The album portrayed the singer as more “mature and self-confident”; the “bohemian” look of the cover photograph represented “freedom and depth”, while music videos and album photographs that portrayed BoA in traditional Korean dress brought the “idea of Korean womanhood” into her music.

2006–2008: Decline in sales and continued image change

In 2006, BoA was mostly inactive in South Korea as she focused her attention on Japan; however, on September 21, 2006, she released her first digital single in Korea, a Korean version of “Key of Heart”. Her fourth Japanese studio album Outgrow was released on February 15, 2006. The limited CD+DVD edition of the album contained music videos of the album’s singles and a secret password to unlock a special version of the official website. The album reached the number-one spot on the Oricon chart for its first week of release, making it her fourth consecutive Japanese album to do so. It had low debut sales, however; with 220,000 copies sold, it became her lowest-selling first-week debut for a studio album at that point. “Do the Motion,” the first single from the album, reached the top spot on the Oricon, making her the fifth non-Japanese singer to have #1 single, the first in over twenty-one years. “Merry Christmas from BoA”, the last single from the album, was the singer’s first digital single. In support of Outgrow, BoA launched a special Zepp tour, B0A The Live, on September 29, 2006. The tour, which lasted until October 29, started from Nagoya and contained twelve shows, two in each of the following cities: Nagoya, Fukuoka, Osaka, Tokyo, Sendai, and Sapporo. She staged her first Christmas concert on December 7, 2006.

BoA’s fifth Japanese studio album, Made in Twenty (20) (2007), continued her transition from a “teenage girl” image to a more mature image. The album, which contained R&B and dance songs as well as ballads, debuted at the top of the weekly Oricon charts, making the album her sixth in a row to do so.^[19] On March 31, 2007, she launched a nationwide tour of Japan in support of the album. The tour, which sold about 70,000 tickets, was, according to BoA, “the biggest concert” she had ever given.^[20] Two tracks from the singles of Made in Twenty (20) were used as theme songs; “Your Color”, from the single “Nanairo no Ashita~brand new beat~/Your Color” (2006), was used as the ending theme song for the Japanese release of the Xbox 360 game Ninety-Nine Nights. “Key of Heart”, from the single “Key of Heart / Dotch”, was the ending theme of Over the Hedge in Japan. She also released an English version of “Key of Heart,” which was only available on the first press edition of the single. The album’s last single, “Winter Love” (2006) became another number-one single for the artist on the daily charts, but only peaked at number-two on the weekly charts.

Later in 2007, Anycall (a Samsung brand) signed BoA, Xiah Junsu (of DBSK), Tablo (of Epik High), and jazz pianist Jin Bora onto “AnyBand”, a band created specifically to promote Anycall. The band released only one single, “AnyBand“.

With her sixth Japanese album, The Face (2008), BoA took more creative control over her music. She began writing her own lyrics and co-composed one of the songs (“Girl in the Mirror”). Influenced by a The Jackson 5 album, BoA used mostly electro-pop in the album. Additionally, BoA included “happy spring” songs (“Sweet Impact” and its B-side, “Bad Drive” (2007), the album’s first single), a guitar-driven “groovy dance” song (“Lose Your Mind” (2007)), and ballads. Lyrically, BoA focused mainly on love, though “be with you.” (2008) was about a person’s relationship with his dog. The album debuted at the top of the weekly Oricon charts, making BoA one of only two artists in Japan to top the Oricon weekly charts six consecutive times (the other being Ayumi Hamasaki, who has eight consecutive number-one albums). Following The Face, BoA released her twenty-sixth single, “Vivid”, on June 4, 2008.

2008: U.S. debut

On September 2, 2008, BoA’s Korean record label, SM Entertainment announced that she will make her American debut under SM’s new subsidiary label SM Entertainment USA. A press conference was held on September 10, 2008 at the Seoul Imperial Palace Hotel, to clarify the details of her American debut, with the slogan “Best of Asia, Bring on America”. BoA’s English debut single “Eat You Up”, was released online on October 21, 2008. “Eat You Up” reached the top positions on the online music charts in America. The single was slated to be released in stores on November 11, 2008, which would feature a remix with rapper Flo Rida. Instead BoA’s label released a promo CD, which consists of dance remixes of “Eat You Up”. The dance remix of “Eat You Up” has ranked number-one on Breakouts for Hot Dance Club Play.^[29] The remix of “Eat You Up” featuring Flo Rida is slated for release later in November.

Image and artistry

BoA lists hip-hop as her main musical influence, though she also enjoys R&B. Her favorite musicians are Nelly, Britney Spears, Brian McKnight, Janet Jackson, P!nk, and Jay-Z;^[31] as a result, much of BoA’s music is either dance pop or R&B. As she also sings ballads, she is often compared to Ayumi Hamasaki and Hikaru Utada. Her debut album, ID; Peace B, contained urban pop, “slickly produced” ballads, and “upbeat dance tunes”. As her career went on, she began experimenting with different styles: Valenti contained mostly ballads; Love and Honesty was an experiment with “harder” R&B and rock music.^[12]

BoA has collaborated with “high-profile” artists. Among the Japanese artists she has performed with are the hip-hop group m-flo (for the single “The Love Bug”), Kumi Koda, and house DJ Mondo Grosso. She has performed with Western artists: the song “Flying Without Wings” from her album Next World was a collaboration with Irish band Westlife covering the original song; the Bratz single “Show Me What You Got” was performed with Howie D of the American band Backstreet Boys. Other artists she has collaborated with are the Soul’d Out, Dabo, Verbal (of m-flo), RAH-D, and Yutaka Furakawa (of the band Doping Panda). American rock band Weezer covered “Meri Kuri” on the album Weezer (The Red Album).

BoA is a “top artist” in South Korea and Japan; her popularity in the latter is attributed to her linguistic skills (she speaks and records in Japanese, Korean, and English) and a Japanese interest in Korean pop culture started in the early 2000s when the two countries began promoting cultural exchanges.^[33][34][35] BoA’s popularity extends throughout Asia; she has fans in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. She has expressed plans to enter a global market; she stated in an interview, “I will [...] get recognition in the U.S. and Europe to become a world-renowned Diva.”^[36][5] In June 2006, the music video of her Korean song “My Name” became the first music video ever shown on MTV K, an MTV music channel directed at Korean Americans.^[6]

Because of her wide appeal, BoA has appeared in advertisements for many brands. Among the brands she has promoted are Olympus, Nike, L’Orea Japanese cosmetic company Kosé, Sketchers, and GM Daewoo. Three of her songs have been used as themes. “Every Heart” was used as the theme for the anime InuYasha;”Key of Heart” was the theme song for the Japanese release of Over the Hedge; and “Your Color” was the theme song of the video game Ninety-Nine Nights.^[45][46] Her widespread popularity has also made her a “cultural ambassador”; she has represented South Korea in inter-Asian musical events and has appeared in an Oxford University Press published English-language textbook.

Other activities

From 2001 to 2007, BoA hosted Beat it BoA’s World, a radio program on the Japan FM Network.^[50] In September 2004, BoA instigated controversy in Japan when she donated ₩KRW50 million to a memorial project for Korean independence activist and nationalist An Jung-geun. BoA voiced Heather the opossum in the Korean and Japanese version of Over the Hedge. In 2008, Korean jewelry brand Ramee released Ramee by BoA, a line of jewelry designed by the singer herself. On June 9, 2008, BoA and nine other artists from around the world recorded an English cover of Wei Wei’s “Dedication of Love“. Produced by Roald Hoffmann and Brian Alan, the single was used to raise funds for victims of the Sichuan Earthquake.

Zhang has released only one studio album since her debut in 2006, but its singles carried a few top ten titles, such as “Timeless,” which was a #1 hit. She is the also the first foreign artist to win Best New Solo Artist at the M.NET/KM Music Festival.

Life and music career

Early life

Zhang was born to violinists in Sichuan, China as a native from Chengdu. Throughout her childhood, her parents took her to their classical concerts and exposed her to a variety of music. At three years old, she began to learn the violin. Zhang was so accustomed to classical, American, and European pop music that she claims she never sang children’s songs when she was a child. She also developed the ability to sing a song after hearing it only once. When she was nine years old, she showed her musical ability when she sang Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”.

As she grew older, Zhang became more absorbed into pop music than classical music. She had to secretly listen to pop music because her parents were against it. When she was twelve, she was accepted into a middle school affiliated to Sichuan Conservatory of Music after scoring the highest with her violin talents, but she opted to become a singer instead. Eventually, her parents began to support her dream to become a singer and she gained confidence when she was selected as the top 10 adult singers in a national singing competition under the sponsorship of Shanghai.

Zhang was discovered after Beijing partners informed the head of Korean talent agency SM Entertainment of a young talent. In 2003, she moved to Korea and started training the age of thirteen. Singers received three years of special singing and dance training under SM Entertainment. Under the direction from producer Lee Soo Man, Zhang discovered her R&B voice.^[1]

2006–2007: Early commercial success

Zhang’s debut was anticipated not only in Korea, but all of Asia, due to SM Entertainment’s advertising of her being the “Chinese BoA” as well as Lee Soo Man himself stating he was training her to be the next leader of the Korean wave. Before her official debut, it was already known that her first song was a duet with popular TVXQ member Xiah Junsu, which generated even more interest and anticipation in her. Before the official release of her single, “Timeless” was available for free download between August 31 and September 6 on her official website. “Timeless” is a Korean cover of the original single by Kelly Clarkson.

On September 8, 2006, “Timeless” was released. She made her stage debut on MBC’s Music Core on September 9, 2006 singing “Timeless” with Xiah Junsu. The first day Zhang debuted she was ranked #2 on the famous Korean music website, Melon^{[citation needed]}; the following day she topped this chart and held her place respectively for two full weeks. The same day she also ranked #2 on the online charts of SBS’s Popular Songs, just after popular boy band, Shinhwa’s “Throw My Fist”. “Timeless” was also placed first on Daum’s Music Video chart as well as hitting the highest search number on the famous search engine, Naver. The “Timeless” music video, which is a two-part installment starring Lee Yeonhee and Super Junior members Han Geng and Siwon, was ranked #1 on Melon’s Video Chart for four full weeks. Within ten days of debuting, Zhang entered the “Take 7″ chart on SBS’s Popular Songs (complied from internet and industry statistics).

Zhang promoted the second track of her debut single, “Y (Why…),” in early 2007. SM Entertainment also released a “Timeless” documentary version of her “Y (Why…)” music video. This music video reveals her hardships during training; it also showed many behind the scenes clips of her promotion of “Timeless”, including never-before-seen footage of her with Xiah Junsu. However, promotions for “Y (Why…)” ended quickly, and SM Entertainment announced that she would be on hiatus from the music industry throughout the rest of the year to prepare for her major debut in China in the end of the year. Zhang made a surprising guest appearance at TVXQ’s second Asia tour concert in Seoul on February 23, 2007. She performed “TRI-ANGLE” with TVXQ, singing a part in the song that was previously performed by BoA. She made a second appearance with TVXQ on November 24, 2007 in Malaysia for the same concert, and was TVXQ’s regular guest star for their “O” Asia tour until its finale in June 2008.

2008: Mandarin market

Zhang’s first Mandarin album, I WILL was originally announced to be released in 2007, but the release date was pushed to early March 2008. The album was finally released in different regions of China starting March 3, 2008 and on March 28, 2008, I WILL made its Asia-wide release. Before the release of the album, two music videos were released online on February 27, 2008 to promote the album. Similar to “Timeless”, the two music videos “I WILL” and “The Left Shore of Happiness”, are one story but separated to two parts. Han Geng, Siwon, and Lee Yeonhee are also the cast for those two music videos.

I WILL received moderate success in both China and Korea. The album’s first single, “I WILL” debuted as #16 on Guanzhou Music Charts and moved up ten spots to #6 after two weeks of release. The second single, “The Left Shore of Happiness” moved up ten spots to #7. “I WILL” peaked at #6 in China’s national music chart Top in Music for several days and the same single peaked at #1 on Korea’s Melon Music Chart for two full weeks. The album debuted at #22 on Korea’s MIAK Monthly Album Chart of March and sold over 2,000 copies in Korea that month.

Zhang co-wrote the lyrics for “One More Try”, an R&B dance single which became a song dedicated to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Notable events

Visa

Similar to fellow label mate Han Geng, Zhang holds an E-6 (Entertainment industry) passport, for foreigners in South Korea. Foreign artists carrying out promotional activities have limitations in terms of location and other factors. Han’s passport only allows him to work under SBS and KBS, while Zhang’s allows her to work only with SBS and MBC, which is why she only performs on the two stages. On August 1, 2008, the Korean government’s law of restrictions on foreigners were lifted, and foreign entertainers in Korea are now allowed to perform in every station. However, Zhang becomes unable to perform on MBC due to the channel’s controversy with her company.

瞻

The world’s first metal mechanical movable type printing was developed in Korea in 1234 by Choe Yun-ui during the Goryeo Dynasty, modeled after widespread Chinese clay (Bi Sheng in 1041), several hundred years before Johann Gutenberg developed his metal letterset type (Cumings 1997: 65). Though the block printing was used much earlier, metal movable type printing press marked a significant development in printing allowing the same tools to be used for more diverse printings. The Jikji is the world’s earliest remaining movable metal printed book, printed in Korea in 1377. The world’s earliest known surviving example of woodblock printing is the Mugujeonggwang Great Dharani Sutra.

It is believed to have been printed in Korea in 750-751 CE which, if correct, would make it older than the Diamond Sutra. Goryeo silk was highly regarded by China, and Korean pottery made with blue-green celadon was of the highest quality in the world and sought after by even Arabian merchants. Goryeo had a bustling economy with a capital that was frequented by merchants from all over the known world.

During the Joseon period the earliest ironclad warships, the Geobukseon (Turtle Ship) were invented, as well as other weapons such as the Bigyeokjincheolloe (비격진천뢰, 飛擊震天雷) and the hwacha.

The Korean alphabet hangul was also invented during this time by Sejong the Great.

Korean festivities often showcase vibrant colors, which have been attributed to Mongolian influences: bright red, yellow, and green often mark traditional Korean motifs. These bright colors are sometimes seen in the traditional dress known as hanbok.

One peculiarity of Korean culture is its age reckoning system. Individuals are regarded as one year old when they are born, and their age increments on New Year’s Day rather than on the anniversary of their birthday. Thus, one born on December the 31st would be aged two on the day after they were born. Accordingly, a Korean person’s stated age will be one or two years more than their age expressed in the Western tradition.

Literature

Korean literature written before the end of the Joseon Dynasty is called “Classical” or “Traditional.” Literature, written in Chinese characters (hanja), was established at the same time as the Chinese script arrived on the peninsula. Korean scholars were writing poetry in the classical Chinese style as early as the 2nd century BCE, reflecting Korean thoughts and experiences of that time. Classical Korean literature has its roots in traditional folk beliefs and folk tales of the peninsula, strongly influenced by Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.

Modern literature is often linked with the development of hangul, which helped spread literacy from the aristocracy to the common people and women. Hangul, however, only reached a dominant position in Korean literature in the second half of the 19th century, resulting in a major growth in Korean literature. Sinsoseol, for instance, are novels written in hangul.

The Korean War led to the development of literature centered around the wounds and chaos of war. Much of the post-war literature in South Korea deals with the daily lives of ordinary people, and their struggles with national pain. The collapse of the traditional Korean value system is another common theme of the time.

Religion

Amitabha and Eight Great Bodhisattvas, Goryeo scroll from the 1300s

Confucian tradition has dominated Korean thought, along with contributions by Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, and Korean Shamanism. Since the middle of the 20th century, however, Christianity has competed with Buddhism in South Korea, while religious practice has been suppressed in North Korea. Throughout Korean history and culture, regardless of separation; the influence of traditional beliefs of Korean Shamanism, Mahayana Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism have remained an underlying religion of the Korean people as well as a vital aspect of their culture, all these traditions coexisted peacefully for hundred years to today despite of stronger Westernization from Christian missionary conversions in the South or the pressure from Communism’s atheist government in the North.

According to 2005 statistics compiled by the South Korean government, about 46% of citizens profess to follow no particular religion. Christians account for 29.2% of the population (of which are Protestants 18.3% and Catholics 10.9%) and Buddhists 22.8%.

Koreans valued scholarship and rewarded education and study of Chinese classic texts; Yangban boys were highly educated in hanja. In Silla, the bone rank system defined a person’s social status, and a similar system persisted through the end of the Joseon Dynasty. In addition, the gwageo civil service examination provided paths of upward mobility.

Islam in South Korea is comprised of about 45,000 in addition to some 100,000 foreign workers from Muslim countries.

The combined population of the Koreas is about 73 million (North Korea: 23 million, South Korea: 50 million). Korea is chiefly populated by a highly homogeneous ethnic group, the Koreans, who speak the Korean language. The number of foreigners living in Korea has also steadily increased since the late 20th century, particularly in South Korea, where more than 1 million foreigners currently reside. A minority population of ethnic Chinese (roughly 440,000 as of August 2007) live in South Korea and small communities of ethnic Chinese and Japanese are also found in North Korea.

Language

Korean is the official language of both North and South Korea, and (along with Mandarin) of Yanbian Autonomous Prefecture in Manchuria area of China. Worldwide, there are up to 80 million speakers of the Korean Language. South Korea has around 50 million speakers while North Korea around 23 million. Other large groups of Korean speakers are found in the United States (around 2.5 million speakers), China (around 2 million speakers), the former Soviet Union (around 500,000), Japan (around 900,000), Canada (100,000), Philippines (70,000) and Australia (150,000). It is estimated that there are around 700,000 people scattered across the world who are able to speak Korean because of job requirements (for example, salespersons or businessmen with Korean contacts), marriages to Koreans or out of pure interest in the language.

The genealogical classification of Korean is debated. Some linguists place it in the Altaic language family; others consider it to be a language isolate. Korean is agglutinative in its morphology and SOV in its syntax. Like Japanese and Vietnamese, Korean has borrowed much vocabulary from the genetically unrelated Chinese or created vocabulary on Chinese models.

Modern Korean is written almost exclusively in the hangul script, which was invented in the 15th century. While hangul may appear logographic, it is actually a phonemic alphabet organized into syllabic blocks. Each block consists of at least two of the 24 hangul letters (jamo): at least one each of the 14 consonants and 10 vowels. Historically, the alphabet had several additional letters (see obsolete jamo). For a phonological description of the letters, see Korean phonology. Hanja (Chinese characters) and Latin alphabets are sometimes included within hangul texts, particularly in South Korea.

The southern and western parts of the peninsula have well-developed plains, while the eastern and northern parts are mountainous. The highest mountain in Korea is Baekdusan (2744 m), through which runs the border with China. The southern extension of Baekdusan is a highland called Gaema Heights. This highland was mainly raised during the Cenozoic orogeny and partly covered by volcanic matter. To the south of Gaema Gowon, successive high mountains are located along the eastern coast of the peninsula. This mountain range is named Baekdudaegan. Some significant mountains include Sobaeksan (2,184 m), Baekdusan or Baeksan (1,724 m), Geumgangsan (1,638 m), Seoraksan (1,708 m), Taebaeksan (1,567 m), and Jirisan (1,915 m). There are several lower, secondary mountain series whose direction is almost perpendicular to that of Baekdudaegan. They are developed along the tectonic line of Mesozoic orogeny and their directions are basically northwest.

Unlike most ancient mountains on the mainland, many important islands in Korea were formed by volcanic activity in the Cenozoic orogeny. Jeju-do, situated off the southern coast, is a large volcanic island whose main mountain Hallasan (1950 m) is the highest in South Korea. Ulleung-do is a volcanic island in the Sea of Japan, whose composition is more felsic than Jeju-do. The volcanic islands tend to be younger, the more westward.

Because the mountainous region is mostly on the eastern part of the peninsula, the main rivers tend to flow westwards. Two exceptions are the southward-flowing Nakdonggang and Seomjingang. Important rivers running westward include the Amnok River (Yalu), the Cheong-cheongang, the Daedonggang, the Han River, the Geumgang, and the Yeongsangang. These rivers have vast flood plains and provide an ideal environment for wet-rice cultivation.

The southern and southwestern coastlines of Korea form a well-developed ria coastline, known as Dadohae-jin in Korean. Its convoluted coastline provides mild seas, and the resulting calm environment allows for safe navigation, fishing, and seaweed farming. In addition to the complex coastline, the western coast of the Korean Peninsula has an extremely high tidal amplitude (at Incheon, around the middle of the western coast. It can get as high as 9 m). Vast tidal flats have been developing on the south and west coastlines

In the aftermath of the Japanese occupation of Korea which ended with Japan’s defeat in World War II in 1945, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel in accordance with a United Nations arrangement, to be administered by the Soviet Union in the north and the United States in the south. The Soviets and Americans were unable to agree on the implementation of Joint Trusteeship over Korea. This led in 1948 to the establishment of two separate governments, each claiming to be the legitimate government of all of Korea. Eventually, following the Korean War, the two separate governments stabilized into the existing political entities of North and South Korea.

South Korea’s subsequent history is marked by alternating periods of democratic and autocratic rule. Civilian governments are conventionally numbered from the First Republic of Syngman Rhee to the contemporary Sixth Republic. The First Republic, arguably democratic at its inception, became increasingly autocratic until its collapse in 1960. The Second Republic was strongly democratic, but was overthrown in less than a year and replaced by an autocratic military regime. The Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics were nominally democratic, but are widely regarded as the continuation of military rule. With the Sixth Republic, the country has gradually stabilized into a liberal democracy.

Since its inception, South Korea has seen substantial development in education, economy, and culture. Since the 1960s, the country has developed from one of Asia’s poorest to one of the continent’s most well-off. Education, particularly at the tertiary level, has expanded dramatically. Since the 1990s, Korean popular music, TV drama, and films have become popular throughout East and Southeast Asia, in a phenomenon known as “Korean wave.”

U.S. Military administration

After Japan’s surrender to the Allied Powers, division at the 38th parallel against the wishes of Korean people marked the beginning of Soviet and U.S. trusteeship over the North and South, respectively. While the de jure sovereignty of Korea was considered to be held by the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea based in China, U.S. leaders chose to ignore its legitimacy, partly due to belief that it was communist-aligned.

U.S. forces landed at Incheon on September 8, 1945 and established a military government shortly thereafter. The forces landing at Incheon were of the 24th Corps of the US Tenth Army. They were commanded by Lt. General John R. Hodge, who then took charge of the government.

The country in this period was plagued by political and economic chaos, which arose from a variety of causes. The after effects of the Japanese exploitation were still felt in the country, as in Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. In addition, the U.S. military was largely unprepared for the challenge of administering the country, arriving with no knowledge of the language, culture or political situation. Thus, many of their policies had unintended destabilizing effects. Waves of refugees from North Korea and returnees from abroad also helped to keep the country in turmoil.

The short-lived People’s Republic of Korea had been established throughout Korea by Lyuh Woon-Hyung in August, after negotiation with Japanese invaders.It was declared invalid by U.S. in the South shortly after U.S. arrival. Yeo stepped down and formed the Working People’s Party In November and December 1945, members of cabinet of the Provisional Government, including President Kim Koo were forced to return as private citizens.

Faced with mounting popular discontent, in October 1945 Hodge established the Korean Advisory Council. A year later, an interim legislature and interim government were established, headed by Kim Kyu-shik and Syngman Rhee respectively. However, these interim bodies lacked any independent authority, nor de jure sovereignty, which was still held by the Provisional Government.

First Republic

On August 15, 1948 the Republic of Korea was formally established, with Syngman Rhee as the first president, who was elected the President ahead of Kim Koo in July 1948. With the establishment of Rhee’s government, de jure sovereignty also passed into the new government. On September 9, 1948, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was established under Kim Il-Sung. The investiture of the Rhee government followed the general election of May 10, 1948. The country’s first constitution had been promulgated by the first National Assembly on July 17. It established a system with a strong president, who was elected indirectly by the National Assembly. While the government with Ministerial responsibilities was originally considered, the opposition by a number of politicians who was seeking power prevented its application in favour of a Presidential Government.

On December 12, 1948, by its resolution 195 [1] in the Third General Assembly, the United Nations recognized the Republic of Korea as the sole legal government of Korea.

Around this time from 1945–1950, United States and South Korean authorities carried out a land reform that retained the institution of private property. They confiscated and redistributed all land held by the Japanese colonial government, Japanese companies, and individual Japanese colonists. The Korean government carried out a reform whereby Koreans with large landholdings were obliged to divest most of their land. A new class of independent, family proprietors was created.

Rhee was supported in the elections by the Korea Democratic Party, but neglected to include any of its members in his cabinet. In retaliation, the members of the party formed a united opposition Democratic Nationalist Party, and began to advocate a cabinet system which would remove power from the president. This led to a regrouping of the Rhee faction into the Nationalist Party, which later became the Liberal Party, and remained Rhee’s base throughout his administration. The country’s second parliamentary elections were held on May 30, 1950, and gave the majority of seats to independents.

The nationalist government continued many of the practices of the U.S. military government. This included the brutal repression of leftist activity. The Rhee government continued the harsh military action against the Jeju uprising. It also crushed military uprisings in Suncheon and Yeosu, which were provoked by orders to sail to Jeju and participate in the crackdown.

Rhee sought to align his government strongly with America, and against both North Korea and Japan. The policy of the First Republic on North Korea, before and after the Korean War, was one of “unification by force.”Although some talks towards normalization of relations with Japan took place, they achieved little. Meanwhile, the government took in vast sums of American aid, in amounts sometimes near the total size of the national budget.

On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces invaded South Korea (see Korean War). Led by the U.S., a 16-member coalition undertook the first collective action under the United Nations Command (UNC). Oscillating battle lines inflicted a high number of civilian casualties and wrought immense destruction. With the People’s Republic of China’s entry on behalf of North Korea in 1951, the fighting came to a stalemate close to the original line of demarcation. Armistice negotiations, initiated in July 1951, finally concluded on July 27, 1953 at Panmunjeom, now in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Following the armistice, the South Korean government returned to Seoul on the symbolic date of August 15, 1953.

After the armistice, South Korea experienced political turmoil under years of autocratic leadership of Syngman Rhee, which was ended by student revolt in 1960. Throughout his rule, Rhee sought to take additional steps to cement his control of government. These began in 1952, when the government was still based in Busan due to the ongoing war. In May of that year, Rhee pushed through constitutional amendments which made the presidency a directly-elected position. To do this, he declared martial law and jailed the members of parliament whom he expected to vote against it. Rhee was subsequently elected by a wide margin. He regained control of parliament in the 1954 elections, and thereupon pushed through an amendment to exempt himself from the eight-year term limit.

The events of 1960, known as the April Revolution, were touched off by the violent repression of a student demonstration in Masan on the day of the presidential election, March 15. Initially these protests were quelled by local police, but they broke out again after the body of a student was found floating in the harbor. Subsequently nonviolent protests spread to Seoul and throughout the country, and Rhee resigned on April 26.

Second Republic

After the student revolution, power was briefly held by an interim administration under Heo Jeong. A new parliamentary election was held on July 29, 1960. The Democratic Party, which had been in the opposition during the First Republic, easily gained power and the Second Republic was established. The revised constitution dictated the Second Republic to take the form of a parliamentary cabinet system where the President took only a nominal role. This was the first and the only instance South Korea turned to a cabinet system instead of a presidential system. Yun Po Sun was elected as the President on August 13, 1960. The prime minister and head of government was Chang Myon.

The Second Republic saw the proliferation of political activity which had been repressed under the Rhee regime. Much of this activity was from leftist and student groups, which had been instrumental in the overthrow of the First Republic. Union membership and activity grew rapidly during the later months of 1960. Around 2,000 demonstrations were held during the eight months of the Second Republic.^[18]

Under pressure from the left, the Chang government carried out a series of purges of military and police officials who had been involved in anti-democratic activities or corruption. A Special Law to this effect was passed on October 31, 1960. 40,000 people were placed under investigation; of these, more than 2,200 government officials and 4,000 police officers were purged. In addition, the government considered reducing the size of the army by 100,000, although this plan was shelved.

In economic terms as well, the government was faced with mounting instability. The government formulated a five-year economic plan, although it was unable to act on it prior to being overthrown. The Second Republic saw the hwan lose half of its value against the dollar between fall 1960 and spring 1961. Unemployment and wholesale prices also rose during this period.

Military rule

A military coup d’état(5.16 coup d’état) led by Major General Park Chung-hee on May 16, 1961 put an effective end to the Second Republic. Park was one of a group of military leaders who had been pushing for the de-politicization of the military. Dissatisfied with the cleanup measures undertaken by the Second Republic and convinced that the current disoriented state would collapse into communism, they chose to take matters into their own hands.

The military leaders promised to return the government to a democratic system as soon as possible. On December 2, 1962, a referendum was held on returning to a presidential system of rule, which was allegedly passed with a 78% majority.^[24] Park and the other military leaders pledged not to run for office in the next elections. However, Park ran for president anyway, winning narrowly in the election of 1963.

Third Republic

Park ran again in the election of 1967, taking 51.4% of the vote.^[26] At the time the presidency was constitutionally limited to two terms, but a constitutional amendment was forced through the National Assembly in 1969 to allow him to seek a third term.^[27] He was re-elected in the 1971 presidential election. The leading opposition candidate was Kim Dae-jung, who lost by a narrow margin.

The Third Republic saw South Korea begin to take a more confident role in international relations. Relations with Japan were normalized in an agreement ratified on August 14, 1965. The government continued its close ties with the United States, and continued to receive large amounts of aid. A status of forces agreement was concluded in 1965, clarifying the legal situation of the US forces stationed there.^{[citation needed]} Soon thereafter, Korea joined the Vietnam War, eventually sending a total of 300,000 soldiers to fight alongside US and South Vietnamese troops.^[30]

The economy grew rapidly during this period. The Park regime used the influx of foreign aid from Japan and the United States to provide loans to export businesses at negative interest. It also supported the construction of the POSCO steel mill, which came online early in the Fourth Republic.

On December 6, 1971, Park declared a state of national emergency. On July 4 of the following year, he announced plans for reunification in a joint communique with North Korea. Park declared martial law on October 17, 1972, dissolving the National Assembly. He also announced plans to eliminate the popular election of the president.

Fourth Republic

The Fourth Republic began with the adoption of the Yusin Constitution on November 21, 1972. This new constitution gave Park effective control over the parliament. In the face of continuing popular unrest, Park promulgated emergency decrees in 1974 and 1975 which led to the jailing of hundreds of dissidents. This period also saw continued dramatic economic growth.

Fifth Republic

After the assassination of Park Chung-hee by Kim Jae-kyu in 1979, a vocal civil society emerged that led to strong protests against authoritarian rule. Composed primarily of university students and labor unions, protests reached a climax after Major General Chun Doo-hwan’s 1979 Coup d’état of December Twelfth and declaration of martial law. On May 18, 1980, a confrontation broke out in the city of Gwangju between students of Chonnam National University protesting against the closure of their university and armed forces and turned into a citywide riot that lasted nine days until May 27. Immediate estimates of the civilian death toll ranged from a few dozen to 2000, with a later full investigation by the civilian government finding 207 deaths (see: Gwangju Massacre). Public outrage over the killings consolidated nationwide support for democracy, paving the road for the first democratic elections in 1987.

Sixth Republic

In 1987, Roh Tae-woo, one of Chun’s colleagues in the 1979 coup, and a member of Hanahoi, was elected to the president by the popular vote.

In 1992, Kim Young-sam was elected president. He was the country’s first civilian president in 30 years.

In 1997, the nation suffered a severe financial crisis from which it made a solid recovery. South Korea has also maintained its commitment to democratize its political processes, as Kim Dae-jung won the presidency in the same year. This was the first transfer of the government between parties by peaceful means. Kim Dae-jung pursued the “Sunshine Policy”, a series of efforts to reconcile with North Korea, which culminated in the summit talk with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, for which Kim Dae-jung was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000. However, the efficacy of the Sunshine Policy was brought into question amid allegations of corruption. Roh Moo-hyun was elected to the presidency in 2002.

On 12 March 2004, the South Korean National Assembly (Parliament) voted to impeach President Roh Moo-hyun on charges of corruption and political patronage. The Uri Party, which solely supported the President, angrily boycotted the vote. This motion clearly affected the outcome of the parliamentary election held on 15 April 2004, in which the Uri Party won 152 seats from the total of 299 seats in the National Assembly. For the first time in 18 years the ruling party became the majority in the House. This was arguably the first time in more than 40 years that a liberal party had held a majority in the Assembly. However, the Uri Party then lost its majority in by-elections in 2005.

Boiled rice, or rice mixed with barley, corn, or other grains, is the staple of the Korean diet. There are many ways to cook rice and different ingredients can be added to it. Besides boiling rice on its own or with other grains, it can also be re-cooked with vegetables, eggs, or meat.

Kuk or T’ang (Soup)

Soup should be served at any Korean meal. Ingredients commonly used for soup include meat, vegetables, fish, seaweed, clams, and even the bones and internal organs of cows and pigs.

Tchigae (Stew) & Chon-gol (Casserole)

Stews contain less water and more ingredients than soup. Depending on the main ingredients, soy sauce, soybean paste, and red pepper paste can also be added. Tchigae is an example of a stew dish. Chon-gol, a casserole dish, is cooked by placing layers of sliced, seasoned beef at the bottom of a pot.

Tchim & Chorim (Smothered and Soy Sauced Glazed Dishes)

To cook tchim, put whatever ingredients you want along with seasonings into an earthenware pot and steam them at a low heat for a long time until they softened. There are many varieties of tchim. Glazing in soy sauce, or in red pepper paste, is a time-honored technique, which can preserve food for weeks.

Kui (Broiled Dish) & Chon (Fried Dish)

You can broil food on a spit or directly on a grill. Barbecued beef is the most popular broiled dish. One popular fried dish is chon. Chopped or whole meat, fish, or vegetables are covered with flour. It is then dipped into beaten eggs and pan-fried to make chon.

Hoe (Sliced Raw Fish and Meat)

Many people enjoy either raw or parboiled fish. Both dishes go well with drinks and are usually eaten on special occasions.

Namul (Vegetable Dishes)

Vegetables may be parboiled or fried, and seasoned with various spices. They should be mixed, seasoned, and soaked by hand to improve the taste.

Chotkal (Salted Fish)

Koreans preserve fish, clams, fish eggs, or the internal organs of fish with salt until they are fermented. This brings about salty yet tasty side dishes and appetizers. They also make good seasonings for other foods, especially kimch’i.

Ttok (Rice Cakes)

Rice cakes are made by steaming rice flour in a rice cake steamer. These traditional cakes are usually made for ancestor worship ceremonies and for holidays.

Ch’a (Teas)

Green Tea, Job’s Tears Tea, Citron Tea, and Ginger Tea are all examples of popular teas. A special etiquette called tado (the way of tea) is observed when drinking tea.

Korean Liquors

Korean beer and soju, a distilled liquor, are popular drinks. There are great tasting traditional Korean liquors such as Ch’ongju (strained rice wine), Insamju (ginseng liquor), and Makkolli (unrefined rice wine). Each province has its own special liquors. Munbaeju in Seoul, Igangju in Chollabuk-do province, Andong Soju in Andong, Kyongju Popchu in Kyongsangbuk-do province, Changgunju in Chonju, and Paegilju in Kongju are famous. Korean drinking etiquette is also slightly different. When somebody offers to fill your glass, hold it up with your right hand and place your left hand lightly under it.