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jusunlee: it seems that all we ever hear about is boa these days. well, she has made it to the top once again. her single 'valenti' sold 920,000 albums on the day of its release in japan. she made it to the top of the oricon chart in exactly 10 months since 'listen to my heart' last year. her first concert tour around japan is scheduled to begin on march 27. word is out that 9,000 tickets to her concert were sold out in 15 minutes. go boa!

jusunlee: top star kim gun-mo's 8th album is to be released next month. he is under much pressure right now because all eyes of the korean pop music industry is focused on him. the korean pop music industry experienced its biggest slump ever last year with not one single album selling over one million copies. even the big names like shin seung-hun and god failed to reach one million. experts say that kim gun mo's 8th album is expected to exceed the sales of his last album which sold over 1.5 million copies as he once again worked with producer choi jun-young who worked with him on his 7th album which went platinum. his fans range from teens to 50s.

jusunlee: super star seo taeji recently signed a 3.2 billion won advertisement contract with ktf, a mobile service and communications company. the contract sum is the largest ever advertisement contract in history. ktf plans to launch its latest fast speed multimedia service called fimm in january. fimm stands for first in mobile multimedia. ktf chose seo taeji as their advertisement model because the company's concept to create the latest technology and brands fit with seo tae-ji's image of creating and trying new styles of music.

soompi.com: former ses member eugene signed a 4-uk won ($340,000) album deal with pure entertainment under which she will release 3 albums. her first solo album is expected for release around april and will simultaneously be promoted in taiwan and japan also. pure entertainment will be handling solely the musical part of eugene's career, and yun young entertainment, which is also home to bae yong-joon, song hye-gyo, park yong-ha, and park jin-hee, will be handling her acting career.

soompi.com: jtl will be appearing at the 2003 mtv asia awards in singapore on january 24 to receive their award for "most popular korean artist." their 2nd album is anticipated for release in april or may.

soompi.com: shinhwa's eric (age 24) made a surprise announcement that he will be proposing on live television. in an interview with the magazine ecole (february issue), he stated that he felt as though he was on top of the world when he first heard the words "i love you," adding that when the feeling of love becomes certain, he will propose in an unique fashion. although he never specifically stated that the object of his affections is actress kim hee-sun (age 26, pictured left), it is common "knowledge" among fans and the music world that she is the one. the two officially met in march 2001.

soompi.com: on the january 15 broadcast of kbs "ya! han-bam-eh," kangta revealed that he still has not gotten over his ex-girlfriend, adding that the girl is a regular person and not park ji-yoon, as rumors had it. regarding the recent rumors of hot reuniting, kangta stated that although he wishes it were so, there are a number of issues that will be difficult to iron out. however, he mysteriously added that if you really want something, it can happen.

soompi.com: world music has decided to reunite s#arp members lee ji-hye, jang suk-hyun, and chris, minus suh ji-young. auditions are currently underway to replace suh with a female who can both rap and sing, i.e. someone who has the potential to even make it on her own. if all goes to plan, s#arp will be making a comeback around april. a best album containing all of s#arp's hit songs will be released at the end of january.

soompi.com: as a result of the adverse reactions from the public following her "chubby" appearance at the awards ceremonies last december, koyote's shinji has lost 7 kg (15.4 lbs) in 2 weeks. a representative stated that she was shocked by the flood of negative comments and started to work out regularly and watch what she eats with the start of the new year. her new look can be seen on the february 4 broadcast of kbs "good luck." koyote's 5th album is anticipated for release in april.

soompi.com: on december 27, 2002, former ses member bada (age 23) had signed with mp entertainment a 20-uk won (over $1.7 million; the most money ever agreed to a female singer) contract, under which she would release 3 solo albums. however, both sides agreed to void the deal early last week. although neither side has publicized the specifics. third parties from the music industry speculate that mp reconsidered the huge amount of contract money because the music world is experiencing a slump, adding that the two sides also could not agree on the terms of management.