Year: 2019

“Love Alarm” (좋아하면 울리는): Season 1

Jae-Ha Kim

As a young woman passes by two men, an app on her phone goes off. “There is one person who loves you,” it says. The app is called JoAlarm (좋알람), which alerts users if there is someone within 10 meters who loves them. If you’re thinking that JoAlarm sounds nonsensical, you’re right — in English, it doesn’t make sense. But in Korean, it literally means an alarm to measure if someone likes your. (Remember that Jay Park song, “Joah”/”좋아”? 좋아 means good or to like. Now it makes perfect sense, right?)

“Hotel del Luna” (호텔 델루나)

Jae-Ha Kim

Hotel del Luna is a gorgeous five-star hotel that only accepts dead souls, before they move onto heaven or hell. Yeo plays a Harvard-educated hotelier who is forced to work at the eponymous establishment, due to an agreement his father had made years ago. His boss is the otherworldly Mal-Wol, who has run Hotel del Luna for the past 1,300 years. She is neither dead or alive, but can’t peacefully enter the afterlife until she has settled her personal business on earth. Though the pair’s relationship starts off contentiously, they slowly fall in love and feel they are tied together by a force that can’t be explained.

Go Away With … Mara Hall

Jae-Ha Kim

“I’ve been to Montego Bay several times and absolutely love it there,” says “Ambitions” actress Mara Hall. “The culture, the food, the people — it is such an amazing place. Visit White House. They sell fresh fried fish and bammy (cassava flatbread). It’s absolutely delicious!”

Real-life K-Drama Couples

Jae-Ha Kim

Breaking up is never easy. But for celebrities, they have the additional burden of having their private lives exposed in public. Unlike Song Hye-Kyo and Song Joong-Ki — who in June quietly announced their plans to divorce — Ku Hye-Sun and Ahn Jae-Hyun are having a more contentious dissolution of marriage, thanks to a series of social media posts in which Ku claims she doesn’t want a divorce. Ahn responded by saying that what his wife acknowledged publicly doesn’t align with her actions.

Kim Soo-Hyun Is Otherwordly!

Jae-Ha Kim

Just two months after his military discharge, Hallyu superstar Kim Soo-Hyun is ready to get back to work. But before he has his official comeback, he’ll make an appearance in the finale of the K-Drama “Hotel Del Luna” (set to air on Aug. 31). Production is being hush-hush, so we don’t know if his role will be that of a mortal or a ghost guest.

Go Away With … David Archuleta

Jae-Ha Kim

David Archuleta was just 16 years old when he became the runner-up (to David Cook) on “American Idol.” Since then, the singer — now 28 — has released a steady stream of music, including his brand-new single “Paralyzed.” A perk of his career is getting to travel. “I’ve recently gotten to see Russia for my first time for a youth conference,” says Archuleta, who resides in Nashville.

K-Drama Tropes: Love them or hate them?

Jae-Ha Kim

I love Korean Dramas for a variety of reasons. And although I have a love-hate relationship with all the K-Drama tropes, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t waiting for them to appear every time I watch a series. Here are some of my favorites — and also some that I love to hate.