Who do you think is the most popular k-pop idol? Who do you think is the most influential k-pop star? There could be many different voices and opinions, but the majority of people in the k-pop industry would say it’s G-Dragon. As the leader of BIGBANG, G-Dragon led his team to the top in the k-pop world, writing and producing the k-pop group’s numerous hits. And he got to the summit as a solo singer too, while his innovative and polished own songs have caused a sensation in the world of k-pop. That’s not all. G-Dragon is well known for his great taste in fashion, and he is a trendsetter who is loved by young people all over the world. No doubt, he is one of a kind, and he is now a role model of countless young k-pop idols. Even Korean celebrities love and admire the k-pop star, and that’s why he is called “Celebrities’ celebrity”. So, are you a big fan of G-Dragon? Do you want to know all the stories about the king of k-pop? G-Dragon: The King of K-pop contains all the things about G-Dragon. The author, who has been working as a k-pop journalist since 2010 gives you answers to all the questions about G-Dragon such as “What is his real personality like?”, “How rich is he?” and “How do Korean general public think of him?” The book also includes various stories behind G-Dragon. Welcome to the real world of k-pop. Enjoy your time!

This edited volume brings together cutting-edge studies from emerging scholars of East/Southeast Asia who explore the role of mobile media in the contemporary transformation of the region’s social intimacies, from the romantic to the familial to the communal. By providing a regional and transnational overview of such studies, it affords new insights into how these mobile technologies have contributed to the rise of ‘glocal intimacies’. This pertains to the normalisation and intensification of how people’s relationships of closeness are entangled in the ever-shifting and constantly negotiated flows between global modernity and local everyday life. In providing case studies of mobile media and glocal intimacies, the chapters in the volume attend to a broad range of countries that include China, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, and Taiwan. This illustrates the differing ways in which mobile media might be embedded in the region’s divergent articulations of social intimacies, which reflect the ongoing tensions between Western and Asian imaginaries of modernity. The chapters also discuss a wide array of mobile media that people use, from social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, to messaging apps like KakaoTalk and WhatsApp, to dating apps like Tinder and Blued. This allows for a mapping out of the different levels of impact that mobile media might have on social intimacies in a region that contains some of the most technologically advanced as well as the most technologically behind societies in the world. In summary, this book allows readers to take a comparative approach to understanding the complexity of the glocal intimacies that are emerging from the ways people in Asia use mobile media to reconfigure their local ties and to enact global relationships. This volume will benefit students, academics, and researchers who are keen in media and communication, cultural studies, sociology, anthropology, and Asian studies. “This exciting and much-needed book will greatly advance our efforts to decolonise media and communications research. The chapters offer empirically rich and nuanced accounts that challenge the dominant paradigms about mediated intimacy.” Mirca Madianou, Goldsmiths, University of London “This collection develops the original concept of ‘glocal intimacies’ to describe how mobile media have become a crucial site where new social intimacies are enacted, reinforced and transformed in Asia. It introduces fresh empirical research from emerging scholars to furnish deep theoretical insights into these imaginaries and practices.” Audrey Yue, National University of Singapore

This book provides a fully-contextualised, multidisciplinary examination of bullying and violence in South Korean society. Bullying and violence has been a pressing societal issue since 2011, having been labelled as a 'social evil' to be eradicated by the government. However, the issue has been incorrectly confined to schools when in fact it is widespread in society and in professional settings, as Bax argues in this original new text. Through twenty in-depth case studies and original case material from a Juvenile Detention Centre, Bax examines the historical, cultural, political and social contexts of bullying and violence to better understand the nature of these crimes, the perpetrators, and how they come together in the broader cultural landscape within which the individual, the family, the school and the community are embedded.

“A glittering glimpse into a pure realization of late capitalism, and . . . our collective future . . . .uncovers why K-pop is the global cultural phenomenon.” —Carol Vernallis, author of Unruly Media: YouTube, Music Video, and the New Digital Cinema 1990s South Korea saw the transition from a military dictatorship to a civilian government, from a manufacturing economy to a postindustrial hub, and from a cloistered society to a more dynamic transnational juncture. In K-pop Live, Suk-Young Kim investigates the ascent of Korean popular music in relation to the rise of personal technology and social media. Based on in-depth interviews with K-pop industry personnel, media experts, critics, and fans, as well as archival research, K-pop Live explores how the industry has managed the tough sell of live music in a marketplace in which virtually everything is available online. Teasing out digital media's courtship of "liveness" in the production and consumption of K-pop, Kim investigates the nuances of the affective mode in which human subjects interact with one another in the digital age. Observing performances online, in concert, and even through the use of holographic performers, Kim offers readers a step-by-step guide through the K-pop industry's variegated efforts to diversify media platforms as a way of reaching a wider global network of music consumers. In an era when digital technology inserts itself into nearly all social relationships, Kim reveals how "what is live" becomes a question of how we exist as increasingly mediated subjects. “Lively insights into the complexities of the artistry and the commerce, the manufactured and the impromptu, the virtual and the somatic, and the local and the global that propel the production [and] consumption of Korean popular music today.” —Hyung-Gu Lynn, University of British Columbia

Who do you think is the most popular female k-pop singer? Who do you think is the most talented female k-pop singer? There could be many different voices and opinions, but the majority of people in the k-pop industry would say it’s IU. The talented singer, who has numerous hits such as “Good Day”, “You&I”, “Twenty-Three” and “Palette” is being loved by men and women of all ages, and as a competent musician, she wrote many of her own songs too. What’s most surprising about her is she can cover a diverse range of genres, while there are no other young k-pop singers who can do as great as her. That’s not all. IU is one of the most popular k-pop singers among k-pop industry workers because she is very good-natured. She's kind to everybody and she never acts high and mighty even though she is a top star. And as you may know, the sweet girl always cares about her fans and tries to do anything she can do for them. So, are you a big fan of IU? Do you want to know all the stories about the queen of k-pop? IU: The Queen of K-pop contains all the things about IU. The author, who has been working as a k-pop journalist since 2010 gives you answers to all the questions about IU such as “What is her real personality like?”, “How was her childhood?” and “What is IU’s ideal type of man like?”. The book also includes various stories behind IU. Welcome to the real world of k-pop. Enjoy your time!