FAD 3.0

Here’s Kim Ha-neul, trying to repackage herself as a “Sexy star.”

Kim Ha-neul shows off a newfound sexy image in the fashion magazine In Style. Pictures taken in Vietnam place Kim against an exotic background in hotpants and off-the-shoulder and halterneck tops. A magazine spokesman said the actress “has femme fatale looks. She is also very stylish in a sensuous way.” The uncrowned queen of melodrama says, “I wanted to show a different image. I work out a lot to shape my body.”

Unfortunately, these photos of Kim Ha-neul barely registers in my brain as “sexy.”

US magazine Stuff has picked Lost star Kim Yun-jin as one of the top 100 sexiest women.

Kim, who started out as a dark horse in Hollywood and is now shooting the third season of the hit drama “Lost,” is garnering increasing popularity. She was featured in three American magazines — besides Stuff in U.S. Weekly and Glamour — and selected as one of MSN’s World Class Beauties. Among Stuff’s 100, Kim ranks 88th, one notch above Lindsay Lohan.

Miss Korea Lee Honey left Korea on Wednesday for the 2007 Miss Universe contest. Lee and her family are headed for Mexico City where the international event will take place on May 28.

“I hope to have an opportunity to rebuild Korea’s image which was tarnished by the tragic deaths at Virginia Tech,” Lee said in an interview with the Korea Times, which hosts the Miss Korea pageant. “I will do my best while aiming for first place.”

Lee will spend three days in Los Angeles before flying to Mexico to participate in pre-competition events which start May 1. Lee has practiced walking, speaking and traditional Korean dance for three months to prepare for the pageant.

The beauty queen also plans to donate a kayagum, a twelve-string Korean harp, to a charity auction of items from the contest participants. Lee received the instrument from her mother who is a musician and professor at Ewha Womans University.

Oh alright, what star Korean figure skater Kim Yu-na is actually going to do is compete at the Japan Open, in Saitama Prefecture on Honshu Island. But I’m very future oriented, and I already have a fair idea of what kind of performance it’s gonna be.

On the Korea Times:

” I will participate in the Japan Open before having a training session in Canada from May, as I am recovering from a back injury,” Kim said Tuesday, expressing her hope to perform well in the upcoming international competition next week. She suffered the injury several months ago.

” I feel I am getting better and better every day as the treatment proceeds,” Kim told reporters in a ceremony where she was named a public relations ambassador for Asiana Airlines, South Korea’s second largest airline. ” I have recently been focusing on increasing my strength and stamina while decreasing training at the rink.”

She became a national heroine last November after winning a gold medal in the International Skating Union Grand Prix in Paris, the first such medal in the 100 years of Korean figure skating history.

The 17-year-old high school student also won a bronze medal in the World Figure Skating Championships in Tokyo last month after a slight injury to her back in early January.

Regarding the benefits of being named an ambassador, Kim said, ” My back and I will be happy to enjoy a comfortable business class seat on each flight, and from now on I believe I can do better despite traveling long distances.”

She was invited to the open which will also feature 12 skaters from North America, Japan and Europe. She will depart for Japan on Saturday.

The 2006 TV series Princess Hours, featuring Yoon Eun Hye, is still the hottest TV series in the Asian region. Personally, I find it incredibly corny, but who can defy those millions of viewers? So here are some high-res photos for you to jerk on. Click to enlarge.

Singer Eugene will open the 2007 Korea-Japan Top Match April 22 at the Olympic Park in Seoul.

The match will be held between top volleyball teams from Korea and Japan.

Sources say Eugene was chosen to start off the game with the first serve for her popularity as a singer and actress in TV dramas, movies and musicals.

Eugene will make her debut as a big-screen actress in a movie that opens May 10.

Kim Yun-jin, that hot Korean actress in Lost, has been cast in Won Shin-yeon’s crime thriller Seven Days.

She is seen here in the UK magazine Arena as she appeared in October 2006.