Yes, Taeyang's album came out today and I am excited beyond words, which is why I'm going to write about something else. Many people have been anticipating Solar, but probably the major headline in the last day and a half is Park Yong Ha's suicide. I hadn't seen his shows or movies or listened to his music so when I first heard the news, I only had a generic sense of sadness. By all accounts, he seemed like a popular actor who earned the admiration of fans first through his acting and then his music. When I saw his picture, I thought he looked familiar but couldn't place him because I knew he wasn't in the one Korean movie I've seen. Then I realized he took part in the Lotte Duty Free advert and song with Big Bang, Rain, and Song Seung Hun. When I first came across this video a month or so ago, I remember thinking that Park Yong Ha (I didn't know his name at the time) had a unique, soothing voice that kind of matched his boyish face. But now, no more. Life, people are sometimes like that; just flashes of brilliance, of tenderness, of joy, of hope that bloom and fade.
(Park Yong Ha appears 2nd and is wearing a blue shirt.)
