Girls’ Generation and Big Bang Picked as Most Popular K-Pop Star in First Half of 2012

Girls’ Generation and Big Bang were named the top K-Pop celebrities in the first half of 2012. On April 18, a Korean research agency called Leespiar released results to their recent survey that asked for the most popular Korean celebrity in the first half of 2012.

According to the results, Girls’ Generation came out on top with 26.9% of the total 1,329 votes in the female musician category. Last year’s top vote getter was Park Jung Hyun, following her impressive performances on MBC “I Am a Singer.”

The second most popular female artist was IU with 15.3% of the votes. Her second album, “Last Fantasy,” was a massive hit from late last year, cementing her position as one of the best female solo singers. The Wonder Girls, Lee Hyori, Baek Ji Young, and miss A followed in the rankings.

In the male artist category, Big Bang won 18.1% of the votes, earning the top male singer honor. Lee Seung Gi came in at second with 11.3% of the votes, followed by 2PM, Rain, and 2AM. Shinhwa, who returned with their 10^th album last month, was ranked at #10.

Meanwhile, Won Bin beat out Kim Soo Hyun for the most popular actor spot, with 16.3% of the responses. Kim Soo Hyun, despite his growing popularity following the massive success of MBC “The Moon that Embraces the Sun,” barely missed out on the top honor by a mere 0.3% of the votes. Jang Dong Gun, Hyun Bin, Lee Seung Gi, and Kang Dong Won rounded out the rest of the list. 

Kim Tae Hee was the #1 actress in the poll. Although she didn’t appear in a lot of Korean TV this year, spending most of her time in Japan, her commercials played a lot in Korea and it may have contributed to her top spot. Next on the list were Han Ga In, Ha Ji Won, Shin Min Ah, and Song Hye Kyo.

Who is your favorite Korean celebrity so far this year?