[Talk of the town]Young comic dies

A memorial service was held on Friday for a 25-year-old comedian who died on Wednesday from injuries sustained in a car accident.
More than 100 of her fellow comics showed up at the service to grieve and remember Kim Hyeong-eun, a popular member of SBS-TV’s comedy program “Utchatsa.”
“Hyeong-eun was a girl everyone loved and she’ll be remembered among us for a very long time,” said Um Yong-su, head of the Korean Comedian Association, during a eulogy.
Among the mourners, Lee Jong-gyu, who collaborated with Kim in a comedy skit about a wacky, dating couple on “Utchastsa,” fought back tears as he said, “I now can face the fact that you are gone, but I cannot understand how and why [you have to be gone].”
Kim, one of the up and coming stars on the comedy scene, recently formed a singing trio with colleagues, making her debut as a pop singer. She and the group were travelling late at night on their way to a ski resort in Pyeongchang, Gangwon province, for a concert last month when their vehicle hit the guard rail on the highway. There were other minor injuries, but Kim was in critical condition. She received cervical spine surgery, but the bleeding did not stop. She died Wednesday of a heart attack.
The Pyeongchang police are still investigating the cause of the accident.

Rumors anger former announcer
Former television announcer Noh Hyeon-jeong may have declared she is leaving the entertainment scene but she is still the most talked about female celebrity as her name topped the keyword search chart on local portal Web sites last week.
Since her abrupt marriage to a Hyundai Group heir last August, followed by her decision to quit her job in the broadcasting business, all attention went to the newly married couple who are now living in Boston, the United States.
Last week, stories circulated on the Internet that Noh was now divorced, the reason why she has been spotted in Korea alone a few times recently. Stories grew to the point where it was rumored that she was awarded alimony of 3 billion won ($3.2 million) and that she was going to announce her divorce in February.
This angered Noh and her in-laws. Noh sent a letter to her former employer at KBS saying that “there is nothing wrong with the relationship.” BNG Steel, a Hyundai affiliate where Noh’s husband is a director, said they are planning a legal response to the rumors. Noh is reported to be six months pregnant at the moment.
mina@joongang.co.kr